Speak, If You Can (the opinion of Bodo Vespaciano)

Speak if you can…

And if you cannot, stay silent and learn, because when the ignorant speak, their words are very miserable. Reality is relentless; it cannot be manipulated nor does it negotiate with anyone. It also does not disguise itself; it is always in plain sight, and those who do not see it should clean the tar from their eyes.

These days we are witnessing things that are literally unbelievable. Here in Spain the town squares are occupied by those who think they are protesting, but I don’t believe it. The case of «Maricarmen» (the 87 year old woman who was evicted from her home of 70 years, which gave rise to these demonstrations) is a sad case, and a case that, if the government had wanted to, could have been solved for that lady a year ago, but they ignored her. And now they are using her to ignite the streets with protestors, some of them violently clashing with the police. The government is encouraging young people to camp in the town squares to demand either free or subsidised housing. (Could it be to distract attention from the Ceuta fiasco?). You decide.

El gobierno no puede, ni debe, meterse a regular, o a interferir, en el mercado libre. Somos un país libre, democrático y capitalista. Pero eso no quita que el gobierno no le echara una mano a Maricarmen o a cualquier otro en sus mismas condiciones. Al fin y al cabo hay, o deben haber, fondos para estas ayudas. Pero aquí, y en todo país libre, el pueblo tiene derecho a comprar, vender o alquilar sus viviendas y especular con la vivienda no es delito, es un negocio y el negocio existe para lucrar. Nadie comienza un negocio para que luego quieran convertírselo en un centro caritativo.

Now, young people are spending days (do not they work?) and days in plazas living in tents: I don’t understand why these supposedly healthy, well-educated young folk don’t demand jobs instead. With a job, they could pay for their housing. And let’s see, that’s not asking for much. We’ve all done it; it’s what God commands. Why should the government support the youth. And reference being evicted, throughout history, there have been ways to avoid eviction or to have a roof over your head. It’s called paying for it, with the fruit of your work! To have a home, you have to pay for it. And it is not our fault (the community) if you cannot afford one. The capitalist community does not create inequality. Inequality is fostered by the government if it intervenes in people’s lives and starts giving away free money. That eliminates the incentive to work, and those who receive ‘help’ neither develop the interest, nor the need to go out and look for a job.

That is not the way to develop a ‘progressive’ society. Progress is the result of development. ‘Progress’ in a society is seen when everyone works for the ‘progress’ of said society and the nation. It is then, and only then, that I say that the worker deserves almost all privileges. Not because the worker is a part of the society, but because he has worked. He earned it. If rights are requested, obligations and duties must be fulfilled. A country cannot claim to be progressive if half of the population has to support the other half that does not work.

BODO VESPACIANO