>In nearly all European countries, democracy is our system, it is the structure of our society. But it is not the essence of our society; the essence are we ourselves, the people. In a real democracy, we must constantly remind ourselves of the fact that “democracy” is not a magic formula that generates justice and good governance, but that it is just a framework in which each individual has the responsibility to contribute actively to the decision-making process. And this is precisely what we forget all the time: In a democracy, politics is not just for politicians, but for everyone. Or even better, in a democracy, everyone is a politician. Or should be.
In this context, let me make one critical comment about the Spanish movement. I have spoken to many people, and many times I heard that “we don’t want to be political, we just want to ensure that politicians do their job properly”. And this is exactly the wrong mentality. Because politics is not “their” (politicians’) job. Apparently, many people have the wish to lay back and have a nice private life while others do the boring political work for them. And only because of this attitude can we have politicians that are arrogant and self-righteous. Because if you are a politician, why on earth should you listen to the opinion of a lazy bastard who never cared, who doesn’t have a clue about the decisions you are making, and who just protests when taxes rise? It’s just a waste of time…
So our mission is simple: If we want to foster democracy, we must make active citizens. And what we are witnessing in Spain these days is something very encouraging, something we should be extremely happy about in AEGEE. Because suddenly, thousands of young people are becoming aware of what it means to be a citizen and start to discuss the future of their society. If you look back at our last big project, Y Vote 2009, how many people did we really reach? How much money and energy did we spend on trying to make a few people aware of their democratic duties? All of our conferences and exchanges have this aim, and maybe we achieve something – but what is happening in Spain now has a much greater impact on a lot more people than we in AEGEE have ever reached. And it is happening even for free! AEGEE couldn’t be more grateful for such developments.
What can we do? I have to admit that Alfredo is right when he says that this movement might not lead to any concrete political results. But then again, who says that this is the necessary condition under which we are working in AEGEE? Must our activities always have a concrete political output? I don’t think so. It would be great if we in AEGEE contributed to those political processes in which we have an expertise of our own. And we must work for this, we must set concrete political aims and work for their achievement. But in general, at least when it comes to democracy and active citizenship, AEGEE cannot be a high-profile think tank. We just aren’t and we won’t be. What we are is a meeting place for young people to discover their European society, to discuss their visions with other young people, and to develop their understanding of being a European citizen. AEGEE is the marketplace, the ἀγορά for young people in Europe, just like Puerta del Sol is for young people in Spain these days. And therefore, AEGEE should actively identify with the Spanish movement, because both of us are rooted in similar ideals.