Spanish life is not always likeable but it is compellingly loveable.
- Christopher Howse: A Pilgrim in Spain.
If you've arrived here because of an interest in Galicia or Pontevedra, see my web pagehere. Garish but informative.
Matters Spanish
- The Local comments here on the oft-predicted peaking of tourism here.
- The newish PSOE prime minister might be about to learn that you can displease all the people all the time. He's proposed a Catalan referendum on greater autonomy, not on independence. This might well be what the majority of Catalans would be happy with – or would've been happy with before the idiocies of the last PP government – but this will be a tougher sell now. Especially in view of the intransigent independista attitude of many/most of the local political parties. But just possibly it's a good interim step, before the less-angry Catalans are given the opportunity to have a non-binding referendum on independence. On the basis that the majority of them have never really wanted this. In contrast to a vociferous minority. As in Scotland.
- The New York Times has a bit of a go here at Spain for its attitude towards the immigrants who end up as the folk illegally selling fake goods on the streets of her major cities.
- The Canary Islands are not happy about the possible imminent changes to the Spanish clock. They - sensibly - want to remain an hour earlier than the mainland,
- The chief executive of the TSB bank in the UK has resigned, in the face of continuing IT problems there. I wonder if anyone in the bank's parent company here in the Spain, Banco Sabadell, will fall on his/her sword. I rather doubt it. As the Dutch author Mr Vincent Werner has alleged here, people don't tend to take responsibility for disasters in Spain. Unless they're dead. When it is vistited upon them.
The EU and the World
- Below is an article – by Melanie Phillips of the Times - on the nation state, a concept which – understandably - fell out of favour at the end of the Second World War but which might now be making a comeback. If so, this won't help the continued existence of the EU and will seriously militate against the creation of a supra-state HQ'd in Brussels. The “ever-closer union” etc. BTW, I've long shared the perspective on the nation state and the 'imperial' EU ascribed to Yoram Hazony. Hence my long-standing opposition to the EU, though not to the economic community it used to be. I don't always agree with Ms Phillips but I do in this case.
Matters Galician and Pontevedran
- This is the street that the obnoxious French chap was looking for on Saturday:-
It runs to the market at the bottom of it. I'm really posting because most of the shops in it have closed in the last few years. Since it lies in the 'all night bar-zone' of Pontevedra's old quarter, it's possible that yet more 'disco-bars' will proliferate in due course. Or maybe there'll be one or more additional jewellery stores. To join the one recently opened at the top of the street.
- Galicia is high on the list of regions which have had recourse to Spain's Citizen Security law, commonly known as The Gag Law. But this might well reflect the number of drug arrests here. What can't be denied is that the number of arrests in Pontevedra province for 'disrespecting' those in authority is proportionately high. Fines under this law have totalled €364m so far this year, a 47% increase on 2017. Useful, then.
Finally . . .
- Un runrún is defined by the Royal Academy as A confusing din of voices. Or A continuous and unbroken noise or sounds. Or A buzzing. So . . . the backcloth, as it were, to life in Spain. Something you just have to get used to - and even participate in - if you're to enjoy life here. Or stay at home. Don't believe the claim that Japan is even noisier.
© [David] Colin Davies, Pontevedra: 4.9.18
THE ARTICLE
Nationalism has been a dirty word for too long: Melanie Phillips, The Times
The concept of the nation state is vilified but it is essential for personal freedom and democracy
Nationalism needs to sack its PR agency. As a political creed, it is widely deemed to be synonymous with fascism, Nazism, bigotry, war and the Holocaust. The Brexit vote, the rise of nationalist parties across Europe and the election of Donald Trump are said to exemplify “nativism” — which paints nationalism as a form of xenophobic racism — and to augur the arrival in the West of a new dark age of repression.
Now, a thinker has stuck his head into the very jaws of the lion by arguing that, on the contrary, nationalism is the bulwark of liberty and democracy. Yoram Hazony, an Israeli philosopher, is the founder and former head of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. This liberal arts college set out to challenge the failure of Israeli universities to teach the core texts underpinning Jewish identity and western civilisation.
