"If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal." I've never had a list of heroes, but while growing up in the riot-ridden, bomb-stricken environment of the Basque Country during the 1970s and '80s, somehow renowned anarchist Emma Goldman's ideas managed to grab my attention.
There has never been room for political apathy in the Basque Country - young and old must have at least some reasonably rounded political views; there is no excuse. At that time, though, Basque-born with Spanish blood was not a good combination to have, regardless of whether you set foot in Spanish or in Basque land. Unable to join a team and, as in a boxing ring, I mostly watched the two sides' efforts to rip each other apart, and just as it happens with fights in rowdy bars, spectators also stand to receive a good punch - finding myself knocked down in the streets a couple of times was no great surprise.
Of course, back then, I thought that was outright wrong! I have since learned, though, that creating a better world is not a spectator sport; building the community we want requires not only a competent leading team at municipal hall, but each and every resident's will to also play ball and voting is just the kick-off shot! During my teenage years, I thought that the only thing voting did was change the colour of the uniforms in the street. Afterwards, I looked more closely and saw that it also had an impact in the intensity and the frequency of the blows until, at present, we can almost say that the most virulent fighting is gone.
Nowadays, when we decide to protest, we tend to favour more peaceful ways. The Occupy movement is a perfect example of that, and I have some sympathy with it, at least to a certain degree. Corporate greed is also on my "Most Hated" list, but we have to realize that corporations don't get where they are by chance; we help them along, consuming what they give us incessantly, without a thought. Agreed, there is no justification for mass injustice, torture, murder, inequality, corruption or oppression. Nonetheless, while we protest, let's also make use of the time-out to protest against ourselves, to carefully rethink our behaviours and put our lifestyles in question. As we evaluate the situation, I have no doubt we'll see that there's no time to sit there sulking; it is also our responsibility to participate in making our demands and wishes a reality.
Just consider our American neighbours next door, where the Occupy movement arose. The United States is the place where all cartoon heroes with supernatural powers are born - Superman, Spiderman, Batman and so many more. No wonder the line between fantasy and real life got blurred! Americans may be forgiven for thinking that one single man could solve the problems of 310 million-plus. Barack Obama did say, "Yes we can," but I have the feeling that the emphasis was meant to be on the "we," not so much on the "can."
If our system doesn't work, it's not because it is intrinsically wrong; I'd say we have misunderstood what we are giving when we offer our vote. The intent is to select those we trust to protect our collective interests and relay to others our shared way of thinking. To our elected officials, we give the keys to our town, and we put all our confidence in their hands, but our social responsibility as citizens? No sir, that belongs to each one of us. Yes, I know, like corporations, some politicians are just plain bad. Well, it is our task to keep informed so we can separate the wheat from the chaff, and then it is also our duty to keep a watchful eye on it all, so that our selected good crop doesn't develop root rot.
Today, perhaps even more so than yesterday, social responsibility needs to take centre stage. Simply taking a little interest in how our municipality is run can make a big difference that can take us very far. So let's do our homework and increase participation - on Nov. 19, I'll see you at the polling station! After all, voting is the first step of the many we need to take to guarantee that life in our community is good quality, enjoyable and fair.
