Portside

Reader Comments: Poverty - Running thru the U.S.; Refugees; Ta-Nehisi Coates and Cornel West; Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers; AI Jobs Revolution and nature of work and workers; Russia and Korea; Catalonia and Spain; Portside's New Look; Subversive Involvement: Chicago and HUAC - Tribute to Dr. Quentin Young - Chicago - January 12

Two visions of Spain have always existed. One sees Spain as a uni-national state, centered in the capital of the Spanish Kingdom, Madrid. This vision denies the existence of other nations in Spain. It is the vision of the Bourbon Monarchic State, including the armed forces and the Catholic Church; it is the conservative version of Spain. Another vision of Spain, however, is plurinational, recognizing other nations in Spain, including Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Galicia.

Images depicting the severe brutality of the Spanish police clashing with voters at the October 1st referendum in Catalonia spilled across social media and TVs around the world. Faced with these images, many asked: What is happening in Catalonia?

The number of people deemed to be at risk for poverty and social exclusion is at 27.9 percent.

Europeans who think the current crisis is unique forget that between 1845 and 1848, 1.5 to 2 million Irish fled their famine-blackened land (while another million or more starved to death) in large part due to the same kind of economics Europe is currently trying to force on countries like Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain, and Cyprus. Today, the migrants are from Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, but the policies are the same.

On October 1, Catalonia will hold a referendum on independence from Spain. As the vote nears, the Spanish government is increasing its repression which is increasing the resistance amongst the Catalan population.

Spain's Catalonia region votes on independence this fall. For some, it's a referendum on austerity policies that have crippled economies all over Europe.

Lesson No. 1: Don’t trust bank stress-test results.

Podemos has created a new form of struggle based in large part on the ideas of people working in the tradition of Gramsci. Iglesias argued that as the broad mass of people were not engaging in politics through the existing parties, the left had to go where the people were. This was a war of ideology and of position.

The structure of Vistalegre II (citizens' assembly) is mainly focused on three major votes that will decide the party’s political makeup — the election of its 62-member, country-wide Citizens Assembly, the election of the General Secretary and adoption of four main documents that relate to party’s organisation, political orientation, ethics and gender equality.