Rethink society from the left

Certainly, neither my generation, born during the Franco dictatorship, nor many subsequent ones ever suspected that, in the near future, a new support for the extreme right might manifest itself in Catalonia, Spain, or Europe, even threatening to become the majority and having options to govern. We fought very, very hard to escape that nightmare. The explosion of happiness when it ended, in those late seventies, when we could finally breathe, gather, love whomever we wished, and begin to rebuild our country, was immense, one of the best periods we have lived through.

But it is not now a matter of figuring out why we have arrived here, nor the strange paths that have led us here. I believe it is time for left-wing people and all those who realize the danger that threatens us all to rethink what society we want and to craft a project clear and inspiring enough to make young people enthusiastic about it. For too long, the innovations of the left have only been directed at breaking old taboos, mostly of a sexual nature. This was a necessity: the liberation of desire was needed in the face of the traditional repression exercised by the Church and public authorities. But, at this moment, the urgencies are already different, and we must identify them in order to renew the progressive project.

To do this, everyone can project their illusions. But we must try to analyze the current imbalances as objectively as possible and see on which axes a future project can be built. In the case of Catalonia, I believe we can point out three main ones.

With regard to the first two, the identification is made: the two major imbalances that must be resolved, as immediate challenges, stem from the changes in the planet caused by humanity and from the great growth of economic inequalities. The path to address them has also been laid out: the world meeting of social analysts held in Paris last June established it clearly through what they called a Global Justice Project: a project that argues that the habitability of the planet and the improvement of well-being can be achieved simultaneously, but that major changes are needed; otherwise, it will not be possible. Changes that involve, on the one hand, planetary decarbonization, and, on the other, a drastic reduction in working hours, a profound change in consumption patterns, and a great reduction in inequalities of income, wealth, and power, both between countries and within each one.

Here, specifically, are the goals they propose: monthly per capita income must converge towards €5,000 in each country; the share of global wealth received by the poorest half of humanity must rise from the current 2% to 30%, while the share of the billionaire class must fall from the current 6% to 0.05%. Almost 90% of the population must double their income by working approximately half the hours they do now. And global warming must increase, by 2100, by about 1.8 ºC, instead of more than 4 ºC, as predicted. 

A new utopia? Perhaps, but their project provides many explanations of how to make it possible and how to simultaneously defuse many of today's problems. Migrations? The only real solution is sustained development in the poorest countries, from which people flee due to misery and lack of opportunities. It is not through fierce persecutions that people are made to stay in their country; it is by providing the opportunities they currently lack in countries from which, in the past and even now, we have plundered resources and where we have favored bloody dictatorships.

In Catalonia, it seems clear to me that another objective must also be set. Talking about independence was indeed dreaming of a utopia, as became clear a few years ago. But there is another design that should be worked on: the Europe of peoples, with recognition of historical, cultural, and social differences. Playing the all-or-nothing game, we are bound to lose, the demonstration has been made. But there is an intermediate path, not alone, but in alliance with so many peoples who strive, like us, to maintain their language, their identity, and their character. In the 19th century, Europe became a conglomerate of nations, a form that allowed the development of capitalism; but now we can move towards a conglomerate of peoples, capable of maintaining the identity traits built over a millennium. A project that is now indispensable, in the face of globalization that imposes homogeneity and which can only be reversed through a great collective effort.

I know that the most urgent thing is to stop the disaster, to resist and to face changes that would set us back a century; but I also know that only by setting goals that inspire will we manage to change the tide of times and mark collective milestones that give meaning to the struggles of new generations.