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> It's a subtle thing, but there's a perception, to me not unfounded, that some sectors of Spanish society just don't look outward much, which is the reason the
by eng_monkey 12y ago
> It's a subtle thing, but there's a perception, to me not unfounded, that some sectors of Spanish society just don't look outward much, which is the reason they get these crazy ideas that wouldn't even be considered for a second anywhere else.
Does not that contradicts the fact that, for example, Spain has one of the largest high-speed train networks in the world, that the electricity they produce is >50% from renewable sources, that big civil engineering companies are involved with building major infrastructure around the world (including airport terminals at Heathrow, Sydney), that their medical service is within the top ten in the world, that same-sex marriage has been completely legal (including adoption) for almost a decade now, etc. These facts do not seem to fit your perception of a backwards-looking country.
- Daishiman 12y agoI don't see the contradiction; competent engineering knowledge has little correlation with political thinking, and is only limited to a small subset of the population. It says nothing about the millions of unemployed and underemployed people, the housewives, and politicians. The aspects in health care and same-sex marriage are not and have not been particularly controversial in Western Europe as a matter of social policy in that time span. They are interesting points of policy but by themselves nothing special when compared to the number of forward-thinking policies most countries in Western Europe have. What I have seen, from both personal experience and an amount of anectdote that goes beyond mere personal recollections, is a remarkable lack of interest and knowledge in foreign cultures, and an incredibly regressive management culture in the workplace. All countries have technological outliers. The point is that they're exactly that, outliers.