Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2011, as an opinion piece; it refers to the 15-M movement, the author’s column in the weekly Inversión y Finanzas, and the SOPA bill, which was shelved in January 2012.
For some time now I’ve been reading articles by people who talk about the crisis, its causes, possible solutions and the #15M movement (the “indignados” protests that began in Spain on 15 May 2011). Just yesterday I came across an article by José Luis del Río. It was published in Inversión y Finanzas, from Finanzas.com, a weekly magazine that I recommend, by the way. This particular article, though, should come with a glass of water to help it go down, because I think it starts from mistaken premises and from an approach that might have worked in 1936.
So that there are no misunderstandings or distortions of any kind, let me begin by saying that I don’t know who José Luis del Río is, so I have nothing personal against him. Likewise, I think Inversión y Finanzas is an excellent publication. In short: I have nothing against anyone; I just strongly disagree with the words used in the article in question.
José Luis del Río tells us that society has failed to rise to the occasion and has passed the buck: we haven’t faced up to our own problems and have devoted ourselves to blaming banks, politicians and regulators. So he admits he is outraged with the outraged, especially with those who are unable to accept their responsibilities to society or the necessary cuts.
Honestly, I think that comment is outrageous. It may be true that nobody forced Spaniards into debt, but society was deceived. People were sold a wealth they didn’t really have, when all they were doing was taking on debts beyond their ability to repay. At the same time, the banks were creating toxic debt, knowingly poisoning the financial system, while politicians allowed it and regulators didn’t regulate, so they weren’t doing their job.
Are we now supposed to want society to keep quiet while bank executives get rich from management that has put the economy at risk? Can anyone have the outrageous nerve to ask people not to protest or point the finger at banks and politicians? Should society accept cuts while a banker (the real culprit) lives like a king? Mr del Río, that will happen in another Spain and in another life.
Mr del Río’s magic secret for getting out of the crisis
I quote him: “If we want to get out of the crisis we are immersed in, what we have to do is work more, earn less and accept that we are much poorer than we thought.”
A big round of applause for this gentleman, please, because he really does hold the secret: clearly, if we Spaniards work more and get paid less, we’ll be much richer. I had thought of proposing work in exchange for a sandwich, although the sandwich would only go to those who work more than 12 hours, because anyone who only wants to work 10 hours and still expects to be paid must be very lazy. Where will it all end?! At this rate, workers will end up asking for holidays.
As for this gentleman’s final “emotional” line, “Society must accept the necessary adjustments, however uncomfortable they may be”, I simply have to say that society has no reason to accept adjustments it doesn’t want for a situation it didn’t cause. People could have been asked to make adjustments if adjustments had been seen at the top.
Asking citizens to make adjustments while there are still senior officials spending millions of euros on office decoration and on cars more expensive than the President of the United States’ seems senseless to me. What’s more, adjustments might even have been asked for if we had seen those responsible go to prison, something society hasn’t seen.
I’ll just say this, Mr del Río: I’m the first to be outraged with the outraged, with the way they voice their outrage and with how long it took them to take to the streets. I’m even outraged with the #15M movement, having seen an attempt at political manipulation behind it. But from there to saying that society should grin and bear it and keep quiet, I repeat, I hope it never comes to that.
Reading that article reminded me of certain remarks made by a person who lived in Spain 30 years ago. Times have changed; silencing people is harder now thanks to the internet, although with the SOPA bill that may not always be the case.
Featured image: Julio Albarrán, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.
