If things develops like this, Twank will be happy. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
It is very uncommon for Spanish authorities to attempt to use force to break strikes. The last instance of this was in 2008, when truckers blocked the roads around Madrid (see the diary Post Peak Iberia by Luis de Sousa).
The "Burgos road" is one of the 6 roads coming out of Madrid, the one directly due North.
At the end of 2009 and well into January 2010 there was a covert strike by Spanish air traffic controllers (what is called a zeal strike where strict adherence to procedural or safety minutiae jams up operations). In February this year the Minister of Public Works, José Blanco, introduced a decree making a repeat of the strike harder in the future.
The policies of the 1980s were more about keeping wages down instead of promoting skills development and other things that allowed wages to increase while unit labor costs went down because of increased productivity. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
Only recently Zapatero's economic team dared to phase out the fiscal incentive to take on mortgages (a few thousand euros per year of interest paid on a mortgage for one's primary home is tax-deductible). By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
Is this a reflection of the international climate? Probably. But I think that the current government has to avoid the siren song of incomes policies that attempt to restore competitiveness through wage cuts. There was movement towards a more "German" model in which productivity increases were created using skills training, but there's a long way to go. Particularly outside of industry, and outside of select areas, likes the Basque Country. Did you know that if you look at the areas where this sort of focus on skills training trumped the push towards income policies that the increase in unemployment is less severe than elsewhere?
Spain is trapped between an economic structure that pushes it towards the coordinated market model, and an international politics that demands neo-liberal reforms.
Pobre Espana, tan lejos de sobernia nacional, y tan cerca Londres. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
You may have missed this
A trait of Zapatero's government has been to propose important changes on social issues, following the Social Democratic tradition well established in Europe (and in which Spain was considerably backwards), earning a well-deserved applause on important issues which affect the quality of life of Spanish citizens. Reforms such as the Fourth Pillar of Welfare (with the approval of the Dependency Law, among other measures) have earned national and international recognition. However, this positive side of his tenure has been limited by his economic and fiscal policy, which has diminished the potential of the social measures approved by the government. And this is due to the economic thought that has guided a large part of these economic and fiscal policies, which is well defined in the book by Jordi Sevilla (the most influential economist in the birth of the current known as New Way), entitled New Socialism, with a preface by the then candidate Zapatero. In this book, Sevilla wroteCan anyone defend in this day and age that a social democratic programme must favour more taxes and spending and introduce normative rigidities into the economy?
Can anyone defend in this day and age that a social democratic programme must favour more taxes and spending and introduce normative rigidities into the economy?
As for Zapatero. I think that there's been a sea change in the last three years. And to be honest, I don't think that Zapatero would have entered office if Aznar wasn't a lying bastard that tried to promote the myth that ETA was behind the Atocha attack.
That said, I still think that he's an improvement over Gonzalez. Until very recently, really the last few months, there hasn't been talk about incomes policies. There's been social pacts, but the scope has been much wider. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
You think? Madrid is in the hands of a reactionnary who calls herself "liberal". The Left, Green and Socialist parties in Madrid have been in disarray for years. By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
Excuse me, I did an Americanism. From Madrid=From Washington.
What I mean is that the national government isn't really trying to coordinate efforts that are coming from the regions. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
Are you in favor of burquas in Spain? Would you support the following 6 point program being adopted by the Spanish legislature and executive branches of government?
A town in Spain just passed a burqa-banning ordinance. There appears to be exectly one burqa-wearing woman in the town.
Civil liberties are not advanced by that kind of immigrant-bashing. By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
Or something. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
What do you think about the hihgly industrialised nationalist regions spearheading burqa bans in Spain?
Mig, aren't we talking about a single town here? Plus, is this some local PP official showing off or is it something more.
My original comment was more about economic systems than anything else. Economic institutions in the Basque Country have been more effective in resisting neoliberalism than elsewhere. There's been more in the way of move tripartite agreements beyond simple incomes policies into things like the training programs that make German employment more stable.
Merkel and the fixation with austerity aside, there's a lot to be said for the way that the German model integrates labor into the process. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
No, actually, we're talking about a number of towns in a process spearheaded by Catalan nationalists. By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
The left/right divide is a lot more serious in the Catalan parties than they Basques, because the PNV has sucked up much of the space for nationalist politics there. There's not a lot left (at least legally) for left nationalist parties, although Aralar has been hanging on. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
The problem with capitalism isn't exploitation, it's commodification. An ideology of economic growth starts to be questioned when that dissappears, and the truth of how much people and nature alike have been reduced to objects of exchange becomes clear.
They will seek to break free from that cage of being commodified, of being objects, and give their lives meaning. That can come through a rediscovery of society in social democracy. Or it can take the form of fascism. The difference. Is that the former supposes that all are equal, while the latter makes some hands to feed the head, and others simply alien to the body. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
Wow.
That said. I think it's a bad law, but I'm not one to suggest that the community shouldn't be able to create community standards.
If you reject that, you can't be a socialist. If your response to community standards is to shout out that this is the right of the individual, then your aren't a socialist.
You're an anarchist. And good luck on getting an organization for effective change together with that. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
I guess I am just disappointed that discussions on the Left turn to these issues.
For all the rejection of neoliberalism that you get out of many people, I think that there's a serious problem in that many of these same activists have a problem with there being such a thing as society unless they are in charge. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
disappointed that discussions on the Left turn to these issues
To me Zapatero appears shell-shocked since the Global Clusterfuck hit spain in force two years ago... By laying out pros and cons we risk inducing people to join the debate, and losing control of a process that only we fully understand. - Alan Greenspan
