Blog jueves

Nothing visible on the chilli front today. We went the the Reina Sofina centre for contemporary art, the highlights of which were Picasso's Guernica ( predictably) in a crowded room and some end of life paintings by Miro and Picasso in a very empty room.  

The exhibition around Guernica showed some great art and told some powerful stories about the 2nd Republic, the role radical contemporary artists had, and thought they had, in popular analysis and politics, about the kind of inevitable force of business, capital and authoritarianism which saw Franco come to power. You can't imagine Australia's mining giants supporting the anarchists and socialists and surrealists in any battle for legitimacy.  It made us wonder about any lessons the thirties might have for the new era of uncertain capitalism that  - from here in Spain at any event - seems much of the world is drifting into. 50% youth unemployment  and I don't know what is happening to older people out of work here. 

I missed the protest at Atocha railway station the other day where incoming politicians were put on the spot about the unfair mortgage laws that are seeing people lose their jobs and then their houses. I havent seen evidence the radical theatre here now that was a feature of 30s Madrid yet.  I suspect it's on the Internet. And my Spanish is rather limited for research purposes, so if anyone out there has the cyber contacts please let me know. 

 Meanwhile  The Guardian suggests the Churches, well some of them, are fighting a rearguard action in the UK; strongly accusing the Conservative government of demonising the poor. While the complex series of events which has led to the near collapse of so many banks really can't be blamed on the poor, or even on social security (which in many countries is the poor by another name) it seems that there are more than enough people content to see them do things tougher. Check out the Anglicare Australia research showing its the most affluent who think the poor should get a bare minimum support. 

 So I'm looking around here to see signs of how this contest of ideas is being expressed.

I must say, I am not missing the Australian political analysis and commentary.