How to Be Truly Free: lessons from a philosopher president. Pepe Mujica, Uruguay’s spartan former president and plain-spoken philosopher, offers wisdom from a rich life.
A decade ago, the world had a brief fascination with José Mujica. He was the folksy president of Uruguay who had shunned his nation’s presidential palace to live in a tiny tin-roof home with his wife and three-legged dog.
In speeches to world leaders, interviews with foreign journalists and documentaries on Netflix, Pepe Mujica, shared countless tales from a life story fit for film. But Mr. Mujica’s legacy will be more than his colorful history and commitment to austerity. He became one of Latin America’s most influential and important figures in large part for his plain-spoken philosophy on the path to a better society and happier life.
Last week, I traveled to the outskirts of Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, to visit Mr. Mujica at his three-room home, full of books and jars of pickling vegetables, on the small farm where he has grown chrysanthemums for decades. As the sun set on a winter day, he was bundled in a winter jacket and wool hat in front of a wood stove. “You’re talking to a strange old man,” he said, leaning in to look at me closely, a glisten in his eye. “I don’t fit in today’s world.” And so we bagan.
How is your health?
I think that humanity, as it’s going, is doomed.
Why do you say that?