How did Spain fall into the PSOE's abyss, and what must it do to get out of it and not fall again?

Spain is experiencing something more than just simple corruption scandals: this is a colossal eruption of political filth.

Pedro Sánchez denies his downfall and jokes about it: there has already been another sinking like this one
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The situation is frankly worrying. The ruling by Judge Pedraz of the National Court, made public yesterday (see PDF), reveals something far worse than unscrupulous politicians trying to enrich themselves at the expense of the rest of the Spanish people. What it reveals is a mafia that has used political power to pressure and intimidate judges, prosecutors, and police officers to prevent them from investigating corruption cases related to the government of Pedro Sánchez and his party, the PSOE.

This is not something that comes as a surprise to Spaniards, or at least not to those who get their information from sources other than the synchronized opinion machine of the government and the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). It was enough to observe the behavior of government members to detect conduct that should be abnormal in a democracy: public attacks on judges and the media by the government, persecution of inconvenient journalists, plans for censorship in the media and even on social networks... Sánchez and his gang have been developing their authoritarian agenda clearly and openly, and if some haven't realized it yet, it's because they haven't wanted to.

What many are wondering now is: how could Spain have fallen into this cesspool that the PSOE has become? It's not something that has happened once or twice: in this half-century of democracy, this is the third time that Spaniards have fallen into this socialist pit, always with disastrous results. Although the PSOE is currently going through its worst moment, there's nothing to suggest that Spaniards won't fall into the same trap again in a few years if the socialists are finally ousted from power.

The cause of this decline is not solely attributable to the PSOE and the lack of moral scruples shown by the leaders of that party. What Spain is suffering from is a failure of democratic checks and balances, and it suffers from a conception of political power that is not only defended by the PSOE and its far-left allies: the People's Party has been sharing control of the Judiciary and the Constitutional Court with the Socialists for years, establishing a power structure that was the ideal breeding ground for corruption. A structure based on a paternalistic conception of the State that allows our rulers to have levels of control over society typical of a dictatorship, as demonstrated by the repeated abuse of administrative sanctions in Spain and their use to censor opinions without going through a judge, as I already explained here three years ago.

If anyone thinks that an electoral defeat for the PSOE will solve the problem, they are mistaken. We need not only a purge of all the institutions colonized by the PSOE, a party that has turned the State into a placement agency for its members, but also to prevent them from being colonized again by that or other parties. This will only be achieved by reducing the power of politicians and streamlining the State.

Furthermore, as long as millions of Spaniards continue to look favorably upon the policies of "bread and circuses" (a blatant vote-buying practiced not only by the PSOE, but also by the PP), the chances of getting out of this hole will remain slim, and even if we manage to get out, we are likely to fall back into it.

We need more than just political change: a cultural shift that makes us radically intolerant of corruption, wherever it comes from, but especially from the politicians we support; a change that makes us renounce a cardinal sin, envy, a deeply ingrained habit in Spain and that leads many to covet what belongs to others instead of celebrating and applauding the success of those who strive and take risks. A change that regenerates our education system and once again prioritizes the pursuit of excellence, instead of incentivizing laziness and mediocrity.

Obviously, such a change is not easy. Socialists have spent decades degrading our nation, and this won't be fixed overnight, but we must rise to the challenge out of a sense of patriotism rooted in critical thinking. If we want the best for our country, we must be demanding of it and of ourselves. A good country is not something that comes for free. It is the fruit of hard work, of choosing what is right and difficult instead of what is comfortable and easy, of aspiring to higher goals and rejecting complacency. We need a country where charlatans and demagogues have no one to listen to them, because we have all realized the consequences of giving in to them, regardless of their ideological pretexts.

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Photo: PSOE.