Originally published in Spanish. Ramón González Férriz. El Confidencial.
The consideration of any imaginable alternative as a better scenario than the real, present one is a constant feature of human psychology. Interestingly, so is the opposite —preferring the mediocre certainty of the present to the uncertainty of breaking its balance—. In political terms, the former never never was more intense than in the sixties and seventies of last century, when production and circulation of heterodox ideas supposed to revolutionize politics went to extremes such as Michael Foucault’s, arguably the most radical and cruel, and paradoxically the most brilliant, of the revolutionary European intellectuals of the time. Foucault came to believe that Iranian revolution leaded by Khomeini could be a mirror for the West to look. He even thought that his religious energy could be admirable —he was an atheist and homosexual—, to the shock of who read in the Italian and French press his stories from Teheran. Everything was useful to the revolution, even the most unthinkable alliances.
At some moments, without knowing why —the sixties were quite thriving in countries were revolts had taken place, largely incited by middle class people with a comfortable life—, the revolutionary spirit ignites. A mobilized vanguard pulls on society, a silence spiral makes any criticism to the movement uneasy; everything, any thing, seems more desirable than keep living the comfortable everyday life, the bourgeois code of values of respect for the law and the quest for an order that allows economic growth.
Sometimes, as said Raymond Aron, the French philosopher, about Paris in May of 1968, this events can be read simply as “psychodramas”, incomprehensible bursts driven by ideological motives that has little to do with material reality, rather they are the result of a melting-pot of ideas, opportunism and atonement wishes. And also of a distorted perception of what future has to offer us, since we are the ones who create it by a combination of fury and smiles.
Right-wing Revolutionaries
Things have changed since the sixties. The revolutions of the present always are intended to be validated by the ballot boxes, and luckily, violence is increasingly discredited. However, there remains something in the workings of societies that makes that, from time to time, the present balance is sent to hell in order to trying to find one better, even though there are no guarantees of such thing being possible. Traditionally, political psychology tended to associate conservatives with those who, in observing their reality, saw in it more positive features than negative ones, and therefore they opposed to any radical transformation. On the contrary, individuals who defined themselves as leftists, when observing that same reality, were able to find its bright side, but their outrage at injustices made them more prone to trying make a difference, normally through democratic means.
I do not think this theory has become fully obsolete, but the truth is today, the most radical efforts to transform political and ideological systems come from the right. And, in any case, the circumstantial ideological alliances and coalitions are truly weird, as it was Foucault’s with the ayatollahs. The philosopher Slavoj Zizek thought that Trump’s victory in last presidential election could be more beneficial to the revolutionary cause than Hillary Clinton’s. The British tabloids, furiously anti-communist, had found an ally for the Brexit cause in Vladimir Putin, the heir of the Soviet czarism. Is not that this is new, but at this moment the internationalist left seems closer to nationalisms than to its opposites. It would be a mistake, but we will end up missing the ideological frame in the Cold War. At least, it positioned us clearly.
A Revolution in Catalonia?
I do not know if what is happening in Catalonia is at this point a revolution. It has nothing to do with Khomeini, no question about that, nor I am sure that it is very related to the revolutionary yearnings of the sixties and seventies. But I do think this is a good example of those occasions when, for a significant part of the habitants, the status quo becomes unbearable, because, while it may not be perfect, does not seems to deserve being totally endangered for an uncertain future or plainly a dead end. Many supporters of independence are clinging to unexpected things, which would have left dumbfounded them few years ago, only to end up with a present that one might define as not that bad. First, the role models for pro-independence Catalans were Canada or Scotland; later the Slovakian way was discussed; Kosovo is a possibility, and all of this will have been worthwhile —the thought seems to go sometimes—, even though Catalonia ends up like North Ireland.
One of the independence goals was to improve Catalans’ economic situation; now it seems that, if it is proclaimed, or even if the process continues in ambiguity, it would be radically worsened. But this does not matter either, because economy is not the most important thing anymore. It was said that the European Union would greet an independent Catalonia; this is not going to happen, the Union leaders endlessly repeated. Some independentists say now: if it is the case, it is alright, maybe it is better this way. That in the end, it is even possible that European Union implores them to recover the lost affects. Catalonia had always wanted to project an image of orthodox European nation, liberal, perfectly responsible and assimilable. Now, at least a faction of the pro-independence movement —we do not know which one— has trusted part of its strategy to the fuzzy advertising entourage leaded —publicly— by Julian Assange.
One of the independence goals was to improve Catalans’ economic situation; now it seems that, if it is proclaimed, or even if the process continues in ambiguity, it would be radically worsened. But this does not matter either, because economy is not the most important thing anymore. It was said that the European Union would greet an independent Catalonia; this is not going to happen, the Union leaders endlessly repeated. Some independentists say now: if it is the case, it is alright, maybe it is better this way. That in the end, it is even possible that European Union implores to them in order to recover the lost affects. Catalonia had always wanted to project an image of orthodox European nation, liberal, perfectly responsible and assimilable. Now, at least a faction of the pro-independence movement —we do not know which one— has trusted part of its strategy to the fuzzy advertising entourage leaded —publicly— by Julian Assange.