Such failure is rooted in the default belief among progressive intellectuals in Britain, America and the rest of the West that their culture is innately racist and exploitative and that the nation state is responsible for all the ills of the world. This belief emerged in response to Nazism in Germany. That was ascribed to nationalism, said in turn to be a near-inevitable outgrowth of the western nation state. Undermine or circumscribe the nation state and you would abolish bigotry, hatred and war.
There are many different definitions of nationalism. In his new book, The Virtue of Nationalism, Hazony defines it as “a principled standpoint that regards the world as governed best when nations are able to chart their own independent course, cultivating their own traditions, and pursuing their own interests without interference”.The alternative,he says, is imperialism, which is inherently tyrannical through seeking to unite mankind under a single political regime.
Under the imperialist heading, Hazony includes liberalism, the EU and the postwar American “world order”, which sought to impose western legal norms through the global exercise of US military might.
By contrast, the mutual loyalties at the heart of the nation state, based on shared traditions of language, religion, law, culture and other characteristics, provide “the only known foundation” for tolerance and diversity, free institutions and individual liberties.
So, what about Nazi Germany? Hazony argues that Germany was not so much a nation state as a classic imperial power because it wanted to conquer all of Europe. A true nation state, he suggests, inherently requires limited borders because it is based upon the particularities of cultural identity. It’s demonstrably the case that bigotry or intolerance are not confined to the nationalist right. Universalist ideologies such as liberalism, Marxism and Islam have been shown to inflame vicious hatred against those who oppose them.
Some European nationalists do have troubling associations with Nazi or racist ideologies. Others are simply fighting to defend their national identity and culture against erosion by the combination of liberal “imperialists” and mass immigration. Yet all are demonised equally. This has resulted in a lethal confusion. People are entitled to want to live in societies that identify with a common heritage and goals. Yet this is now treated as racist, “nativist” and illegitimate by virtually the entire political mainstream.
In Britain and America, the Brexit and Trump phenomena constitute a mass revolt against this vilification of national identity. In Europe, millions of similarly disenfranchised decent citizens are voting for new parties offering them an end to mass immigration, along with a pledge to resist Islamisation and to defend their national identity.
Some of these parties do give cause for legitimate concern on account of some of their historical connections. Some supporters may be motivated by racism or anti-Muslim prejudice. In other words, racists, fascists and bigots may be piggy-backing on the frustration of those with a legitimate desire to preserve western culture. Their motivation, however, is not the same. Millions want to defend western national identity based on tolerance, liberty and one law for all. These values are threatened by mass immigration and multiculturalism.
Fascists or white supremacists don’t want to stop immigration in order to preserve western decencies. They are motivated instead by hatred of others, lust for power and denial of the core principles of civilised society. The disturbing thing, though, is that because all nationalism is equally damned as unconscionable, increasing numbers feel they have no alternative but to vote for such parties, however noxious they may be.
If the nation state fails to survive, western society will revert to premodern tribalism: group fighting group for power and supremacy and deploying coercive measures to stifle opposition.
We can already see this happening. The onslaught by liberal universalists on the nation state has produced totalitarian identity politics, victim culture and brazen antisemitism once again stalking the corridors of Britain and Europe. Far from preventing bigotry and intolerance, the delegitimisation of the nation state and the corresponding demoralisation of western culture has in fact fomented them.
The desire of the vast majority to uphold their historic culture and identity, with democratically elected legislatures passing laws reflecting that shared national project, is not a route to the destruction of liberty, tolerance and decency. It is, in fact, the only way to defend them.
The concept of the nation state is vilified but it is essential for personal freedom and democracy
Nationalism needs to sack its PR agency. As a political creed, it is widely deemed to be synonymous with fascism, Nazism, bigotry, war and the Holocaust. The Brexit vote, the rise of nationalist parties across Europe and the election of Donald Trump are said to exemplify “nativism” — which paints nationalism as a form of xenophobic racism — and to augur the arrival in the West of a new dark age of repression.
