(Part III) Rich kids are not people

To blame a stance such as the one it has been given by the White Hand movement with the class or race argument, it is to not only kill the stance from the very beginning but also the people who hold it (since if we are from certain ethnicity or class we can’t change it) and therefore, it becomes a non political weapon who made the debate impossible and who only left space for the suppression of stances such as the one the White Hand movement holds.
Because if democracy is the government of the people, it shouldn’t the government of the poor, or the government of the rich, or the government of the ones who support a social project; it should be the government of the people. Democracy is the place where you are able to vote and think with no other label on your forehead than the one that establish the fact that you are a citizen. I don’t think that a democracy can work by stances like “Oh, you want to protest? Let me see your income. No, you are too rich to protest. Why would you want to protest if you have such a great quality of life? Next!!!”
A guy at one students assembly at my university said once “When I’m protesting and a person approaches me saying “you are just mom and dad’s son” – I answer with irony – Well, I’m not a clone, I must have come from somewhere… and if a person says “You are just a rich kid”- I answer – Yes, I’m a rich kid. I have just recently abandoned my childhood and I still keep the innocence and the pure heart kids have. And I’m rich because I have a lot of things to give to this country. No question about it, I am a rich kid”. Outstanding words from a student that if I remember correctly, this is just his first year of university.
A famous quote from the Bible says “Not only of bread lives the man”. The missing part of the quote says something like “but also of the word of God”; but since I’m not religious, I will stick only the first part of that quote. Thinking than the man is happier only because his finance situation it’s outstanding is to deny the human condition. It is to think that the man is like a dog: it’s almost enough to put some food and water so it can moves his tail as a sign of joy and thanks. That’s what many populist governments tend to think and that’s why I distrust of stats as the only way of seeing how a country is doing. A man is a man because he needs freedom, consideration and respect just as he needs food, sex and water.
That’s why I won’t applaud ever a government with great accomplish on social programs if it denies basic Civil Rights, if it imposed those programs on the people without any real right to vote about them. For me, it is a regime who is treating the ones under its rule like animals and therefore, not valuable as a legitimate government for humans.
The reader most know that when I’m so passionate put my stances against the government and use my life stories for supporting my argument I’m not making an effort to erase the poor people off the political agenda. I’m not saying that I’m against the impressive amount of social programs promoted by Chavez called “Misiones”. It doesn’t bother me to see that the poor people are having things they never had before and reaching to a more dignity way of life.
I’m not against a government who creates new universities, new health care places, and cultural institutions. Bravo! Cheers to that! That’s exactly what a government should do specially with the impressive oil income we have and the critical poverty situation we most face. I don’t want to hear a single commenter from the left saying all over again that all that I’m doing is to defend a status quo.
If you are desperately searching for the origins of my opposition to the government, let me give you a clue: is not there where you can find them. It’s beyond there. My critics (surprise!) at the beginning are not focused on the fact that those many government programs doesn’t have real accomplishments and the level of poverty and the decrease of life conditions from all social classes besides the insecurity situation has become more and more evident every day. I’m not focused on reviewing how efficient a government is in terms of filling the physical needs of their population because I already stand that for me it is a very limited and non valid criterion when it comes to judge a regime.
My problem is that those social programs have not being made for really helping a population in need but for getting more votes and support from that population in need. Free health care and education are not privileges, are rights and people shouldn’t be wearing a red t-shirt for having access to those rights. And to preserve that right is exactly what a government should take care of, it is because of that among other things, why we vote for a president and he receives a salary every month.
A friend of mine always wisely says “A bakery man is not saying every day: Look folks! I made the bread! Neither is everyone constantly saying “Thank you Mr. Bakery guy for making us the bread every day”. No! That’s his job: he makes the bread, we buy it and the biggest compliment we could express to the bakery guy is about maybe the flavor or the quality of the bread; not the bread itself. But Chavez has displayed an impressive propaganda just everywhere so that everyone can know that the good Chavez is doing exactly what he’s supposed to do. Only the people are not quite aware that he’s supposed to do that, but they think he’s making something absolutely outstanding and because of this, we should be all be in debt with him (means, how can you dare to oppose the government if you are receiving all this benefits? – Well it is because they are not my benefits, they are my rights. And the human been is not a product to be build by any social program. Same as we shouldn’t be slavers of the empire, we shouldn’t be slavers of any social program).