The Spanish Inside Job?

Earlier this week I tweeted that the difference between Spain and a country that functions properly can be measured by the huge gap between Charles Ferguson's excellent Inside Job and this domestic product. 

Elaborating on the differences, and without focusing on embarrassing technical considerations –have they heard of the word production?–, the US film designs a maieutic and journalistic process that can be traced and challenged in a structured manner. The Spanish documentary, on the other hand, is dogmatic and 'closed'.  A single line of reasoning is contemplated. 

This is just further evidence of some of our key structural weaknesses. Our education and cultural system despises key modern advancements, such as the need to present arguments for what they are, and not for what one would like them to be. We witness this every day in the public debate conducted in the media. Most of our beloved 'tertulianos' have mastered this deceitful technique.

Another issue has to do with attitude towards authority. We, Spaniards, have not taken to heart our right to question and challenge the powers that affect our daily lives. Our general reservations towards an ambitious transparency agenda I think are a by-product of this almost medieval common trace of character. 

And then there is the issue of who has access to the capital needed to lead ambitious personal projects such as the one Ferguson has been able to present the world with. The American entrepreneur-turned-director was able to build and sell a very successful software business by age 41. We need an economic system where access to capital is democratized on its ample base and then filtered on the basis of a diverse mix of top value-creating talent. This is quite far from where we sit today. 

We will need generations of 'new free thinkers' to really be able to prosper, I am afraid.

A taste for those who haven't yet seen Ferguson’s movie:

Comments

[vcarbona]

Spot-on. We need a rethink of our entire social construct.