Do not think about useful vote

For some time now I have been turning over a phenomenon I have called passive radicalization: the effect by which those of us who defend certain values that we have always considered sensible, and do not feel we have changed our way of thinking, find ourselves branded as radicals in the face of a society that has accepted far-right discourses. Many people find ourselves in this situation: we feel that our ideas, previously understood by a broad social consensus as moderate, have become radical.

But I do not want to settle for this situation. I do not want to believe that the majority of people are ideologically located in the spectrum most tolerant of the far right. I want to think that this is a perception that seeks to overestimate the strength of these ideas and a situation that can be combated democratically. That in reality, the majority of people do think that values such as freedom, equality, social justice, pluralism, diversity, or solidarity are non-negotiable in order to be able to live in a better society.

I do not intend to convince anyone with these words, but rather to appeal to everyone to respond forcefully when they feel disqualified in this regard. I remember that, when I was younger and we thought we would fix the world from bars, we talked about how to change the conceptual frameworks of the political agenda to engage the left as much as possible. It has always been a complicated task, but now it is essential. In this sense, George Lakoff, in his book Don't Think of an Elephant, explained that to win the narrative you have to use a favorable framework and change it whenever that is not the case. This is our struggle.

We must speak about immigration from humanism and solidarity, and not from racism or xenophobia. We defend public services and social justice, and not efficiency as an excuse for privatization. We believe that housing is a basic right of human dignity, and not an investment or a commodity. We are committed to setting limits, to sustainability and the improvement of everyone's quality of life, and not to unchecked tourism development.

We want healthcare, education, and the welfare state to be a social guarantee, and we do not believe in tax cuts that only benefit the wealthiest. We must continue fighting for real equality between men and women and against sexist violence, and we know that gender ideology does not exist. We want a world where diplomacy and peace are prioritized, and we want neither rearmament nor enemies. We are those who advocate for coexistence and prevention, and we know that a heavy hand should be the last resort. We fight so that everyone can have access to decent work and an increase in the minimum wage, and we combat discourses that, with spurious excuses, end up making workers precarious.

If you are also one of those people who has always thought that equal opportunities have nothing to do with free choice only for those who can afford it, that aging with dignity must be publicly guaranteed and that pensions should not be seen as a burden. If you know that freedom is equality of opportunity and income redistribution, and not the “everyone for themselves”...

If these values are also yours, when you think about November 29th, do not think about a useful vote. Simply feel free to spread this narrative. Say it often, defend it with pride. Do not think about a useful vote. Because you are not alone. You are part of the majority. Just defend, respond, be indignant. And when you do, remember that there are more of us who are convinced that a better country implies a government that guarantees housing as a right and not as a commodity, that strengthens the welfare state, that fights against climate change, that expands civil rights, that fights against sexist violence, that continues to increase the minimum wage and pensions, and that welcomes those who arrive with humanism. Do not think about a useful vote, but rather about what model of country you want.