Dear Miguel,<br><br>this is a heartening message, and I have seen your name around in forwarding material on p2p quite a few times,<br><br>is it possible to republish your letter here on the p2p blog?<br><br>Michel<br><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 12:20 AM, Miguel Afonso Caetano <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:miguel.a.caetano@gmail.com">miguel.a.caetano@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
Greeting, dear all from Portugal. I know haven't participated in any<br>
way in this list yet but the fact is that generally there is not much<br>
happening in a true P2P-sense around here for me to contribute<br>
anything of relevance to the list. Until yesterday. I thought that my<br>
fellow citizens were generally extremely apathetic, individualistic<br>
and subservient. But yesterday this changed with the occurence of a<br>
mass demonstration against precariousness and unemployment that<br>
gathered almost 300,000 people in Lisbon's biggest avenue. Read the<br>
Washington Post and Reuters' reports here:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/12/AR2011031202958.html" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/12/AR2011031202958.html</a><br>
<a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/Massive-rallies-in-Portugal-as-more-austerity-planned/Article1-672787.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.hindustantimes.com/Massive-rallies-in-Portugal-as-more-austerity-planned/Article1-672787.aspx</a><br>
<br>
Spanish newspapers El Pa�s and El Mundo also mentioned the rally:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Decenas/miles/portugueses/manifiestan/precariedad/mayor/concentracion/margen/partidos/elpepuint/20110312elpepuint_18/Tes" target="_blank">http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Decenas/miles/portugueses/manifiestan/precariedad/mayor/concentracion/margen/partidos/elpepuint/20110312elpepuint_18/Tes</a><br>
<a href="http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/03/12/internacional/1299954717.html" target="_blank">http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/03/12/internacional/1299954717.html</a><br>
<br>
Some photos and videos:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bloco_de_esquerda/sets/72157626125803349/show/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/bloco_de_esquerda/sets/72157626125803349/show/</a><br>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7PpsTOqYLA" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7PpsTOqYLA</a><br>
<br>
It was fabulous, it was huge! Never in my 35-years of existence in<br>
this country ever had I seen something so spontaneous,<br>
non-hierarchical, bottom-up and leaderless as this demonstration.<br>
Traditionally, all major "civic" events in Portugal have been<br>
organized by political parties, unions or the Church with promotional<br>
aid by the mainstream media.<br>
<br>
Not this one. It all emerged from Facebook, in an almost bottom-up<br>
fashion. Some left-wing parties have naturally tried to co-opt the<br>
movement, associating themselves with the protesters, providing<br>
propaganda, etc. But all-in-all it was a unique moment. I sincerely<br>
hope this can be the start of something really big, inclusive and<br>
participative :) Civil society around here is still very incipient.<br>
Since April 25 of 1974, The State has gorged all the economy's<br>
resources and now that it is buried in debts, the biggest opposition<br>
party wants to privatize everything and sell all the assets that<br>
weren't already sold to the huge corporations who have profited from<br>
privileged ties with the current ruling government by way of<br>
public-private partnerships to fund the construction of numerous<br>
highways, bridges or high-speed trains. With the enormous<br>
consolidation of the economy that has been going on, no wonder people<br>
have no jobs or have to live in perpetual precariousness! And still,<br>
there are some critics who dismiss the complains of the protesters,<br>
accusing them of lack of self-esteem, spirit of entrepreneurship or<br>
even of having chosen a wrong educational path.<br>
<br>
Sure, there was some recycling of the icons and ideologies of the<br>
April Revolution, specifically its communist and marxist roots:<br>
"comrades" here and there, lots of complains and no consistent<br>
alternatives to present for the future of the society. People still<br>
have a very na�ve perspective of the State's role. But to sum up: I<br>
think this is the right moment to spread the P2P ethos here in<br>
Portugal. Leaderless movements like this one are inherently open and<br>
syncretic. Thus, they can be partially appropriated by organized<br>
institutional agents; however they cannot be totally co-opted by them.<br>
Otherwise, they become closed. I estimate that there will be even more<br>
massive demonstrations before people realize they will need to<br>
organize between themselves in practical terms in their daily lives<br>
and not to expect everything from the government.<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
<br>
--<br>
Miguel Caetano<br>
<br>
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