This country called Spain is burdened by Manichaeism. Mine are the good guys, the others are the bad ones. What a bore and how much nonsense. Since when has it been going on? Perhaps since the beginning of the 19th century. The great opportunity that was the war against the common enemy, Napoleon’s France, vanished in one fell swoop when the ill-fated Ferdinand VII repealed the Constitution of Cadiz, which could have been the historical embryo of the country’s democratic unity ahead of Italy or Germany. And so began the Carlist wars, the permanent disputes between two sides, until the devastating civil war and the current bitterness, which is like a covert, cold civil war. All these internal struggles have been devastating for the country. A permanent wear and tear.
Spain went from being at the cultural forefront of the world in the 17th century to being nothing in the 19th century, largely because of these internal confrontations between good guys and bad guys. And what has this bloodletting led to? Minimum educational level in Europe (the numbers say so), maximum unemployment in Europe (the numbers say so). Enough is enough; we must take a step forward. True progressivism cannot include these confrontations that wear the country down day by day and drain the country of energy that should be used for real progress, above all in education, in training people. True progressivism must try to overcome these struggles, the two factions that detest each other. Put an end to this ancient and primitive history. An end to the nightmare. Understand the other side, those who think differently, who always have their reasons, and direct efforts towards the common goals (education, work, rights of all kinds) on which we all agree. This must be one of the basic objectives of true progressivism. The permanent “and you more” is to anchor oneself in secular backwardness. Enough is enough. We must take a step forward, turn the page, promote common sense as a country.
Other European countries, France, Germany, Italy, England, have this feeling of unity even though some of them were formed as states centuries after us and often by violent means. But there they are. As an indication of the difference, look at the number of Nobel Prize winners: Italy, 20; France, 69; Germany, 108; England, 130; Spain, 8. Spain has extraordinarily rich cultural roots. The first grammar in Europe, the first universities in America, and so many others. Let’s get out of the Manichean, tribal puddle and move forward for once and for all.
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