I was talking with a friend today. He told me he overheard someone dropping the usual speech: "Trump this, the US that, what a crazy country." And I nodded as he was telling me. Like we Spaniards have been doing since talk shows were invented.
And suddenly I stopped.
Not physically, mind you. I was still holding my beer. I stopped mentally. Like when you've been in the shower for 5 minutes and suddenly realize you're in the shower.
Since when do we look outward so much just to avoid looking at ourselves?
Spain is a country where people freak out about the US healthcare system and then go to their local clinic and wait 3 months for a doctor to check a mole. And nobody bats an eye. It's normal. It's Spain, man.
We freak out about rights being rolled back in certain American states, while here we let the far-right be sold to us wrapped in modern-day cellophane and half the country goes "well, but...". And the far-left is no better: the same guy who criticizes global capitalism from his Xiaomi and then defends regimes that would ban his own fucking podcast.
But you know what? Left and right are the same shit. Not because their programs are the same — they're not — but because the failure is always the same: the person. It doesn't matter which side you vote for, in the end the problem is the same human being who gets into power and forgets who put them there. The left-wing politician preaching equality while living in a mansion with a designer kitchen. The right-wing one talking about freedom while regulating every fucking thing you can smoke. All equally hypocritical, all equally far from the street.
The problem isn't the party. The problem is that people believe their own hype the moment they get a position. And the voters, instead of demanding, applaud. Because it's easier to feel part of a team than to think critically. "Us" against "them." Like soccer, but with real consequences.
Meanwhile we complain about electricity prices from an iPhone that costs 1200 paid over 36 months with no interest.
We criticize people who criticize climate change from their diesel RAM 2500, and we drive 300 meters to the gym to ride a stationary bike. And the worst part: we feel better because we admit it. As if self-awareness were the same as action.
It's not that we don't care. It's that it's more comfortable to be outraged from afar.
It's easier to be outraged about Poland's judicial reform than about the waiting list in your own region. Because Poland doesn't affect you directly. Your own region would require you to do something. Go to a protest. Write to your representative. Stop complaining and actually fix it.
And me, writing this from the lounge chair at the pool club, phone in hand and a Coke Zero sweating on the table, I'm the perfect example of everything I'm criticizing.
I'm not going to change anything. Neither is this post going to get anyone to mobilize. Tomorrow the talk shows will still be talking about Trump, and the waiting lists will still be where they were, and I'll still be here, writing about how fucked everything is from a fucking poolside bar.
But hey, at least I'm aware.
Or does that make it worse?
Lee en espanol (original): https://todomal.es/desde-la-tumbona-tambien-se-juzga
Required note: Just to be crystal clear. This post criticizes the hypocrisy of pointing fingers at others while looking the other way at home. It does NOT justify wars, murders, genocides, dictatorships, or any atrocity from any side. Those are never justified. If anyone misinterprets this, look in the mirror before assuming.
Image generated with AI. English translation by AI.
