The rights and freedoms that today we mostly assume and enjoy without thinking twice, are the result of centuries and even millennia of effort and sacrifice, of fighting to the death against unreason and in favor of equality. But once they have been conquered, there is no longer anything or anyone that guarantees their durability over time.
Something similar happens with democracy, which in more and more corners of the world, under a barrage of prohibitions, seems to have its days numbered. What is clearly on the rise is the desire, whether it comes from the right or the left, to prohibit. Therefore, it is evident that the order launched in 1968, in the midst of the Parisian tumult, that it is forbidden to prohibit, is no longer valid, since for some time now nothing else has been done but to prohibit.
One will go to the beach this summer, only to be greeted by a huge sign full of pictograms representing prohibited activities, even before stepping on the sand. And this is only the beginning. When it comes to prohibiting, our rulers have no rival, and to think that they do it in the name of our rights and freedoms! There are even signs on remote little beaches or coves that establish the permitted forum in such an idyllic landscape, although it would seem that this is not the case in the battered peaks of the Pyrenees loaded with tribal symbolism, where a multitude of agitated and fervent patriots carry flags. , and where, as in Everest, they deposit nothing more than garbage and more garbage in the sacred place.
The Prohibition Law imposed in the United States between the years 1920 and 1933, only served for the creation of mafias, corruption through a tube and a generation of lost drunkards. An unmitigated disaster. Now, after a century, the prohibitions are on their way to destroy everything.
The liquid society splashes on quicksand. There is no longer anything sacred, only prohibitions and regulations to abide by. The principal of a Florida elementary school recently had to resign for showing kids images of Michelangelo’s David, which some parents found so offensive that they could cause plots in their unprotected and innocent offspring. As far as she knows, she had nothing to do with the small size of the penis in the beautiful sculpture.
In a district in the state of Utah, children are prohibited from reading the Bible, due to the large amount of ‘vulgarity and violence’ it contains. Where some parents see exalted spirituality, others, a minority, only see pornographic or indecent elements. Solution: throw the Bible into the fire where all kinds of books with content that some consider unacceptable are already being consumed in the flames.
For that matter, the Book of Mormon is not saved from burning in Utah either, despite this state being the epicenter of this genuinely American religion. Everything is for the good of the innocent children, whether or not they are Mormons, Christians or any other religion or belief.
All this is happening in a country, the United States of America, where two thirds of the population believe that angels and demons play a decisive role in our lives; half express their absolute faith in the existence of heaven in which their personal god -or God- dwells; a third are certain that global warming is nothing more than a hoax that is part of a diabolical conspiracy launched by a bunch of scientists, politicians and journalists; a quarter insist that Trump was the real winner of the presidential elections, while another quarter of citizens are convinced that Trump is the antichrist and another quarter believe in the existence of witches.
So, America. But they cook broad beans everywhere, and Spain is no exception. So much so that this summer, while one is avoiding as large a tsunami of well-intentioned prohibitions and ordinances as possible, perhaps you can enjoy a cold beer in a beach bar, if your doctor -or the town hall- has not yet prohibited it.
After all, the only thing that achieves so much prohibition is to call into question the prevailing good spirits.
