The Price of Reality: Rationality, Excess, and Chile’s Fuel Crisis

Chile’s fuel price increase is being framed as an unavoidable economic reality. But this framing hides a deeper tension. The government is acting rationally in economic terms—reducing subsidies and maintaining fiscal discipline. Yet, as Bataille suggests, reality always includes excess that cannot be fully controlled, and as Lacan reminds us, social stability depends on symbolic meanings, not just numbers. Fuel prices are one such symbol. When they shift abruptly, the issue is no longer just economic—it becomes social and political. What is presented as necessity may, in fact, generate the very instability it tries to avoid.Bibliography BioBioChile. “Una ‘crisis inédita en 40 años’: la engañosa frase con que el gobierno justificó alza de combustibles.” March 24, 2026. El País. “Alza de los combustibles en Chile: cuánto suben y las medidas de mitigación impulsadas por el gobierno.” March 24, 2026. Bataille, Georges. The Accursed Share: An Essay on General Economy. New York: Zone Books, 1988. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006.