From indignation to citizen rescue plan: the first year of 15 May Movement

The corollary of this unambiguous, imaginative expression is a notable application of highly honed computer skills and thorough knowledge of the social networks. In general, perhaps largely through its slogans, 15-M has become a visible point of reference, an externalisation of people’s rage and anxiety, offering a sense to the downtrodden that they are not alone, a feeling of community, or cooperative effort. What fuels 15-M is much more than indignation even while it offers the only political space for the constructive channelling of public outrage into democratic debate, organisation and proposals. Public space is democratic space par excellence, a fact that has not escaped 15-M, and the more heavily armed police, helicopters and Black Marias there are, the more the citizens yearn for true democracy.

A very clear programme in the form of a Citizen Rescue Plan has now been adopted by many groups coming under the general umbrella of 15-M. At present, the web page informs the reader that these are “lines of action in constant construction” and that this is just a beginning. In well-argued pages, complete with pertinent articles, legal references and links to different groups, the Plan calls for: an end to bank rescues and a new ethical banking that responds to the needs of the population; free, universal, public and high-quality health and education; an end to job insecurity, recognition that wealth and well-being is based in the productive efforts of the majority and hence a more equitable distribution of wealth, including a universal basic income as a guarantee of the right to existence of every single citizen; an end to real-estate speculation and the right to decent housing, as established by Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution and offering a five-point plan as to how to achieve this; and transparency, accountability, civil rights, Internet rights and a truly democratic relationship between civil society and government.

Social and electoral realities are often very out of step. Apart from some of Spain’s historic nations, namely Catalonia, the Basque Autonomous Community and Galicia, there is no short-term electoral alternative in the country to the increasingly convergent right-wing PP and the “socialist” PSOE. The mismatch between the two realities is manifest in moments of conflict as in the general strike of 29March and the 15-M mobilisations and one can expect that it will be even more evident in the months to come.

Hence some activists are now pondering the question of whether and how to give electoral expression to 15-M. This is one of the thornier problems the movement faces and naturally one that gives rise to reservations and suspicions. If social mobilisation usually does not have an immediate electoral expression, the idea of forcing debate in 15-M over presenting for the elections would not seem to be a good one. The great advantage the movement has is its ability to mobilise and organise a large number of people and to extend its influence to organisations and groups that don’t participate directly in its usual activities, not to mention its freedom to adapt to fast-changing circumstances and its ability to come up with a swift response. The latest surveys show that 15-M has the support of 68 per cent of the population and 75 per cent of young people.

Many opinions are swirling through Internet as to what the movement should do now. The main themes include representation, decision-making agility, diversification of activities, use of the media, planning of mass mobilisation and international coordination. Difficulties, problems and errors are welcome. The movement is alive and learning and bringing a breath of fresh air to the squares and streets of many cities. The reasons for 15-M’s protest and struggle are not going away but are appearing in more barefaced and more brutal forms.

The social and political situation is increasingly extreme and the movement’s main challenge might now be how to link up and incorporate coherently the new forms of resistance arising with each new aggression. Whether the differences with other movements, unions and political organisations are great or small, it is time to pull together. The 15-M movement has shown the way: fac ut vivas. Its members are aware that if it is to last it will take large doses of responsibility, intelligence, imagination and, above all, hard work, qualities it has willingly embraced since they are mostly lacking among the perpetrators of our present distress. The task is attractive because 15-M, at least, sees another, much better world ahead of us.