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From a protester:
One of the major problems Spain has is the number of temporary contracts, this makes it difficult to have a stable job, keep a mortage, or invest in any future plans. Young people with college degrees are currently forced to work at pizza delivery for three months, then be fired, be substituted and look for a new job.
Right now companies that have massive employement regulations (Aka massive firing) despite the bad situation are not even being penalized in any way even though they are having profits are sharing multimillion bonuses.
The other big problem Spain has/had and is going to have again is that it's economy was based on a bubble. Specially construction and tourism. Then the crisis came and we went down like no other because we don't have solid jobs, nor do we have a stable economy that is not based on specualtion. Politicians knew and know this, but they didn' care since the other way the could make quick money.
We need to focus on an economy that is solid and will last. The investigation and science budget is as low as ever and there are no plans to change any of this. We also need to stop treating workers like a temporary working power we can dismiss three months later.
Without stability there is no motivation and there is also no way that people can start having a decent life, pay their mortages and not live in a poverty that is obviously reflected in our economy.Meanwhile we're being told that this is a tough time for everyone and we have to sacrifice even more, but it doesn't seem that this sacrifice includes:
Big wealths which pay only 1% taxes through a system that is called SICAV an who are also moving their money to fiscal paradises an nothign is being done about that. Did you know that Spain is the country with more 500€ bills in the world? Yep, black money.
Politicians who are being paid despite being absent for months in the parliament.
Politicians who are being prosecuted for corruption, yet they are allowed to continue where they are with no effects.
Big corporations who are making major profits after being bailed out and continuing to spend that money on directive bonuses or sending it directly to "Islas caimán" (Cayman Islands).
There was another suggestion, that there should be a progressive tax, which means that people who earn more, pay more. This isn't the case here.
And a personal suggestion is to nationalize corporations and banks to be bailed out and make them work to give the money back.
THIS WON'T HAPPEN UNLESS THERE IS A POLITICAL CHANGE. The messages of the two major parties lack of content, there is no decent politics in this country but a circus.
The two major parties won't even bother making any promises. It's always the same:
Vote me or the bad Rightwing wolf will come
Vote me or the bad leftwing wolf will come
To change all this we need to do the following:
Tell people that there are More options, not only two.
Change the voting system so that every vote counts the same. Right now votes to the big parties are worth more than the others, people sees this and will continue to vote for the two big parties since they don't want to throw away the vote
The change of the election law is absolutely necessary and is the first step.
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I'm not overly familiar with Spanish politics, but my understanding is that the Spanish government is a lot more authoritarian than your average Euro government; relics from the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. It'll be interesting to see how everything unfolds. I'm interested in this situation because I can see the US heading down a similar road within the next 20 years; systemic under- and unemployment in a supposedly healthy (or "improving") economy.
Thanks for the post.
__________________
We get what we deserve.
------------------ “On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson..they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sacks last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon.”
The Euro was the worst thing these poorer European countries ever could have involved themselves in. Inflation since the Euro in Italy has been alarming. My family and friends have been saying it for years. I'm sure in countries like Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc. it's no different, if not worse.
__________________
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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him." Leo Tolstoy, 1897
I hear the same thing from many people I talk to in the "lesser" countries of the Eurozone. I thought this pic was appropriate.
Lars Korvald is taking a moment from his shuffleboard game in heaven to smile right now.
__________________
We get what we deserve.
------------------ “On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson..they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sacks last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon.”
That picture sums it up pretty good. I'll be somewhere near the bottom of that **** pile when i go visit friends and family over there this summer.
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him." Leo Tolstoy, 1897
This is what the protests are about, highlights taken from the youth movement website:
Quote:
There are a few things that everyone in the protest agrees with:
The current electoral system is flawed and should be changed. The current system has been perceived as unfair for a long time because it promotes a bipartisan model and the vote of densely populated areas is diluted:
[1] D'Hondt method - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Time goes by an Spain's economy gets worse: people losing jobs (highest unemployment rate of Europe, 21%), losing their homes to banks (unlike other countries, in Spain when the bank gets the house back you still have to pay the mortgage, so you end up paying for a house that you no longer own nor can live in)... Tough reforms are propossed by the EU or the FMI and while these reforms are unpopular what really starts to upset some people is that this reforms are going to be paid by the poor while the rich and the politicians get to keep their status as if nothing happened (the goverment giving people's money as bailouts to banks... I guess you know this story).
What started as a protest against the Sinde law grows as a protest againts politicians (specially those of the big two parties that always win) and other protests and protesters start to merge in a larger movement called DEMOCRACIA REAL YA (real democracy now) whose main goal is still not to propose economic or social changes of any coloour (left or right) but to change the political system and end politicians' privileges. What they ask for includes:
One person one vote. The voting system in Spain makes that in the last election the big two party needed about 66.000 votes to geat one seat while smaller parties needed up to 800.000 for a seat, what means that if you vote for one of the latters your vote is worth 1/12 of those who vote for the big two.
Open lists. You can't vote people just parties. This means that parties can do whatever they pelase with your vote once elected. Politicians swapping parties is common here and have helped parties win elections sometimes (Madrid is famour for this same).
Real separation of powers. Now politicians of the big parties get to chose judges.
Accountability. Most politicians in Spain can pass with robbery of public money, giving jobs to family... In fact many parties' lists in current elections are filled with politicians already being judge for felonies.
Reduce politicians spendings. How come Spain owns more official cars that USA? Politicians are used for us to pay anything, even their private spendings.
A new law for the parties financing.
More direct democracy (think Switzerland's referendums).
And so on.
So mainly political changes that most people in Spain will agree with since politicians are seem as having become a class by themselves. The new nobilty.
It all started as an internet protest against the parties that approved a law allowing politicians to close down websites. It grew up to a movement against politicians in general. It's becoming a leftist movement against economic reforms.
So it is a leftist movement (in the traditional, not American, sense) against another leftist movement ( the EU itself) because people are finally fighting against what they knew all along and have rejected every time they've been allowed to vote for it.
good for them.
It would be nice for them to actually change something.
__________________
Silence is Golden
I have been broken
Safe in my own skin
So nobody wins
The reality is that citizens of Spain can't blame their gov't for job losses and layoffs. Neither can they demand that companies NOT lay people off...so, to me, their efforts are futile and mis-directed.
It is not the job of Spain's gov't to provide jobs to it's citizens...duh!!
__________________ "No one walking this earth knows what is truly righteous"
Last edited by PatriotsReign; 05-23-2011 at 08:08 AM..
The reality is that citizens of Spain can't blame their gov't for job losses and layoffs. Neither can they demand that companies NOT lay people off...so, to me, their efforts are futile and mis-directed.
It is not the job of Spain's gov't to provide jobs to it's citizens...duh!!
Nope, but at point does the government need to step in and protect the citizenry from the corporate elite? There has to be a line somewhere, right? Or do we wait until the people feel they need to turn to violence? In that event, will they view the government as complicit due to their silence?
I very much lean libertarian, but at some point, we've got to confront the realities around us. Maintaining a civil society requires balance, and we're watching the scales tip all over the Western World.
__________________
We get what we deserve.
------------------ “On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson..they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sacks last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon.”
Spain protests spreading across Europe!
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