the Blue Spaniards

[iberus_generalis]

they know who is viriato, who were the lusitani, and where some of their main castra were, the herminian hills, today's Serra da estrela(Mountain(s) of the Star)...but the idea of efective oposition to Rome as in full out war, the guerrila war, and the remaining scenario of the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula is unknown to many of them...it's a problem with our education system...too ocupied in stating facts, and not the relations between them, much less how to think freely without the guidance of a opinion guider...some of them think Viriatho was a hero, but can't exactly know because of what, and who was he enemie of... it's sad to see that in this hero's nation, the younger generation in general is so ignorant toward it's history, but that the fruit of more than 50 years of a dictatorial regime, and of almost 30 years of political incompetence in the matters of economy, education and health....first came Salazar(our most notorious dictator) with his God, Homeland, and Family policie, wich defended ignorance as a measure of controling the masses, education was a joke, washing kids brains with the lies of the regime...in 1963 it was still taught in school that india was still portuguese, and we still owned it, and we all know this was not so for some decades at the time...then with the revolution came comunist ignorants(i am simpathethic with some of the comunist predicats, but this guys were plain hoodlums and ignorants, who could barely write their names), wanting to make our beautiful, into a comunist hell, then several generations of incompetent politics, and the education still not teaching what it should teach..today education in my country is still a joke...and only some free thinking kids(a minority) bother to Learn things as they should be, establishing relations between facts, and everything...and although viriatus is somewhat of a portuguese heroe, only a few really know what he really is about...

the general ignorance of the youth in my country is so great that kids don't even know the name of the founder of Portugal, our first king, don't know he was a grandchildren of the king of castille, and that he rebeled against his mother and his family, that he was a puppet of sorts for the Portucalense noble families, that he was a sanguinary bastard, that he ordered the complete extermination of entire cities, even provinces...and yet he is portaid as a person full of virtues, and little vices...but nonetheless we must give him credit, cuz he was a military genius the night raids of his were revolutionary, and that he founded our small country=)