Now, a thinker has stuck his head into the very jaws of the lion by arguing that, on the contrary, nationalism is the bulwark of liberty and democracy. Yoram Hazony, an Israeli philosopher, is the founder and former head of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. This liberal arts college set out to challenge the failure of Israeli universities to teach the core texts underpinning Jewish identity and western civilisation.
Such failure is rooted in the default belief among progressive intellectuals in Britain, America and the rest of the West that their culture is innately racist and exploitative and that the nation state is responsible for all the ills of the world. This belief emerged in response to Nazism in Germany. That was ascribed to nationalism, said in turn to be a near-inevitable outgrowth of the western nation state. Undermine or circumscribe the nation state and you would abolish bigotry, hatred and war.
There are many different definitions of nationalism. In his new book, The Virtue of Nationalism, Hazony defines it as “a principled standpoint that regards the world as governed best when nations are able to chart their own independent course, cultivating their own traditions, and pursuing their own interests without interference”.The alternative,he says, is imperialism, which is inherently tyrannical through seeking to unite mankind under a single political regime.
Under the imperialist heading, Hazony includes liberalism, the EU and the postwar American “world order”, which sought to impose western legal norms through the global exercise of US military might.
By contrast, the mutual loyalties at the heart of the nation state, based on shared traditions of language, religion, law, culture and other characteristics, provide “the only known foundation” for tolerance and diversity, free institutions and individual liberties.
So, what about Nazi Germany? Hazony argues that Germany was not so much a nation state as a classic imperial power because it wanted to conquer all of Europe. A true nation state, he suggests, inherently requires limited borders because it is based upon the particularities of cultural identity. It’s demonstrably the case that bigotry or intolerance are not confined to the nationalist right. Universalist ideologies such as liberalism, Marxism and Islam have been shown to inflame vicious hatred against those who oppose them.
Some European nationalists do have troubling associations with Nazi or racist ideologies. Others are simply fighting to defend their national identity and culture against erosion by the combination of liberal “imperialists” and mass immigration. Yet all are demonised equally. This has resulted in a lethal confusion. People are entitled to want to live in societies that identify with a common heritage and goals. Yet this is now treated as racist, “nativist” and illegitimate by virtually the entire political mainstream.
In Britain and America, the Brexit and Trump phenomena constitute a mass revolt against this vilification of national identity. In Europe, millions of similarly disenfranchised decent citizens are voting for new parties offering them an end to mass immigration, along with a pledge to resist Islamisation and to defend their national identity.
Some of these parties do give cause for legitimate concern on account of some of their historical connections. Some supporters may be motivated by racism or anti-Muslim prejudice. In other words, racists, fascists and bigots may be piggy-backing on the frustration of those with a legitimate desire to preserve western culture. Their motivation, however, is not the same. Millions want to defend western national identity based on tolerance, liberty and one law for all. These values are threatened by mass immigration and multiculturalism.
Fascists or white supremacists don’t want to stop immigration in order to preserve western decencies. They are motivated instead by hatred of others, lust for power and denial of the core principles of civilised society. The disturbing thing, though, is that because all nationalism is equally damned as unconscionable, increasing numbers feel they have no alternative but to vote for such parties, however noxious they may be.
If the nation state fails to survive, western society will revert to premodern tribalism: group fighting group for power and supremacy and deploying coercive measures to stifle opposition.
We can already see this happening. The onslaught by liberal universalists on the nation state has produced totalitarian identity politics, victim culture and brazen antisemitism once again stalking the corridors of Britain and Europe. Far from preventing bigotry and intolerance, the delegitimisation of the nation state and the corresponding demoralisation of western culture has in fact fomented them.
The desire of the vast majority to uphold their historic culture and identity, with democratically elected legislatures passing laws reflecting that shared national project, is not a route to the destruction of liberty, tolerance and decency. It is, in fact, the only way to defend them.
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