For the political renaissance of Catalonia. The Infancy of a Democratic Sense (1934)

HISTORICAL PIECES CHOSEN BY JOSEP MARIA CASASÚSFrom the publishing house of ‘Mirador’ (May 17, 1934), a weekly newspaper then directed by Just Cabot (Barcelona, ​​1898 – Paris, 1961). It was a time of highly accentuated social confrontation in Catalonia due to the conflict over the Agricultural Contracts Law, one of the causes of the federalist proclamation of President Companys on October 6, 1934. State totalitarianisms were gaining ground in Germany , Italy and the Soviet Union.

A few months ago Advertising addressed a query to the young people of Catalonia: what vision did they have of themselves and of the land where they were born?, what new or old ideas did they bring to the world? All this was the object of the survey which was favored by a multitude of answers, inspired by diverse spirits. […] The first result of the conversation is to have acquired the conviction that today Catalonia is in one of the most chaotic moments of its existence as a people. For a young viewer, this homeland that suddenly acquires a series of government obligations, and finds that until now it has lived in a fiercely individualistic environment and even exasperated by everything that creates headaches individual and comfort, must at times offer an air of insoluble problem. Let’s add that this young viewer is, as a corollary, devoid of any deep political culture (nor of the others, not through his fault; but that’s how it is). Then, when he comes up with a remedy for the fog that he sees hovering over his country, he has no other solution than to resort to the notions that run on the street, or to take into account only imperative and very partial needs. And with these elements of judgment a vision of the world and a program for the future must be made. Obviously such a man will feel an instinctive revulsion towards democracy. As far as he can understand, democracy is the law of least effort, the absolute predominance of the mob, or, speaking more clearly, of the agitators who lead it. And, on this path, he sees no solution of any kind. […] Instead, the systems of force, which always have one aspect or another of miracleriathey must steal his heart. […] It is therefore no coincidence that the great tendency of the conversation between representatives of our youth, to get excited either for fascism or for state communism, another kind of fascism. […] It is clear, then, that the youth perceives, perhaps as an echo of the reality of the street, that Catalonia needs ideas and methods and looks for them, confusingly, wherever it seems that modernity and renewal triumph. It would be a failure to fulfill our modest mission if, while we condemn the enthusiasm for violence, we do not try to demonstrate its weakness. Violence, in fact, is not force. Force is not imposed, but overcomes. Fascism and absolute regimes are based on pessimism for man and seek the attachment of sentiment or the imposition of violence. […] But let us be optimistic. In Catalonia, an intellectual renaissance impossible to ignore has been observed for some time. Not only are large currents of opinion joining Catalanism, but the establishment of a democracy – freed from the usual common places – is becoming more and more established. Spiritual anarchism disappears, and the rhythm of the Catalan revolution strengthens and advances firmly. […]