Shrink Catalonia
The indignant Catalanism is the political virus that besieges us. The perception of the language's decline, that is to say, identity fear, is taking hold of the autochthonous population. Angry Catalan has returned. The independence defeat has made it more bitter because there is no horizon. The reality is harsh: housing crisis, educational crisis, strained healthcare, permanently failing rail transport... If we add to this the weakness in the social use of Catalan, which is perfectly real, we have the explosive cocktail. It is easy to excite the feeling of impotence. It costs little to launch apocalyptic messages with enemies who cannot defend themselves: immigration.
It costs a lot, on the other hand, to try to convince people that rigor in analysis is needed to find solutions to the linguistic dead end and other cul-de-sacs. Today's communication world feeds on strong, simple, fast-consuming emotional impacts. There is little room for slow reflection. The playing field favors the noisy outburst. This is what gives wings to polarization and, in particular, to far-right parties, which have no qualms about magnifying problems.
How do we combat this inequality of conditions? How do we bring to light the quiet and precarious work of social entities for civic cohesion? How are slow-acting policies explained to regulate the housing market? How do we assert the limited but real improvement in the working conditions of teachers and librarians, to give two current conflictive examples? How are the meritorious public and associative efforts for Catalan highlighted? "Miracles are for Lourdes!" people used to say. Neither in politics nor in economics nor in anything in life are there the magical and meteoric solutions that some promise. A hammer always sees nails everywhere, but no matter how much some people angrily hit all the heads they can reach, things won't be fixed like that. It's like groping around.
The result of not facing reality is a diminished, minoritized Catalonia. And I'm not referring now to the obvious and persistent lack of governing tools – when will we have new financing?, when will the transfer of Rodalies be effective?–, but to an infantilized public debate, like a schoolyard, with pushes and shoves included, where what dominates is making it clear who the enemy is to pounce on. To gain electoral advantage from social and national discontent.
Once again, we are mistaken about the antagonist. When you mistake your adversary, you have two problems. The first: you lose. The second: you have a new adversary. The great adversary is the lack of dialogue, the inability to seek agreements for the country – on housing, green energy, education, mobility, language, financing, healthcare, culture...–. It is a pity that the Investment Consortium and the extension of rent controls have been derailed in Congress. We have settled into bickering and venting, into widening the distance with whoever sits on the other side of the table. It is the surest way for things not to be solved. Permanent Cain-like radicalization leads to impotent blockage. And what if we try the old method of negotiated moderation? To achieve concrete progress, to calm ourselves, to give ourselves an opportunity for coexistence. Even to collectively regain enthusiasm. Things are already complicated enough to always go for the all-or-nothing clash.
Continuing to look for adversaries under stones cannot be the alternative. It is useless to continue feeding the psychological springs of our indestructible phobias and fears: to revel in discomfort and drama, to point fingers at culprits and vent our rage. It is an option, yes. We already know the result: reality is always susceptible to worsening. We can go jivarizing the country, turning it into a caricature of its worst image: a free-for-all of everyone against everyone. And with each passing day, quarrels escalate. A country that is dirty, diminished, enraged. Ugly and sad. What has become of the welcoming, entrepreneurial, and optimistic country, the hallmark of Catalanism? It is paradoxical, but there are independentists who have abandoned Catalanism. And what if we give it another chance?