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It's bucketing rain on the plain in Spain

In a piece on AlterNet discussing the present economic crisis in Europe - apart from Greece - the author paints a stark picture of austerity measures and pain for the general populace.   It's all rather dire and frightening. 

"Meanwhile, the full brunt of the crisis falls on the ordinary citizens of vulnerable countries like Spain, which has now emerged as the most worrisome of the so-called PIIGS countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy Greece, Spain). For them, the present is grim and the future is dark. For those already enduring hardships, life has become a nightmare. Austerity measures, also known a "fiscal discipline" may have saved the euro and the banks. But they have not solved the underlying economic problems, because European elites are acting from two misguided notions. They refuse to recognize that Spain's fiscal difficulties are a consequence of the economic crisis, not the cause. There's a big difference, but this false narrative works to the advantage of the 1%, who would like to see the population in dire straits so that the plundering of the commons and shredding of labor protections and the social safety net can proceed unimpeded."

***

"Which brings us to Spain.  At the moment, unemployment is above 23 percent and one young person in two is out of work. The economic crisis has created widespread hardship, which means that the need for state assistance for people who can't find work or have health problems or other emergencies is rising just at the moment when drastic budget cuts are being imposed. We're talking about cuts to health care, cuts to education, and cuts to other services that are not frills, but vital to any kind of chance for people to have a stable, decent life. In some areas, hospitals have been shut down. School children have been left to attend class without heating or toilet paper.  A banker is breaking out the champagne while a child nearby is shivering. This Dickensian scenario is what elites are currently crowing about.

And it goes on. In a recent article, "Spain's safety net frays as care workers go unpaid," Reuters reports that nurses, streetcleaners, and caregivers of the mentally ill and others in desperate need of help are being laid off. Sick people can't get medication. The human costs of austerity measures are cruel and startling."

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