My Love Letter to Portugal

21 Reasons

Pic by Ivo Costa

“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Oscar Wilde

Last week some friends were talking about the apathy that the Portuguese people seemed to be submerged in when it comes to political decisions that directly impact people’s life quality, especially when it comes to salaries and the continuously increasing price of things. One of them suggested that people would burn cars — like the neighbors in Spain and France do — to protest and show the growing discomfort.

Even though I do agree that the Portuguese people should stand united as one and transpire the power that a nation has when each individual realizes that it is each and every single one of them that forms the state, violence never really solved any issue and damaging property would only increase the nerve wreck state people are already in.

The issue starts earlier, for it has educational roots as well as cultural ones. If a person is not educated when it comes to politics or state, the person will just flow where the wind blows, not realizing what exactly is being favored and paying attention to things that are not at all relevant to the state of affairs. If a person doesn’t understand the culture and roots that run in his or her own very blood, then that one fails to see the shortcomings that are inherited for they are historically and energetically within. A typical trait, when it comes to the Portuguese, is the continuous whining about people and situations without not really doing anything about it, a constant ruminating on topics that don’t really take anywhere, like a swamp where you have earth and water so blended that you get stuck and unable to move. That was the underlying cause why my friend was expressing her frustration with that suggestion.

However, analyzing the cultural background and pre-conditioning of Portugal is not the topic of this article. Today we are diving deeper into why Portugal is one of the most incredible places on Earth. Since the Portuguese people (and human beings in general) are mostly trained from early childhood to focus upon the negative, it is no wonder that they become unable to see the wonders that are standing right in front of them.