El Rastro, Antifascista Protests and How to Avoid Flashmob Activism
Values are essential to any and everyone.
Even if the things an individual values may be averse to their own health or progression.
Whatever the thing is, it provides feelings in the form of: comfort, esteem, or compassion.
Values are also intrinsic, or at least they begin that way.
They start with an individual, then come to define a family, a community, a state, and finally a nation.
We create bonds through the things we value, form alliances with those who share our values, and (for the most part) disassociate with those whose values differ or contradict our own.
Let’s take the family for example. I value my family, and because of this I work hard to be able to help them progress in the best ways possible.
However, this is a common value. One shared with many others around the world, who also care about their families and providing the best for them as well.
The value of family is a driving motivator for us to create, engineer, challenge, and apply ourselves. It can be argued that our best work is achieved when there is some sort of family issue at hand. The threat to the thing we value working like the spur to a horse.
It’s the same reason why we rebel when our ability to provide for or access the things which we value is manipulated.
The global pandemic has manipulated our access to the things we value in ways that we’ve never encountered before.
Our ability to work, specifically, owning a small business has been devastating for many individuals.
I’ve seen the effects of this during my first few weeks living in Madrid with the “El Rastro Protests”.
El Rastro is an outdoor market (flea market maybe doesn’t capture it) made up of many small businesses and traders selling their goods and wares. It’s been held every Sunday in the center of Madrid’s Rastro Neighborhood since June 2010.
The market has been shutdown since March of this year when measurements were taken to ensure the safety of Madrid’s residents in consideration of the soaring infected rates across the country.
This has taken a drastic toll on the owners of the businesses from El Rastro, including their ability to access the values dear to them. While their protests each Sunday morning were loud and disruptive to any sleep my neighbors and I had planned, many of us also stand with their cause. The pandemic has alienated them from things which they value, and created a harder life to navigate in these times.
Thankfully this past week after months of protests and perseverance, the city council of Madrid has allowed El Rastro to resume on Sundays as once before.
The pandemic may not be over, but at least we have some positive closure for the individuals who’ve had their lives compromised by this predicament.
There are, however, times that people can be connected by misplaced values. When this happens unity can become destructive.
I saw this the other night when Antifascistas took to the streets by my apartment in protests of their values, setting off fireworks, and kicking whatever objects lay in their path out of the way. A lot of the extra stuff was unnecessary, and it ironically opposes their central message.
It’s amazing that no one in the group thought they were being obnoxious in their excessive actions, but those are the effects of groupthink.
Groupthink occurs when the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.
You see, the values you share with others should never contend with your personal values. At least not so directly. I value my family but I also value not being a thief. No matter my situation, I won’t steal to provide for my family. There are other ways to secure your needs.
It’s the same reason why it’s ridiculous to be so aggressive about antifascism.
Always be willing to reassess your own values before joining forces with others. Think for yourself, and be driven by intrinsic motivations. If not, you’ll find yourself caught in any movement like a feather in the wind without direction.
