By Monica Baro Sanchez (El Toque)
HAVANA TIMES – For the last several years, I’ve resisted identifying myself as either a leftist or a rightist. The recalcitrant Cuban right considers me a leftist, or rather accuses me of being on the left; and the recalcitrant sector of the Cuban left accuses me of being on the right. That makes me happy. I’m glad that no gung-ho member of any band likes me. Even their scornfulness makes me happy. That scorn confirms to me that I’ve found my rightful place on the political spectrum – nowhere fixed but circulating among all of them.
Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset explained this better in 1930, in his book La rebelion de las masas [The revolt of the masses]. “Being on the left, like being on the right, is one of the infinite ways that a man can choose to be an imbecile; both, effectively, are forms of moral hemiplegia [paralysis on one side off the body]. Furthermore, the persistence of these labels contributes more than a little to falsifying still more the present ‘reality’ – already false in itself – because they twist still further the political experiences they respond to, as is evidenced by the fact that today the rightists promise revolutions, and the leftists propose tyrannies.”
I don’t believe that the people I know on the left and right are imbeciles. I have friends and relatives who identify with one side or the other, and I love and admire them. But for myself, yes, I’d feel a little stupid choosing a band. It’d certainly make life easier for me – I’d avoid being caught in so many crossfires so many times a year, since it’s always better to count on a band that will cover you. However, then I wouldn’t be honest. I’ve come to a point in my life in which there are as many griefs as achievements, but no regrets – precisely for the importance I put on being honest.
You can question anything you want about me, but not whether I’m