By Shayn Peitsch

”We were on the trains.” Sign held by a Spaniard at a rally in Madrid against the terror bombings

The bombings in Spain this week have gotten me to think a bit more deeply on the current progressive stance in the world. Remembering back to September 11th, 2001 and the terrorist attacks in the U.S., the reaction of the Spanish people mark a divergence from the path taken by the U.S. administration. The U.S. simply declared their anger and asked for vengeance; this seems quite in line with how governments for the rich operate. The hastily thought out plans of Curious George and Co. was acceptably enough at the time to give them a blank check to use it’s full power to really change the world.

Of course, the consequences of the U.S.’s actions are well known. Al-Quada still survives and is a potential suspect in the Spanish bombings. Afghanistan belongs to the Middle Ages, Saddam is out of power and Iraq is in flames. Thousands of people have been killed, millions have been effected very directly by this policy in a horrible way; not to mention the assault on the U.S.’s own freedoms and security. And so the list goes on.

The reaction of the Spaniards thus far does not seem to co-operate with that line of thinking to date. Viewing the marked difference of the Spanish reaction so far, I can say that the outcome will be fundamentally different; this is because it’s coming from a different place. Just last night, millions of Spaniards marched in solidarity against the bombings. Of course they are angry and demanding action. However, they are also calling out for justice. True justice. Thousands painted their hands and held them up for the world to see. A sign of peace, the same sign they used when they declared their opposition to the war against Iraq last spring.

Their president, Jose María Aznar, who led a reluctant Spain into the U.S.’s war on terrorism, was at the head of the main rally in Madrid. I’m feeling that he’s going to win tomorrows election, and use this to build his case for supporting the U.S., which was shown to be against the wishes of the Spanish people, who rose against the war in Iraq last year in an overwhelming majority (some 90%). It truly baffles me how these terrorist attacks always come at the best of times for right-wing conservatives, despite their horrible record against terrorism.

I hope, though doubt, that the progressive response of so many Spaniards will change Spain’s attitude and policies on the war on terrorism. What the world needs now more than anything is whole nations collectively stating a very declarative and assertive “no!” to pre-emptive war, coupled with establishing a clear U.N. mandate on fixing the holes left behind by the U.S. war machine in such countries as Afghanistan and Iraq. Not to mention help countries forgotten by the US, like Haiti and Libya, who U.S. foreign policy has left out of it’s planning in our brave new world after a century of interference. Spain can show the world how to deal with terrorism properly – by acting like morally driven people, and leaving behind the pettiness and willful blindness of war, terrorism and revenge. The Spanish government can easily get the support of the world, and more importantly, that of the Spanish people, to find out who committed this horrendous crime and act appropriately. This is going to be a pivotal moment in seeing how Spain will contribute to either the progressive world of democracy, consensus, and justice, or the much darker side of humanity, that of resentment, fear and anger; the new unspoken beacons of capitalism and top-down, nation-state for the rich democracies.

The reason I see two paths for Spain is because everyone is so actively destroying any middle ground and thrusting world opinion into two equally reactionary camps. This hurts our progressive movement, but it strengthens our arguments considerably by providing fertile grounds of proof and evidence created by the disasters wrought on all fronts by western societies belief that we must change the world to fit our imperialistic view of it. Each day, I see only new reasons why we’re correct to stand on our moral grounds and denounce predatory capitalism, right-wing intervention and corporate greed. The growth of inequalities and the backward steps have far out-paced our abilities to denounce them.

Which means the icing on the cake was put into place a long time ago. We know that the current systems in our respective nations and the growing ineffectiveness of the U.N. is proof enough that they can no longer lead this world forward. I’m sure many of us are wondering why our numbers do not swell in accordance with the facts. With each failed policy, shouldn’t more people realize that our world needs a new vision, and the one envisioned by our intellectuals is that very vision?

Well, no. We cannot possibly expect our moral and political stance alone to overcome the onslaught of the popular, global corporate media. Our responsibility is not to be the reactionary left-wing camp. Rather, we are the voice for the 90% of the planet who is not rich. When tragedies like the Spanish bombings happen, it’s up to us not only to say we denounce the policies which created the deadly situation and the horror that is almost sure to follow by the quick fix of retribution and revenge, but also that we were on those trains when the bomb exploded. The death of innocent civilizations isn’t fodder for our argument; it’s the death of people we’re supposed to protect.

The murder of hard-working, innocent and average people was caused in part because we failed to convince the world of our vision, especially when we know that we have the mentality and the ideas to step the reasons of terrorism. We are the alternative view not because our view is different, but because we reflect what is just and truthful. Our intellectuals have shown us our clear path to the world we say we want, and when tragedies like this are born out of policies like the war on terrorism (as it just may turn out), which we so venomously denounce, we must reassess the reasons why the world still does not heed our call to realign our stance and policies in world affairs.

If we have chosen the idea that we want leaders, not rulers, than so be it. After the period of mourning the victims of terrorism deserve, we must look at how we, as progressives and activists are trying to create the visions of our dreamers, and change or reaffirm our actions as necessary. As March 20th, the first anniversary of the second Iraq war approaches, we must take our global plans to restate our goals and opposition and use such an event to also declare that 2004 will be different, because we are going to take the last few incredible years and use them as the basis for another year of hard work and activism for the sake of justice and progress. Progress doesn’t mean being “the other side,” if we’re going to be successful; it has to mean working towards the world that already exists and deserves it’s chance to bring about a better day. The Spanish reaction thus far should tell us it resides in the hopes and dreams of the people.

With our raised, painted hands, let’s renew our vow to be the servants of our dreams, and the masters of our realities.

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it ... always." Mahatma Gandhi

Shayn Peitsch