Praise for changing one's mind

It used to be a tradition for political parties to hold tribute ceremonies for their members with 25, 50, or even 75 years of membership. This rewarded purely sentimental values – loyalty, coherence –that politically go against a basic principle of democracy, which is the right to change one's mind. If everyone said "I am from ERC" or "I am from PP", with the same pride and conviction with which others say "I am from Barça" or "I am from La Penya", there would be no need to hold elections, just to call the roll from a register in which membership would be a datum as unmovable as the date of birth. In politics, the electoral strength of each option must depend on its behavior, and also on its response to changing circumstances.It can be argued that, if ideologies and political practice change, at least values should remain. But how many of the values we grew up with remain immaculate? And above all, how many of these values do not end up colliding, so that, by force, they must be relativized? How is the right to personal prosperity compatible with the aspiration of social justice? Can we be in favor of unhindered immigration and, at the same time, defend the continuity of Catalan identity, so marginalized? Can we simultaneously defend inclusive education, which leaves no one behind, and the detection and promotion of excellence?Difficult questions are what give meaning to our way of behaving as citizens. Perpetual doubt causes errors and missteps, but it is also a driving force for understanding change. Enough has happened at a national and planetary level for us to force ourselves to keep an open mind and discuss those things that make us uncomfortable, and which for some time now have been called the elephant in the room. In Catalonia there are long-standing elephants –identity, the relationship with Spain– and there are new ones –the migratory phenomenon, the degradation of public services, climate change, the scourge of tourism, housing.In all these matters, I think differently than when I was 25 years old. For example, a few decades ago we dreamed of having a global capital like Barcelona, without suspecting the collateral damage; we wanted papers for everyone, because we didn't imagine that Catalans would reach such a sharp point of minoritization. And we believed that the demand in school, which the priests had instilled in us in bad ways, had to be replaced by a more empathetic pedagogy, which has now entered a crisis, for often extra-educational reasons.Only change remains. And another thing: the national community. Despised because of the aggressive nationalisms of the last century, identity appears to us not as an ideology, but as a natural method that humans use to crystallize in a diverse world, an anchor that people (especially if they are far from their homeland) try to preserve. For me, belonging helps me define myself and relate to others. And it makes me irremediably independentist, because if I want to face all the elephants in my room, I need a room of my own – if possible, well-ventilated and with a view–. And, instead, I find myself sharing a small room in the hands of a landlord who overcharges me and does what he wants with my elephants.To put it without metaphors, Catalans are a national community that has lost its tools and its voice. It does not have enough capacity to solve the problems of its citizens. And where all the peoples of the world make themselves heard - whether it is the EU, the climate summit or the Football World Cup - we sacrifice our existence on the altar of a state that, to assert itself, needs to deny us.At this point, I confess that I have not changed my mind.