vox populi
For those of you with Twitter, I advise you check out #spanishrevolution. This is going to be a serious post. I'm leaving this unlocked, so that if anyone wants to link to this, they can.
So, the start. Spain is going through elections right now. Spain is divided in Regions (Comunidades, or communities if you want, each region formed by many cities. Like the US states, if you want to draw comparisons.) and today, May 22nd, the elections for the presidents of each region took place. We're only about a year away from the elections for the president, and the people of Spain has said enough.
This isn't just a couple of hundred people joined protesting in front of an embassy, this has spread world-wide. The Washington Post gave our story first page. The Reader also informed about it. We've hit the news in many newspapers, and yet there's still manipulation of information from the media. Not that anyone would be surprised. However, it's heartening to see many people raising their (completely pacific) voice from all over the world. Spanish youth has protested in front of embassies in Brussels, Copenhague, many cities in Italy, London, and even one solitary guy in Omsk, Russia.
Politicians and critics have pegged our generation as one of disinterest, disenchantment, laziness for a long time. This week, we've proven them wrong. I'm not among the founders of this movement, I was simply there, in the thrumming crowd, shouting out the slogans of this Spanish Revolution with everyone else, in one voice. Among the chorus, a few phrases which drew my attention.
These keys belong to my landlord, was a phrase shouted to the sound of hundred of keys being shaken as accompanying music. And it's true - with the way things are now, economically, it's very hard to buy a house in Spain. I know that this is vastly different from the way things work in the US, for example, where it's easier to hear about people buying houses than renting them. But the thing is, in Spain, people rent. Buying a house submits you to the obligation of growing roots and of owing about 50 years of mortgage to the bank that lent you the money. Because it works on loans, for most of the common folk.
It's not just youth protesting, though. I've seen fathers carrying their young kids in their arms with signs that wrote 'I don't want my child to pay for my mortgage in twenty years', and 'I want my children to have an education that isn't based on a lot of money for a degree that's worth nothing'. I've seen retired men and women join the protest, help the campers, and raise their own voices. People who live on low pensions, who deal with merciless banks and interest rates, people whose eyes have been opened: we may be young, but damn can we cause a ruckus that helps.
Revolution is not a party, was another slogan shouted periodically. To those who've always thought that the college students only ever got together to drink and be wild and stupid on the streets, all they had to do was see the way Sol Square was last night, and every other night since the 15th of May. Chockfull of people. Democracia Real Ya, or DRY, was one of the groups that impulsed this movement. Now the voice belongs to everyone. The slogan, however, remains: They don't represent us. / They call it democracy, and it isn't.
This protest, this revolution, has been completely pacific. A large handful of people have camped out in the square, turning the protest into a 24/7 thing. The campsite has grown so large, that they've formed a mini-city. There's tents for everything: Health, Communication, Action, Human Resources, to name a few. Restaurants help with leftover food every night. Everyone else helps with their support to a cause that affects us all.
They've been changing our educational system ( Bologna Plan ), they've been approving laws that affect our ability to keep in touch with the rest of the world ( SINDE law ), and a myriad of other things - and the people have been quiet. Until now.
We've wittnessed and supported the revolutions in the Arab world, and taken example from the Islandic revolution; and now it's our turn.
One wants to have faith that this will mark a difference. One wants to ignore the cynical thought of 'bah, I doubt anything will change now' that keeps fleeting through some minds. One wants to join the optimistic thought of 'if they can do it, so can we'. One hopes to be an example, to make a difference.
I am by no means a reporter, so I can't even begin to detail everything that's been going on; and I am by no means as much involved in the core process of these protests, so I couldn't begin to explain what all the reasons and all the points of this manifesto are, at least not without fucking something up. I'd rather not fuck up. Instead, I can do this - I can create some interest. The information about this is out there. Social networks do take part in this. To all affected, all interested, all who want to support - joining us is free. Let your voices be heard.
So, the start. Spain is going through elections right now. Spain is divided in Regions (Comunidades, or communities if you want, each region formed by many cities. Like the US states, if you want to draw comparisons.) and today, May 22nd, the elections for the presidents of each region took place. We're only about a year away from the elections for the president, and the people of Spain has said enough.
This isn't just a couple of hundred people joined protesting in front of an embassy, this has spread world-wide. The Washington Post gave our story first page. The Reader also informed about it. We've hit the news in many newspapers, and yet there's still manipulation of information from the media. Not that anyone would be surprised. However, it's heartening to see many people raising their (completely pacific) voice from all over the world. Spanish youth has protested in front of embassies in Brussels, Copenhague, many cities in Italy, London, and even one solitary guy in Omsk, Russia.
Politicians and critics have pegged our generation as one of disinterest, disenchantment, laziness for a long time. This week, we've proven them wrong. I'm not among the founders of this movement, I was simply there, in the thrumming crowd, shouting out the slogans of this Spanish Revolution with everyone else, in one voice. Among the chorus, a few phrases which drew my attention.
These keys belong to my landlord, was a phrase shouted to the sound of hundred of keys being shaken as accompanying music. And it's true - with the way things are now, economically, it's very hard to buy a house in Spain. I know that this is vastly different from the way things work in the US, for example, where it's easier to hear about people buying houses than renting them. But the thing is, in Spain, people rent. Buying a house submits you to the obligation of growing roots and of owing about 50 years of mortgage to the bank that lent you the money. Because it works on loans, for most of the common folk.
It's not just youth protesting, though. I've seen fathers carrying their young kids in their arms with signs that wrote 'I don't want my child to pay for my mortgage in twenty years', and 'I want my children to have an education that isn't based on a lot of money for a degree that's worth nothing'. I've seen retired men and women join the protest, help the campers, and raise their own voices. People who live on low pensions, who deal with merciless banks and interest rates, people whose eyes have been opened: we may be young, but damn can we cause a ruckus that helps.
Revolution is not a party, was another slogan shouted periodically. To those who've always thought that the college students only ever got together to drink and be wild and stupid on the streets, all they had to do was see the way Sol Square was last night, and every other night since the 15th of May. Chockfull of people. Democracia Real Ya, or DRY, was one of the groups that impulsed this movement. Now the voice belongs to everyone. The slogan, however, remains: They don't represent us. / They call it democracy, and it isn't.
This protest, this revolution, has been completely pacific. A large handful of people have camped out in the square, turning the protest into a 24/7 thing. The campsite has grown so large, that they've formed a mini-city. There's tents for everything: Health, Communication, Action, Human Resources, to name a few. Restaurants help with leftover food every night. Everyone else helps with their support to a cause that affects us all.
They've been changing our educational system ( Bologna Plan ), they've been approving laws that affect our ability to keep in touch with the rest of the world ( SINDE law ), and a myriad of other things - and the people have been quiet. Until now.
We've wittnessed and supported the revolutions in the Arab world, and taken example from the Islandic revolution; and now it's our turn.
One wants to have faith that this will mark a difference. One wants to ignore the cynical thought of 'bah, I doubt anything will change now' that keeps fleeting through some minds. One wants to join the optimistic thought of 'if they can do it, so can we'. One hopes to be an example, to make a difference.
I am by no means a reporter, so I can't even begin to detail everything that's been going on; and I am by no means as much involved in the core process of these protests, so I couldn't begin to explain what all the reasons and all the points of this manifesto are, at least not without fucking something up. I'd rather not fuck up. Instead, I can do this - I can create some interest. The information about this is out there. Social networks do take part in this. To all affected, all interested, all who want to support - joining us is free. Let your voices be heard.