Utopia - Security - & Europe.

international | worker & community struggles and protests | opinion/analysis

Monday June 07, 2004 19:13

by iosaf the ipsiphi presently "a disgraced intellectual" - the non contracted workers of Young Europe. "precariadad" yet privelaged.

Barcelona Europe.

an account of now historic ultimate days in Barcelona.

As you might know, the last days saw history being made in those small little ways.
the 60th anniversary of D Day in Normandie saw leaders of the World assemble and salute the veterans and honour the dead of operation Overlord and remember the causes for which they fought and died.
As you know the Pontiff John Paul 2 met with President Bush and was very critical of the relations between the West (both winners and losers of WW2) and the rest of the world.
As you know the Cathedral of Barcelona was occupied by 1600 non regularised workers mostly of the Islamic Faith.

I was glad when they said unto me Thou shalt go into the House of the Lord.

I'm going to tell you something important.
The security of your country, is not measured in arms, nor in strength of arms. It is as I long ago wrote to you, more as Sallust a Roman satirist put it:-

NON EXERCITUS NEQUE THESAURI
PRAESIDIA REGNI SUNT VERUM AMICI.

not by military might but the quality of its friendships is the security of a kingdom.

Now some of you, think this means wasting huge amounts of money on neutralising the suggestions of a generation of mostly Westerners and South Americans.
You do this, with advertising campaigns, T shirts, catchy slogans to sell yet more products, and occasionally building something like the milenium dome.

Well today I'm finally going to explain it to you.

Your security is measured in fifteen minute phone conversations, that take place every week between your poorest migrant workers and their families and friends in the poorest often conflict torn countries.

This is your "defcon index".

Our leaders have never spent much time in a call centre. They don't know the importance of that phone call home, how the news is passed from family to cousins to friends to neighbours to community.

¿do I have to spell it out?

We in Barcelona, of "that generation" (the european one) understand how cultural diversity works... and plays.
Our leadership, being formed of different generations, cultural influences and literature, can not understand our fear of dystopia, nor our vision of Europe.

They are still Irish, Catalan, British, French, Spanish, politicians. The success or failure of Europe for them is measured in economic terms alone. But it was they who encouraged us to be "european" to leave our nation states and build bridges and careers far freom home as ambassadors of our nations.
Did they think that condemned us to economic marginalisation? Did they think that such marginalisation as often as not without proper working rights or contracts poorly facilitates the return of migrant workers to their home countries?

Do they realise that on D Day, one day after the Government of Catalonia had announced limited measures to relieve the problems which beset other migrants, in even worse economic and cultural conditions, we brought the most symbolic protest to the seat of the RC church in eastern Spain?

We are not utopian.
We are not idiots.
We are not irresponsable.
We are not manipulating the hopes or fears of a misunderstood minority.
We are as always obfuscating.
We are unfortuanately the Europeans you got for signing all those treaties and contracts and allowing all that liberal post Vietman TV into your homes.
If you didn't want modernity, you oughtn't to have signed up to it.
Now as we have said before, it is the XXI century, and we really will do a better job of it than you.

Phone Home.
Keep in Touch.
Do they love their God too?