I am back in the United States, after spending the last week in Spain. It was lovely.
I spent some time catching up with friends, eating delicious food, marveling at the beauty.
But you know what sticks me the most?
It’s the fact that things WORK. And folks aren’t completely AMPED UP at all times.
What do I mean by this?
Everywhere we went, public transportation was clean, affordable. Sure there are cars but most people take public transportation because it’s clean, affordable. People aren’t honking every ten seconds and screaming at each other, even in densely populated cities like Madrid and Barcelona.
Everyone isn’t one second away from pulling out their gun.
Well, they couldn’t do that anyway, because there aren’t any.
They drive without worrying about shooters. Have you heard about the white dude who shot a bunch of people on an interstate in Kentucky a few weeks back?
They ride the subway without worrying about shooters. You’ll recall that the NYPD just shot FOUR people at a subway station in Brooklyn. For a $2.90 fare.
They send their kids to school without worrying about shooters. You know all too well about America’s love for shooting up schools.
Maybe people seem happier there because they’re not worried about getting shot literally EVERYWHERE they go.
Or it could be because folks are HEALTHIER.
Spain has a national health care system that allows anyone to get medical care without having to worry about the costs or battling with insurance companies. Then there’s their food. Fresh, local, and infused with culture rather than sprayed with toxic chemicals, processed to death, and loaded with artificial ingredients banned outside of the USA.
People have jobs in Spain, but their lives aren’t dominated by work. They’re not working two three jobs just to buy unhealthy overpriced food and to pay for insulin.
And here’s the thing about Spain and the U.S. Their way of life there, and our way of life (or death) here are POLICY choices.
Public transit is a policy choice. Healthcare is a policy choice. Guns are a policy choice. Choosing to take tax dollars and invest in war, weapons and genocides over public transit, healthcare, education and housing is a policy choice.
I’m writing this a few days after another white dude with a gigantic gun got within a few dozen yards of former President Trump. This is the second assassination attempt on his life in months. We’ve decided that it’s totally normal to attempt to assassinate Presidents. We’ve normalized even this.
Life is filled with choices. We can have clean, fast trains, schools where kids play and learn safely and free healthcare OR highways littered with potholes where dudes can shoot at you like target practice, schools with metal detectors and mass shootings and kids creating GoFundMe’s for their own chemo treatments.
We’ve made some really INTERESTING choices . . .
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While no place is perfect we felt the same way travelling through New Zealand and Australia last summer. No guns, healthcare, loving wages, manageable college costs, etc. the low grade trauma fever we seem to have just didn't feel present. Ugh. Choices.
Every candidate for every public office in every jurisdiction in the USA should read this. If you know any, forward. Or repost. WE DON'T HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS! WE CAN TAKE ACTION!
Those of us that are deep in the empire still can’t even see that a better life could be possible, that collectively organized community could be the way forward. Thank you for simplifying this. There is better, as long as white supremacist-money-and-power-hungry capitalists get moved out of our way!
"People have jobs in Spain, but their lives aren’t dominated by work." - EXACTLY. Capitalism and competition are not looming over their every move.
100%!
While no place is perfect we felt the same way travelling through New Zealand and Australia last summer. No guns, healthcare, loving wages, manageable college costs, etc. the low grade trauma fever we seem to have just didn't feel present. Ugh. Choices.
Yes, none of these other countries are perfect. Yet without guns, and WITH healthcare, livable wages, they go a long way at enhancing quality of life.
Every candidate for every public office in every jurisdiction in the USA should read this. If you know any, forward. Or repost. WE DON'T HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS! WE CAN TAKE ACTION!
Exactly. We don't have to live like this.
Those of us that are deep in the empire still can’t even see that a better life could be possible, that collectively organized community could be the way forward. Thank you for simplifying this. There is better, as long as white supremacist-money-and-power-hungry capitalists get moved out of our way!
💯💯💯💯💯