A Little Bit of Constructive Criticism for the World

If there is anything that I have learned about Spaniards these first few weeks, it is that when they want their voice to be heard, they go out in droves, at least here in the capital. I witnessed this personally in the famous plaza, Puerta Del Sol, the heart of Madrid and the main stage of Spain's participation in the October 15 Global Protests which drew around -sounds crazy- 500,000 people; this was also the epicenter of the May 2011 Spanish Protests. I knew about the event through social media and through the numerous flyers that had been posted around Sol a few days prior. With the intention of witnessing Spain's energy, but with the intention of also standing in solidarity with most of the world, I decided to check it out. I, too, was fed up with politicians, banks, and CEOs who treat us like pawns in order to satisfy their monetary agenda, party affiliation aside, dammit! Anyhow, I was glad to hear that Raleigh joined us that day along with many other U.S. cities who had been energized by the Occupy Wall Street movement. The Spanish nightly news has mentioned the phenomenon several times and I found the arresting of some 700 people, some supposedly having been abused by the police, to be shocking. It didn't sound like the U.S. I told myself. Anyways, I'd better get my information from multiple sources.

In addition to the above, the political atmosphere has been even more pervasive because the country's presidential elections are on November 20th, not too long from now. And if that were not enough, the Basque Separatist group, ETA, declared on Oct. 20th that they would no longer engage in armed conflict, thus putting an end to decades of violence in Spain. At last, some good news. Below are links to related articles if you want to dive further into what I've mentioned. I hope to have some pictures and video up soon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/world/occupy-wall-street-protests-worldwide.html?pagewanted=all
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_15,_2011_protests
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/20/141555754/basque-separatists-announce-halt-to-violence

P.S. below is a clever allegory that was handed out at Puerta Del Sol; English translation coming later:

Un Cuento Para No Dormir...y Seguir Soñando

Siempre fue poderoso don Dinero. Hizo y deshizo lo que quiso. Y sobre todo, quiso crecer, ser más grande y ser, si cabe, más poderoso de lo que en escencia es. Para crecer necesitó ayuda, y la encontró allá donde fue. Pidió al noble cobijo y más tarde al burgués y como no, al empresario más fiel. Pocos se negaron, pues grandes eran las recompensas que él daba después.

También llamaron a la puerta, entre otros, la "frágil Ética", la "noble Moral" y la "sabia Conciencia" pero ante señor tan poderoso, nada pudieron hacer. Así creció y creció don Dinero, logrando instalarse cómodamente en todas las esquinas que habitan nuestro mundo. Y lo más alarmante es que se instaló en nuestras propias vidas, se adueñó de nuestras mentes y aún hoy, trata de ahogar la expresión del alma que nos habita y el pensamiento que nos hace libres.

Afortunadamente, este cuento aún no tiene final y entre todos podemos construirlo. Teniendo en cuenta que, consciente o inconscientemente, todos somos CÓMPLICES del mismo sistema que nos ahoga, creemos que podemos dejar de ser parte del problema para empezar a ser parte de la SOLUCIÓN.