INCONGRUENCIES

• Much has been said about the need to “calm the markets”… when what should be done sufficiently in advance is to calm the people, who won’t tolerate much longer the social inequities and this entirely disrupted economic system, with biased rating agencies.
  

• In Italy the Coliseum is intended to be privatized… when a cultural symbol of such magnitude should be totally "italian”, totally "roman”, of a creative people who are in the hands of a few unscrupulous citizens.

• I’ve read in the press: “The scandal of mass layoffs will bring down Chávez and Griñán”, in the opinion of the Popular Party candidate to the Andalusian regional government, while they are presenting a handful of candidates who are presently under criminal investigation and who actually have good perspectives of being elected, according to the opinion polls. Is it true that “with more corruption, more votes”? Despite party loyalty and blindness toward certain cases, I refuse to believe this.

• Petroleum consumption is on the rise… and so are oil prices! And, thus, carbon dioxide emissions are also increasing. With increased consumption, you would expect prices to go down… . It is urgent to support renewable energies! It is one of our foremost commitments to future generations.

• There’s no money to fight extreme poverty, nor to maintain the healthcare in the United States that President Obama had achieved despite the Republicans’ lack of solidarity… and there’s no way on earth to get them to even minimally cut military expending.

• “Microcredits” provided excellent mini-solutions for many people… but as I warned many years ago, there was a risk that the “macrocredits” for development cooperation granted to replace exploitation would soon dry up.

• Instead of admitting the reality of citizens’ quality of life, international financial institutions and the World Bank insist on using indices such as the GDP and per capita income. And, thus, it turns out that Uganda and Ruanda have shown “spectacular growth”. But this is mostly due to the coltan mined in the Kivu region by huge multinational consortia, which leaves the country via Kampala and Kigali, but which in no way benefits the native Congolese. So I must insist: if we ignore reality, we will never be able to provide appropriate solutions.

• We talk of the overriding need to guarantee freedom of the press… while watching so many television channels concentrated in the same hands and, at the newsstands, choosing from so many biased newspapers that only reflect their “master’s voice”...

• The markets must be regulated and tax havens must be shut down… In the end it is they who are regulating daily politics and providing selfish citizens opportunities to commit tax fraud. We’ve read in the press that “The European Union has reinforced its rescue fund in exchange for a strict social adjustment program”. I am sure that in a few months this type of news will no longer be published, because distance participation will enable citizens to make the right decisions in democracies consolidated through their intervention.

• The social programs supported by savings banks have also been greatly cut back… . Another incongruency: the social programs have always been the “popular difference” that distinguished savings banks from other financial institutions. It’s clear that, until now, the chain always breaks at the weakest link. But, once again, take note of the “virtual tidal wave” and before they know it they will no longer be able to continue with this type of incongruencies.

Incongruencies, incongruencies… but for how long?

Inadmissible lacks of solidarity!

1) The lack of solidarity of those who fail to pay their taxes –to share democratically and ensure that everyone has access to the social security system and health care, free education, and basic quality services…., choosing instead to deposit their money in tax “havens” that zealously keep the identity of their investors secret. This is a collective shame. Europe is scattered with countries whose largest source of revenue are funds deposited by selfish tax evaders.

When the failing financial institutions were rescued in November, 2008, the G-20 plutocrats assured law-abiding tax payers that this time the global banking system would be regulated and tax havens would be closed down for once and for all… But once again they broke their promises.

Governments should penalize this shameful situation for the social damage it causes, and regulate it through a reinforced United Nations backed by the whole of its member states.

A news item published not long ago underscored that thousands of Spaniards maintain accounts in Switzerland. Well, let it be known because if it is “normal” it should be transparent… and if it’s not transparent, then it’s certainly suspect.

3) The lack of solidarity of those who promote or tolerate a black market economy… who are often also those who rail against the high unemployment rate, whose “official” figures include a large percentage of “non-VAT” workers. This is another instance of a lack of employer solidarity that must be urgently remedied.

4) The lack of solidarity of those who for greed excessively “delocalize” production, just as Spain was used when we were a “developing country”. A huge amount of production has been transferred to countries in which labor costs are much lower (and where workplace conditions are often intolerably inhumane).

5) The lack of solidarity of those who file tax returns to pay less than they should, using every possible loophole (even legal ones…)

We are presently plagued by a systemic crisis, and the irreducible beneficiaries of globalization continue to work to ensure their survival and permanence.

Citizens must urgently take action to close down tax havens, to flush out the underground economy, to bring home the production of goods from places so distant from consumers that it cannot be justified, even in environmental terms.

If we act with solidarity, our problems will be resolved. Otherwise, our government leaders will continue to be trapped by opaque and protected markets, and politicians will continue to make empty promises aimed to attract voters, knowing all the while that if elected they will have to do what the system dictates… or simply look ridiculous, like those leaders who fly on low-cost airlines while drastically decreasing subventions for education and raising taxes…

Lack of solidarity, no. “The Peoples” will no longer tolerate it.

The Courts’ Unequal Diligence… is of much concern

In addition to interpreting laws according to their “progressive” or “conservative” political affiliations, which is a recurring issue that is difficult to explain and casts doubts as to the impartiality of certain judges, another related matter of much concern is the different level of diligence evident in certain courts. Thus, to cite two well-known examples, in Castellon and Valencia days, months and even years may pass, even beyond the statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions, while in Seville, to mention another more recent example, cases are diligently expedited, being enthusiastically supported by those accused in the “slower” prosecutions.

Let there be no mistake: the “democratic principles” so well proclaimed in the UNESCO Constitution commence with the judicial system. Let’s all work together to foster a quick “normalization” of this cornerstone of the future we all desire.

Otherwise, the peoples, who now have a voice, will no longer tolerate these time unbalances or the biased and partial verdicts of our judicial system.