Mass unemployment, cuts in public services, economic recession unprecedented in the
population, on 14 November, the Spanish and the Spaniards showed their determination not
to let them. ---- The news came as a bombshell Spain, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012: more than
5.77 million unemployed workers, an active four. But it is also one in ten households
where all family members are unemployed. Since the explosion of the housing bubble in
2008, is also evaluated between 250 000 and 400 000 the number of families who strangled
by their mortgages were evicted by their banks. It is not uncommon under the same roof,
grandparents, children and grandchildren are forced to live together. To cope with the
crisis, the Conservative government of Mariano Rajoy has announced reforms to "make the
economy more flexible and competitive."
In fact, in Spain there is a desperate attempt on the part of the ruling class to contain
the devastating effects of the crisis. And this is of course the people who paid the
price. In July, Mariano Rajoy announced an austerity amounting to 65 billion euros in
savings. The consequences were immediate with a significant reduction in the budget for
large parts of the public sector. Obviously these are the areas less profitable or more
expensive in the first affected, as Education and Public Service Health, undergoing
privatization and the elimination of thousands of jobs. VAT - if any unfair tax - has also
been increased from 18 to 20%, affecting mainly the poor. Privatization and job cuts
In parallel, the Spanish government will nationalize four banks whose assets are
considered toxic in return with the promise of a loan of 100 billion euros by the European
Union. If the origin of this plan is the near-collapse of the bank Dexia, whose losses
amounted to 7 billion euros, the banking sector remains plagued by more than 184 billion
euros of assets potentially toxic. Despite budget cuts, and the Community, one may wonder
how Spain will be able to achieve its policy of nationalization. As explained shortly
before his death, Robert Kurz, economist critique of capitalism, different traditional
policies do not work against this latest crisis of capitalism. Or a monetarist policy or a
policy of increasing demand can not overcome this situation because it is indeed a
structural crisis of capitalism.
Banking sector undermined
The Conservative government navigates to as many of its European counterparts. The risk
with this bank bailout is to see its debt explode continuously. The crisis seems endless.
Faced with this desperate situation, the resistance movement in Spain continues to grow
and is characterized by a great heterogeneity. Since 2008, grew more and more acts of
civil disobedience. Self-management practices have been very successful, and we see the
development of neighborhood assemblies, occupied social centers, urban vegetable gardens,
the reoccupation of empty homes as well as actions of self-reductions. In Catalonia,
develop eco-experiments based network of cooperatives, barter, alternative currencies.
There is of course the prime example of the movement of Indignant es always happens to
thousands of people gather in the street. This movement has also developed practical
alternatives such as urban gardens to the Puerta del Sol. In Madrid, the operation
"encircle parliament" of September 25 was a great success and was repeated for several days.
Practices of direct democracy
This is a movement that practice direct democracy and frighten leaders. Punishment is
fierce and violent clashes with the security forces are commonplace. But within this
heterogeneous movement, many do not require a reorganization of capitalism and prey as
financial excesses. Many areas affected by the government's reforms are fighting,
particularly in Education or hospital. Wednesday, November 14, as part of the European
mobilization against austerity policies, unions have called a general strike. This is the
second since the accession to power of the government Rajoy. The appeal was widely
followed and country walking in slow motion. Tens of thousands of people marched in the
streets of Barcelona, ??the country's second city, a million in Madrid according to
unions. The two reformist organizations that dominate the labor movement, the UGT and the
CCOO, but can play their role in supporting capitalism because they did not hesitate to
sign an agreement very unfavorable for workers in struggle at Renault. Their words are
only illiberal sometimes with hints of patriotic demagoguery when they are in the EU and
Germany Angela Merkel. Regarding the CGT and the CNT, both syndicalist organizations
usually compete, which is very damaging to the development of the movement, signed last
year a call for a general strike unit, thus initiating a reconciliation beneficial.
A social movement determined
Thus the Spanish population seems determined not to let the reforms face unfair
Conservative government. But for how much longer. If you want to be pessimistic, it may be
recalled that in 1932 there were 6 million unemployed workers in Germany. And as noted by
Hannah Arendt, the seeds of totalitarianism are present in capitalist society, especially
when the masses feel superfluous. Without turning to history, it is sufficient to observe
what is happening in Greece and Hungary, where the neo-fascist parties have the wind in
their sails. Incidentally staging the arrest of Dawn Martin to divert public opinion
unpopular reforms. Only the general strike and greater international solidarity will
result from this system.
Florian (AL Paris-Sud)
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