Life among extremists

Sorry, I should´ve given you some warning before you saw the picture. But I wanted to show you how extremism is encouraged in some circles here. When a bottle of wine with a long-dead dictator´s face on it, was produced to celebrate New Year, the group didn´t even bat an eyelid. On another occasion a photo is produced with a friend in (presumably fake) military uniform, doing a Nazi salute, in front of the old Fascist Spanish flag, and the group think it´s "gracioso" ("funny").

Absolute intolerance of the nationalist viewpoint of a separate Basque Country and Catalonia, absolute intolerance of literally anything that is not Spain, Spanish and Catholic....well, it´s a point of view I suppose. I cannot abide it. These people aren´t living in today´s multi-cultural, global world. Why are Spanish people asked by my people when they go to UK about their culture, but after 5 years here, these people don´t know the first thing about me, my family and friends, my country, my beliefs.

What makes these people as they are? Peer pressure,sure. But is that all ? There is something hardwired into their head which means they don´t even listen to other points of view. So I´d include a form of brainwashing too. And the fact that in most cases they don´t go out of their own country (and when they do, they don´t learn about where they go), so they only see their own. This last one is a vicious circle I suppose, as the reverse corollary is true too.

It´s all very sad.

Las dos Españas

You can´t live in Spain long without being aware of the topic of "the two Spains". This can mean several things; the two sides in the Civil War historically, or the Socialists-v-Conservatives as the two main political powers, or people who are progressive/liberal against the traditionalists. All of these are connected strongly, but not, as we will see, exactly the same. For example, I know someone who is a supporter of the "right" but is extremely open-minded.

Politically, how much difference is there between the socialists and conservatives? Objective opinion (which isn´t easy to find here) makes a good case for their policies being very similar. Certainly the protestors in Puerte del Sol didn´t seem to think that there was a viable alternative, one or the other.

But how many people would really change their vote in a general election? Many have said that it has been the case that the result of a general election didn´t depend on the voters´choice, but how many voted. More of the eligible voters always supported the PSOE (socialists). But if the turnout was low, that gave the PP (conservatives) more of a chance, as the PP supporters always turned out.

We will find out next year if the crisis has changed this theory.

Introduction

Thanks for stopping by.

I´m a middle-aged Geordie who´s ended up in Madrid. After nearly 5 years here, one major interest I have is studying the habits of the locals. I see the Spanish as such an interesting case study; their politics, their thinking (do they think?!), and their religion (or lack of it).

If I appear critical of certain groups here, it is because, as the title says, I am trying to understand. I have no score to settle, nor do I wish to try to tell others how to live their lives. I have no political favourites. Nor am I for or against any individual, personal beliefs.

I have no qualification in anthropology or psychology. But I can observe and think.