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The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

From All Corners: International Opinion

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Protests over Austerity Measures in Europe

Gareth Jones  Journal Contributor

Austerity measures are a fancy way of saying cuts. When a government cuts spending, government employees lose. These are the police, the firemen, postal workers, teachers, pensioners, maintenance crews and public defenders, whose already unimpressive wages stand to be cut in the name of economic restoration.

Essentially, they suffer for the mistakes of people who make a lot more money than they do, namely politicians and bankers whose lax regulations and risky investment policies have put the great financial crisis of our time in motion. That such austerity measures will create civil unrest is beyond doubt. The question is how much unrest? How many people will be angry enough to take the streets, go on strike, or burn down cinemas? In Spain, almost 20 percent of the workforce receives government pay checks and thus stand to lose money. That’s an assured 10-million people (as of the 2011 census, there are almost 48-million Spaniards). In essence, it is a lot of unrest, as well as the main reason that such austerity measures amount to political suicide.

But, is adversity to such measures healthy for an economy? The short answer is that it depends. The long answer, or at least the one that the E.U. bureaucratic machine in Brussels has come to, is yes. Not only is it healthy, but necessary. As Angela Merkel put it in an interview with the Associated Press last April, “…you can’t spend more than you take in. You can’t live your whole life this way. Everybody knows this.”

In Spain, they are spending 60 percent more than its entire annual GDP just to stay afloat; it seems that not everyone does know what Merkel seems to know. The austerity plans from Brussels implemented in countries like Spain and Greece involve trying to bring this rate of expenditure back down, in hopes of paving the way for long-term success after initial short-term turbulence. It comes down to a matter of short-term vs. long-term interests.

When thousands of young Spaniards spill out onto the streets to protest cuts, they’re worried, as they have a right to be, about the short term repercussions. But not cutting means spending more money, and to put it bluntly, as far as Spain is concerned, there is no more money, unless you count bailouts from the E.U. But such bailouts come with requirements, most of which are austerity measures.

So it looks as if Spaniards are going to have to tighten their belt loops and suffer, unless a political overhaul advocating growth over austerity takes control. This is still unlikely, despite popular unrest, for many reasons. One big reason is that the young students who take to the streets armed with pickets and sangria jugs tend not to actually show up on election day. For whatever reason, they don’t vote. Spanish national elections, with the biggest incentive for any Spaniard to vote, saw only 44 percent turn out. If this number was doubled, or even above say, 60 percent, austerity measures and the politicians who brought them in would be in a much more precarious employment situation.

Regardless, austerity measures look like they’re here to stay, and personally, this sounds to me like good news. I can sympathize with not being able to pay your rent, but when it comes down to living with my parents for a few years versus having to leave the country when the economy finally runs out of money to borrow 10 years down the line, I’ll be home every night in time for my mother’s homemade spaghetti bolognese.

 

David Frederick  Journal Staff

“Screw the troika, we want our life back” and “Let’s go!  They are ruining the country and will have to pay for it.” These are some of the slogans on the signs of protestors in Madrid and Lisbon over reduction in wages and the overall cost of living issues sparked from recent austerity measures imposed by the government.

Of the 50,000 people that showed up in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, many threw tomatoes and fireworks while anti-riot police watched. This came after Economic Minister Luis de Guindos said that Spain’s borrowing costs still do not reflect the country’s economic and fiscal adjustment. What they all want is simple. They wanted to speak out against spending decreases and tax increases.

This past July, annual bonuses and overall wages have been decreased. Their problem is similar to the one here in the U.S., being that their austerity measures affect only the lower and middle class while barely even touching the rich.

I believe that it is a fair goal; they just want adequate living situations. They want to feel a sense of equality throughout all levels of society. I think that they are being the change that they want to see. If you were struggling to survive, wouldn’t you do what you could to change that? Protesting has always led to great change.  It’s a civil and respectful way to address an issue.

Many will consider these protests an eye sore, many will be annoyed by these protesters. Many have, and many more will continue to do so down the line. With Portugal’s unemployment rate at 15 percent, protesting for a better quality of life seems like the simple answer.  If they are non-violent and they are not harming a single person, then I do not see why someone would care, unless you’re rich.

I am not casting judgment over someone with wealth, since I personally respect their initiative. What I don’t respect is cancerous greed.  That can ruin any man, but these are simply people who wish to take care of their own. Maybe this is just my empathy and naivety getting the best of me.  I think that protesting has always worked.  It has worked for civil rights, gay rights, and women’s rights.  So what it comes down to in the end is that they are just humans working towards change.

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  • The Suffolk JournalSep 26, 2012 at 5:00 pm

    International Student Opinion: Protests over Austerity Measures in Europe http://t.co/6rmmvm8J

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From All Corners: International Opinion