16 May 2011 — MRZine
Madrid. Tens of thousands of people, especially youth, demonstrated again on Tuesday evening in the Spanish capital of Madrid, against the political and economic system of the country, which they called corrupt. The participants in the rally at the central Puerta del Sol square shouted slogans such as “Less Policing, More Education” and “They Call It Democracy, But It Isn’t.” With this demonstration, held just a few days before the municipal elections on Sunday, the participants responded to the brutal eviction of a vigil from the central square at the beginning of this week. Already on Sunday, thousands had demonstrated in some 50 cities across the country against the Spanish political system, calling on the electorate not to give their votes to any of the traditional parties. The protest is directed against the massive cuts in social services made by the Spanish government and against the huge mass unemployment which affects nearly one-half of young people.
Puerta del Sol, 17.05.11
The original article “Massenprotest in Spanien: Keine Stimme den traditionellen Parteien!” was published by junge Welt on 19 May 2011. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi. Cf. <www.facebook.com/democraciarealya?sk=wall>.
Given how much we had in common, it’s perhaps a bit odd that Joe Bageant (1946-2011) and I never met (although I think we did correspond at one point). He even wound up living in Mexico a good part of the time. But the real connection between us is the congruence of perception regarding the United States. Joe came from unlikely roots to have formulated the political viewpoint that he did: working-class, right-wing, anti-intellectual, flag-waving, small-town Virginia. A “leftneck,” someone dubbed him; it’s not a bad description.
The New Dark Age 