Firm hand or gentle handling

One of the greatest dichotomies in recent sociology is the way we approach the others, especially when there’s a master-apprentice relationship, when one must educate the other or just when one element has to take the initiative for no matter what weird reasons. The two options are diametrically opposite, since one is based in strengh, authority and powerful represion of non-allowed attitudes, and the other tries to convince rather than defeat, to act softly and win adepts for the cause.

It’s difficult to choose one. One may even think that he is being tough and the others consider that as tender as a feather thrust. Or just the other way round: an apparently self-confessed loving man will appear a complete devil in the eyes of the cattle.

Take boss-employee relationship. For no matter which reason, the former is always a bloody bastard with no possibility of redeem; the latter, on the contrary, turns out to be the ultimate lazy unless unskilled worker, even though he has two degrees and a master by the university of life. When the employer adopts a brother-like, gently manner with the laborer, he will systematically try to escape his duties, reaching the point of laughing at the face of the dumb boss, insulting of nicknaming him if his kindness permits the situation. We mankind are like this, biting the hand that feeds us, abusing good people and crawling before real sonofabitches. Because the evil boss, bad-tempered without reason, always molesting and humilliating his subordinates is much more typical, and it’s difficult to say if he went cruel because circumstances and abusers led him to be or just because one get rotten having the single chance and no reason.

In the family field the same can be found. Relationships are generally built over a strong and a weak counterpart among adults, and around a despotic parent and a kind one against the kid when educating underagers. But sometimes parents fall into excessive connivence and children then become real monsters, tyrannical brats with no sense of right or wrong, only whims, shouts and cries.

From my point of view, I have always defended the necessity of being nice, although firm, but from some time on I prefer, on increasing occasions, to settle conflicts with youngsters with a terrifying shout. And, educative or not, it works much better that good words and an infinite patience with them. Of course you cannot be all the time yelling, but once in a blue moon it makes them remember who is the alpha male here, because in a classroom we are not the same. The master orders, and the apprentices try not to obey. It’s a fact of life.

For the rest of human relations, I’m still finding a way. The best I have found up to now is “Yes, darling, a crawling worm and I don’t deserve to live”. It works too. J

Politics is not that easy

The South of Europe is still recovering from the aftermath of Greek general elections in which a brand new political party has risen as the ultimate solution to the country crisis. Alexis Tsipras’s SIRIZA has won all but two seats to obtained an absolute majority government. Measures have been swift and reactions for and against them have followed subsequently. The average Greek citizen celebrates the new anti-austerity policy, the rejection to talk with the Troika or at least the intention of renegotiating the national debt with Europe. But things are not so straightforward. Inverstors have escaped with their money to more stable markets and minor savers are afraid of a national restriction of their own savings. In the long run, if the new hellenic government, apart from persecuting corruption and limiting the overenrichment of high public posts, doesn’t assure relaxing fiscal and tax conditions to millionaires and big companies, they will probably move to a countries with more beneficial conditions. No investments, no industry and no jobs.

In Spain people is eagerly waiting for the general election of November with the hope that Pablo Iglesias’s Podemos will turn over the extremely corrupted practices of the two traditional strong parties, PP and PSOE. The new political group will also try to revert the destruction of working posts, reduce the debt and cut down on the inmense economical abyss between rich and poor people, among other popular measures like guaranteeing the national health service and the quality of public education, both now into question thanks to current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his fantastic decrees born out of the absolute majority that the Popular Party has in the government.

But the same as in Greece is about to happen here. If the new measures are too strangulating por the powerful, they will go to new paradises. Maybe the system is bound to accept a certain degree of enrichment for the priviledged, some corruption but not too much. What I’m saying is terrible, but down-to-earth nations work like that. Until the very rich aren’t inmensely rich again, the average person won’t notice any improvement in his daily economy. As I heard once in prison –not as an inmate, I must remark–, “Some quantity of drug is not that bad within. It makes addicts tranquil and not very nervous.”

Another question is the result of the would-be new ministers from Podemos in the future. We don’t know if they will limit to run the country or will do just as everyone else: introduce the hand in the safe and retire some public funds for personal use. Only time, and maybe George Orwell’s Animal Farm will tell. From the time being, there are now three major parties in the surveys and two of them will have to pact to make a coalition government. Perhaps the traditional close enemies on the right (PP) and on the left (PSOE)? In any case, what is still incredible in Spain is that the party in the government, after so many flops and dishonest behaviour, is the first option for the majority of voters. They must have a lot of extended family.