As you may recall, two weeks ago we left America in search of the truth behind socialism. Disturbed that Bernie Sanders' socialist leaning message was being intentionally mischaracterized, marginalized and dismissed as idealistic, unrealistic and could never work, it was important for this observer to find evidence to the contrary because I knew it existed. Since Spain, a socialist nation is currently in the midst of a political struggle of its own, we thought Madrid (the capital thereof) was the ideal space to start that search. What we found, was nothing less than astounding.
This was not a trip to see Spain's monuments and museums, this was more of a check out a movie and experience the metro type trip. We wanted to know how people lived in this socialist country and how much worse off, if at all, they were than Americans living under its capitalist model. And the only way to do that, was to hang out with the citizens up close and personnel without letting on that we were being nosey.
When we went to the movies we met friendly helpful and warm people there. We saw The Invitation and The Room (Both Recommended) When we road the metro, it was exceptionally, clean, fast, always on time and safe. And, we never saw any threatening creepy scummy types anywhere. In fact, outside of the tourist areas, we didn't even see many bums or beggars to speak of. And, believe me, we were looking for them. Most people we saw seemed to be doing quite well.
The vast majority of individuals we observed were dressed casually, while others, mostly older women were impeccably attired. We met an educated, well mannered polite people. We walked through neighborhood after neighborhood observing lifestyles, quality of life and safety standards. And we must admit, on all accounts, Spain's base standard of living exceeds that of the United States. In short, we didn't see much of anything that could be described as outright poverty. If it was there, we couldn't find it.
We saw well designed, maintained and affordable apartment complexes throughout the Spain's capital that many Americans would kill to live in. We went by the real estates offices to confirm the monthly rents in the areas we observed. We looked at the floor plans to see what you got for your money and it was impressive to say the least. And considering what a clean, safe, upscale apartment would set you back in Washington D.C., it definitely got us thinking. We had to know more.
We sat in the parks, the many plazas and cafes (on the dry days), just to watch the people. We walked up and down the many hilly streets and narrow passage ways with the locals, as they ran about their neighborhoods jogging to keep fit and trim. And those streets were as clean as the Madrid metro platforms. And in doing so, we could see what the Spaniards valued most. They value the concept of work life balance.
In this socialist country, we could see how highly regarded the extended family was throughout Spain's culture. From tiny babies in carriages to the elderly in wheel chairs, all were valued, cared for and appreciated. We saw who picked up their children after school and how the families shared the responsibilities of raising those children. We saw how much time mothers and fathers had to spend with their children at the conclusion of the work day, as well as how they spent that time with their little ones.
In fact, the more we saw, the more we understood, socialism was more than a "populace driven" socioeconomic political system of governing a nation. Socialism is a way of life adopted to share life's burdens by sharing the nation's wealth. If any one tells you socialism can't work, they've either never been to Spain, or they're lying to you. Normally, this is where you'd get our bottom line, but we're not done yet, because we saw so much more. So stay tuned tomorrow. Podcast below!
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