Antoni Bassas' analysis: 'The dinner of the independents'

Yesterday, theA survey by the Center for Opinion Studies offered some results which seem entirely probable, because they predicted a significant rise of the far right in Catalonia:

The Catalan Alliance would go from 2 to 10 or 11 deputies. And Vox would go from 11 to 12 or 14. I say that results like these seem feasible because you have probably experienced a similar scene: a meeting of independent friends who say they will vote for Orriols because he is The only one who dares to say that enough is enough with criminal immigrants, or that they take all the social benefits, or that Muslims are sexist.

Today I wrote that neither Vox nor the Catalan Alliance have solutions to the country's problems; that they are the guilty ones (the immigrants) and, in the case of Vox, they are enemies of the Catalan nation.

It's true that the major parties aren't exactly short on solutions, but turning on each other with physical or verbal violence will certainly never bring us anything good, because we know from history that fascism is based on violence.

A reader asks me: "And what can we do, Antoni?"

I would say: first and foremost, don't let yourself be lulled into complacency and don't give in to the sweet poison of being satisfied by the simple procedure of pinpointing someone to blame for everything. It's too easy, so easy it's cowardly.

We must be aware that these hate speeches, which are ultimately speeches of fear, intended to make us fear others, destroy us as a society because they destroy the trust essential for coexistence. These speeches are part of a global discourse, that of Trump, that of the far right, to control democracy with exceptional measures, where rights are suspended. Speeches watered down with a lot of money.

Let's empathize: What would you do if your country was filled with poverty and you knew Europe was prosperous? What did our parents or grandparents do, or is it that no one has immigrants or refugees among their ancestors?

And, if we talk about the case of Catalonia, it's clear that immigration has created problems because we've gone from six to eight million inhabitants in twenty-five years. And we don't have our own state or adequate funding to strengthen healthcare, education, social services, or the language.

And something else is happening to us: the independence movement was a reason to live, a dream to believe in, a project that many people joined. That didn't go well, due to the violent repression of the state and the self-destruction of the pro-independence parties, which continues to this day. This also appears in the CEO survey. It asks what the main problems facing Catalans are, and taking a closer look: the first (21%) is access to housing, and immigration is the third (with 9%). And what's the second? Dissatisfaction with politics (14%). Socialists, Juntos, Izquierda, Comunes, wake up because their lack of solutions, their inability to reach agreements, their failure to call things by their name, the perpetuation of problems, and corruption are also sending people to the far right in droves.

Good morning.