Attention danger: social protest and risk of combustion

With this temperature in the streets, we are too close to a disaster occurring. It is likely that the riots have not peaked yet, that they will continue into the next week and that a fatal event may occur.. Here we are playing with fire and there is a great need to reclaim serenity.

The necessary conditions are in place for the strong episode of unrest that we are going through.. The deception is evident because the truth was stolen from the Spanish people during the electoral campaign. The seriousness of the situation is obvious because those who plan to destroy our democracy never dreamed of having as much power as they now enjoy.. And the consequences will be severe because the Socialist Party has made a historic mistake that could put the country in which we grew up at existential risk..

Add to the above the frustration experienced by the conservative electorate after the result in the last general elections.. Add the competition between the PP and Vox for the cultural hegemony of the right. Incorporate an objective fact: images of violence do not harm Sánchez, they benefit him. And add the most important thing: the objective of preventing alternation in power. Faced with a landscape like this, there is no one who can argue that social protest is controlled. Right now it's out of control.

Those who feel loaded with reasons to express their discomfort would do well to combine their response from intelligence and not from blindness.. And that means always keeping in mind that the difference between democrats and non-democrats is resolved in respect for democratic values and principles..

Democracy does not function only as a game of balance between powers, it is also a space in which perimeters matter and must always be respected.. In civilized countries, Parliaments are not surrounded, party headquarters are not besieged and citizens' representatives are neither singled out, threatened, nor attacked..

These practices, which have revolutionary resonances, are simply incompatible with democratic and, therefore, patriotic behavior.. And, it should go without saying, they directly leave without reason anyone who might have had it before..

It took us a lot to achieve a society in which politicians could walk down the street without an escort.. It would be nice if any of the current ones could walk this weekend without having the fear they have now.. And it would also be desirable that we never see riot police vans at the doors of any party headquarters..

It is not easy to combine political unrest on the streets in an intelligent and responsible way, but it is essential in circumstances as painful as the current ones.. We must draw on the civic maturity that we must transmit to our children so that democracy can prevail.

One must never forget what the political subject of democracy is, because that is precisely where its strength lies: it is not the people, it is not any group, it is the individual.. The masses depersonalize us, alter our chemistry, make our reasoning difficult.. We must not allow it if we want to be free. Getting carried away by rioters, in song or action, is tantamount to personal defeat.. Individual judgment must be kept safe at all times, always.

The above requires separating ourselves and those who seek violence, or display symbols that do not belong to everyone, or proclaim frenzy.. But also, do not allow yourself to be exploited by those who make the discomfort of many their own political business..

The current mobilizations are not the property of anyone, much less Vox, which is looking for a branch in current emotions to grab in its fall.. I will never get tired of repeating that if we are where we are it is because Abascal decided to campaign against Feijóo instead of against Sánchez.

In the same way, it can be taken for granted that Sánchez will never tire of watching over Vox. They need each other. I don't know if one day right-wing voters will be able to internalize that there is only one way to oust Sánchez: an absolute majority of the PP. There are no more options.

Civic maturity demands exemplarity and intelligence. Know that police repression is not always graded based on objective criteria. And assume that political power will always look for a way to reduce the dimension of the contestation, to caricature it and, as far as possible, to apply the infallible noun: “radicals”. That is the word that all the powerful use to delegitimize all those who protest. Behind it, different adjectives are already hanging (here: “extreme right”, “nostalgic for Franco's regime”…).

Are those who are mobilizing these days radicals? The vast majority does not seem like it. However, it is clear that the violent minority is better organized, and that allows it to package the entire group in the communicative framework it needs to victimize itself, legitimize itself, and apply the smokescreen it is applying to hide its submission to Puigdemont. and company.

In the thermometer of citizen response, the degrees are not rising in a regular and predictable way. The history of social movements shows that ascent works in three phases: first there is a long period of accumulation, then the critical ignition temperature is reached and then combustion spreads rapidly throughout the stored combustible substance.. Now we are practically between the second and third point.

All it takes is a bad wind of chance for anyone to end up burned.. That is why I consider that today it is not enough to call for serenity and maturity. At this point I want to specify that the polarizing agents are the intellectual authors of any calamity that may occur during the next few days.. No social combustion is spontaneous. All this impounded fuel is the result of a long poisoning process that will take us a long time to overcome. We will do it, it won't be easy. But if we hold on to democracy, we will overcome it. Freedom, without anger. Without anger, freedom.