The Avails of Improvidence
Like Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain heartily dislikes the idea, much less the imposition of austerity. Mobs of angry Spaniards roll through the streets of Madrid, outraged, with grimacing, furious mouths distorted in denial. How much blood can one squeeze from a stone; how many times do civil servants have to grit their teeth and accept wage cut-backs?Of course most still have jobs, however insecure they are. The youth unemployment figure for Spain hovers around what, 28%? The educated and aspiring youth cohort have no jobs, no prospects, no near future they can anticipate. Gloom, all is gloom and doom.
The Spanish parliament had to vote on a $80-billion package in spending cuts, and then there's those tax hikes to add another injurious factor to life become more financially difficult. Police officers and members of the Civil Guard took their turn, joining the protests.
A country's lack of prudence, intending to have it all whether needed or deserved or affordable, because the ideal of 'social responsibility' leading to the good life seems so approachable and so entirely desirable. Except that sometimes it all adds up to living beyond one's means.
And then, of course, the housing bubble didn't much help. That is, when housing prices collapsed. And now what? People stand to lose all their savings? That's a hard lesson in grim economics for anyone to swallow. Who wouldn't agree it's better to be out there protesting than simply taking it: "Banks always win...well, I don't stand for it!"
Workers don't like their right-wing government; the ruling People's Party seems anything but. It supports employers, not trade unions. "It has gone beyond an ideological issue... and it has moved beyond the traditional groups that demonstrate. We have seen even the military threatening a demonstration."
The cabinet has a solution. There is a parliamentary motion being voted on, categorizing "urban violence" as a very specific, indictable crime. As a crime, police will be empowered to detain suspects in preventive arrest before they're charged with the offence itself. A cautionary tale, a warning.
Government is also concerned with the possibility of curbing protests before they begin; stopping their organization, those spontaneous outbursts of outraged dissatisfaction from the public. Social media will stomp hard on that initiative.
Just as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warns lawmakers in Germany a bailout is required; risk of Spanish insolvency could destabilize the entire 17-nation eurozone.
Labels: Chaos, Economy, European Union, Heritage
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, July 21, 2012
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