2023-05-23 18:22:10
More than 10 years ago our country experienced a movement that would go down in history: the 15M. It was installed in the Puerta del Sol and spread to the entire territory, including the border crossing. It arose from citizenship and questioned the system in which we live. Both at the political level, due to the lack of real representation, and at the economic level, due to the failures that the crises we have been suffering and the uncertain future to which we are heading show us time and time again.
The streets were filled with people demanding a democracy that was truly a reflection of society and not of the powers and economic elites. It called for a real participation in matters that concern us all. Neighborhood assemblies could be seen in the squares and neighborhoods. The debate was used something like our Greek ancestors represent it to us in Classical Athens.
We came from another economic crisis that was reflected in the political arena. The citizenry was fed up. Once again the usual ones were impoverished; once again conquered rights were lost; again we took steps back; again restrictive policies were implemented for those below, public money (ours) was injected to rescue banks and those of us who were young at that time, saw how our future was cut short once again.
At that time, all citizens had to make an effort while others got rich. It was the communism of losses. When the economy is going down and there is no invisible hand that is worth it, the State, that is to say all of us, pays for those companies and banks to float. at what price? Well, they know the results accounts: some win and others lose. More inequality between social classes and company profits remain in the hands of a few. In the usual
And out of that movement a party arose. A party that came to change, as they said, the political board. They were the “radicals” and “anti-system”. It was the “ultra-left”. However, they were the ones that woke many of us from our torpor. After that dream did not last long. They wanted to “assault” the heavens and they stayed in the attempt to do so, but it did help to understand the power games that we cannot handle, despite believing that we live in a democracy.
What happened to change the political context?
For social movements to take place, as was the case with 15M, special situations have to take place. That is to say, they are generally born at a certain moment in history when the stars align. For example, they may arise from the lack of credibility of the State institutions themselves or from economic situations such as the one experienced after the 2007 crisis and the subsequent cuts.
However, social movements are specific in time and do not last indefinitely. First, because society cannot sustain the constant complaint since it is unfeasible due to how life has been structured. And, second, because the State itself generates demobilization mechanisms so that they are channeled through other channels, including the ballot box.
Participation in political parties is the path that we have established to direct our lives and it is essential to understand that we have a great responsibility, whether we want to be active participants in political life or if we only want to follow it from the rear.
Politics, whether we like it or not, pervades everything from when we are born to when we die. And it is essential to understand that we can make it alive through participation. However, there is increasing mistrust towards it and we have heard many times that “all parties are equal”. But everyone, absolutely everyone, can belong to and participate in them. That is, they are open so that anyone who is interested can join.
Why do we vote from the emotional?
Just as if it were a football game, we feel the colors as if it were a game. It seems that we win or lose a league or win a Champions League. But we play more than that. We risk our present and especially the future. Everyone’s future.
Many of us have grown up around an ideology and, although according to different studies, today’s society is increasingly far from the classic left-right, each party represents a vision of the world and voters tend to opt for what they feel is their own in a certain moment, where the ethical and moral values that each person feels as their own are intermingled.
If we follow the basic analysis regarding the different visions of the world, to summarize, it can be said that there are two large blocks of parties in our country, also in our territory. A conservative block and another progressive block. Within the conservative bloc we can find nationalist parties such as the Popular Party or Vox. And within the progressive bloc would be the Socialist Party or Podemos. Now, between one and the other, whether in the conservative block or in the progressive block, there are many nuances and differences.
While the big parties have an earlier origin and bring a backpack of history, the new parties have tried to recover the fraud that the big ones have meant for the voter, collecting the vote in many cases. And, how has this transfer been produced? From the emotional
The wolf is coming!
The campaign speeches, as well as the performance of the debates, they are studied so that it touches the key of the irrational. Throughout the legislature, but especially when the campaign approaches, each leader and party approaches their potential voter.
The conservatives tell us that Spain will break up, they name ETA as a weapon and they look for xenophobic sacrificial goats. They want to send us to the caves. Progressives sell us a torn apart welfare state, full of colors and idealism. And each one puts on a tray what we want to hear according to our values and beliefs. However, the electoral programs and the legislature in question are the contract between the parties and us, and it is what we must take into account. And most importantly, compare.
If you are going to vote on May 28, stop and reflect. Look to the past to understand the present because it will depend on building a future where we all have space.
Bet on those who add up and build bridges. For those who consider the progress of all citizens essential and not just that of a few. Trust those who invest in the public sector and see it as an essential pillar so that we all have access to basic services for life such as education or health, and therefore have the same opportunities to have a decent quality of life. Vote for those who value diversity as a wealth, without forgetting the differences that cross us. Vote for those who are committed to a socially just country and where freedom is not considered only from the individual himself, which is monopolized by a few. Vote so that a future can be drawn where we all have a place.
#voting #28M