Category: Trump

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Ríos de Sangre

Ríos de sangre

Todos somos provisionales
en este mundo
y en estas tierras.

Incluso aquellos que aún viven
en el mismísimo paritorio
del hospital en que nacieron,
agarrados al potro de la cama
donde aterrizaron al salir
del viente de sus madres.
Aquellos que aún no han limpiado
su propio líquido amniótico.

Todos somos provisionales
en estas tierras
y en este mundo.
Incluso aquellos que alardean
como si fuera mérito suyo
de haber nacido en tal o cual sitio
como la patata que presume
de haber elegido el bancal donde creció.

Incluso aquellos que planifican
dónde irse a vivir
usando hojas de cálculo
para determinar el lugar
que mejores exenciones fiscales
y retribuciones profesionales ofrece.

Incluso aquellos que llegaron
por accidente, como yo,
a un paisaje verde y amable
y nunca vieron el día
de comprar billete de vuelta.

Incluso aquellos que se ven
forzados a abandonar
sus pueblos y ciudades
asediados por el caos capitalista
del hambre y de las guerras,
aquellos que huyen de la muerte o de la miseria.

Incluso aquellos que sueñan con caras distintas,
con horizontes nuevos, con aires inéditos.

Todos somos provisionales
en este mundo
y en estas tierras,
porque somos los Ríos de Sangre
que alimentan los Océanos de Esperanza.

“Ríos de Sangre”: Título que se le ha dado al tristemente famoso discurso anti-inmigración pronunciado en 1968 por Enoch Powell en el que evocó la sangre en el Río Tíber de la Eneida de Virgilio (Siglo I a.C.)

Traducido del poema original en inglés, Rivers of Blood, por el autor
Poema publicado por primera vez en ‘Contra: poesía ante la represión’. Coordinadora Anti Represión de la Región de Murcia. 2016.

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The Night of Trump

I held my heart,
my breath,
my iPad.

I looked through the screen
like an agonising wizard
who casts
his eyes
on the hidden
guts
of a crystal
ball.

How many emotions,
how much attention,
could the map
of the States
withstand?

Never,
never
red and blue,
the numbers of colleges,
the random borders
of arbitrary plots
meant to me
what they meant that night:

an evil that no soul
will ever forgive,
a twilight that our dawn
will have to redeem.

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Lesson about Trump and Brexit

Trump is here. Brexit is here. The damage is done regardless of what both mean in terms of policy. Their media and the popular movements they command are even more dangerous than the new breed of politicians that are now in power.

After this debacle, nevertheless, there is still hope, if we can learn from the experience.

Here is a big lesson for anyone who defends equality and inclusion in the World, from social-liberal and social democrats to democratic radical socialists:

Both Brexit and Trump are the result of the success of rogue members of the establishment in outflanking their establishment counterparts. These ultra-entrepreneurial individuals have supported both “movements” through media manipulation and funding. They have made the most of the new digital technology and culture.

The “traditional” establishment is bemused and angry at them. It is evident that the so-called “establishment” has cracks (It might end up in a state of semi-fluidity, actually, if we play our cards right). Its political unity was an illusion, partly fuelled by theories around class struggle, which, plausible as they may be, have their limitations.

So, what is the way forward?

There are other business groups and wealthy individuals who would benefit from a much faster and decisive technological revolution in areas such as renewable energy generation (there are many more examples apart from this). These members of the “establishment” know that neither Trump or Brexit, nor the Conservative-liberal-social democrat conglomerate in the EU, are going to help them to prosper as fast as they need, and as fast they should, in fairness to some of them. Their chances of bringing technological change and sustainable prosperity to a much needed humanity, and their chances of outflanking some of the more established industries during their own life times, are still poor.

And here is the opportunity:

These business groups and individuals can fund new “movements” and their necessary “media” conglomerates to take on the Conservative(UK)-Republican(USA) populists and win elections by occupying and expanding the left of the political spectrum. It is only that type of electoral change that will make it possible for their industrial activities to grow much faster and consolidate. Equally, it is only that type of electoral change that can bring our agendas of equality, inclusion and fairness back on track. 

The success of new ethical technology and energy businesses is compatible with real social and political change, as one will be intrinsically linked to the other: new forms of ownership and business management embedded in new legislation for these industries, as well as public-community-private partnerships, can tie the knot between the new industry and the new political movements once they reach government.

I think it is time for blue sky thinking and action. New media groups, new engagement, new alliances.