![\"alt\"](\"https:\/\/www.revistarambla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/barcelona02.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Being part of an angry mob is fun, there\u2019s no denying it. It\u2019s exciting, it\u2019s immense, it feels powerful. It\u2019s even a little dangerous. Cops in riot gear are standing by with rubber bullets and tear gas, and they don\u2019t really care who gets it. Under the warm springtime sun we enjoyed in Barcelona on M-29, it all makes for a nice way to spend an afternoon. But let\u2019s not be satisfied with just that, we\u2019ve also got to remember we\u2019re making demands. What are they again?<\/p>\n
Spain\u2019s M-29 general strike was called by the two main trade unions to protest a recent overhaul of labour regulations making it cheaper and easier for employers to fire workers. With an estimated 800,000 participants throughout the country, union leaders are calling the general strike of M-29 a success. But the government\u2019s response suggests otherwise.<\/p>\n
Labour minister F\u00e1tima B\u00e1\u00f1ez said Thursday that the government would not meet union demands, calling the reform agenda \u201cunstoppable.\u201d Other leaders have expressed similar sentiments. So much for labour demands.<\/p>\n
Esperanza Aguirre, the president of the Community of Madrid, was even quoted as saying \u201cThese unions will fall like the Berlin Wall.\u201d Undiplomatic? Absolutely. Correct? She might be.<\/p>\n
Despite the turnout at the M-29 protest, unions have lost a great deal of support in the past decade. Their leaders, like so many others, are accused of corruption and general uselessness.<\/p>\n
Things are looking bad, folks. Politicians don\u2019t serve us, and unions are losing their mojo. It seems more and more like we\u2019re on our own in the midst of a crisis which may or may not go away, and it\u2019s daunting.<\/p>\n
The number of participants in the M-29 protest may not mean anything to the government, but they do mean that 800,000 people are upset enough to make a sign and hit the street. And I bet at least twice that amount thought about it. That\u2019s a lot of people who want change, and are ready to explore possibilities for getting it. Now that I\u2019ve lost my faith in democracy, I think we\u2019re going to have to do a lot more of our own problem solving.<\/p>\n
Not that anyone is going to give up forming angry mobs. It brings us together, and it\u2019s a good time. And listen. I don\u2019t support those bin burners one bit, but between you and me, I get real not-that-guilty pleasure out of seeing that Starbucks by Plaza Urquinaona all smashed up. Come on, I\u2019m not the only one.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Being part of an angry mob is fun, there\u2019s no denying it. It\u2019s exciting, it\u2019s immense, it feels powerful. It\u2019s even a little dangerous. Cops in riot gear are standing by with rubber bullets and tear gas, and they don\u2019t really care who gets it. Under the warm springtime sun […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\n