The Panama Papers highlight the obvious corruption that many are happy to propagate and be part of, or at least the lack of willingness to use whatever they have benefited from to be of help to others. I suspect that the remaining years of this decade will see greater protests concerning the myth of the ‘trickle down’ effect as the results of austerity produce a continuing flow up of resources.
In Spain a government has not yet been resolved (elections were Dec. 20th, 2015 and since then there has been a lock up) and it is at times hard to get a real grip on what is in the land. Travel here as a tourist, live in certain parts and the shiny BMW’s, Mercedes, or SUV’s will be visible. Certainly there are more than a few Spanish whose names are appearing on the Panama list. Yet there is something, hidden from many, that is all to visible to those that the statistics affect directly:
Here are a couple of articles:
- http://europa.eu/epic/countries/spain/index_en.htm
- http://www.thelocal.es/20140328/spain-only-second-to-romania-in-eu-child-poverty
This second article says that statistically child-poverty in Spain is second only to Romania’s in Europe, (another article interpreted the figures and placed Spain third lowest, behind Romania and Bulgaria).
Here are a few paragraphs from that last article:
Child poverty in the European Union has increased from under 20 percent to more than 22 percent in the last three years, reaching 29.9 percent in Spain, said the organization’s general secretary Jorge Nuño Mayer.
That puts the country only second to Romania and closely followed by Bulgaria and Greece.
Even Cyprus, long considered an affluent society, also has a poverty rate of over 29 percent among older people, the report said.
“Austerity measures have failed to solve problems and create growth,” Mayer warned, adding that “the European project and cohesion in our societies is at stake.”
Many unemployed and uninsured have turned to their families for help, particularly in southern Europe, but after years of recession, this resource is also running dry.
“Families are now exhausted, they cannot continue paying,” Mayer said. “A second wave of poverty is expected… the negative impact can last for decades.”
In Spain, the economy could take 20 years to recover to pre-crisis levels, he added.
If we add to the above the most recent statistic on empty homes in Spain – 3 million. And Spain with a population just over 40 million. So many properties, but where re-possessed many not on the market so as prices are not lowered.
And on the housing front try this article:
This article says included were:
1,860 homes, which had been originally rented out as part of city programs to assist low-income families and the young. Many of these tenants had signed lease options with the EMVS, giving them purchase rights over the homes after seven to 10 years of renting, depending on the contract.
The result has been evictions with many more to come.
Protests on the streets? Yes, that is sure to be part of the future. Protests that produce change? I think so if they can be impregnated with the hope that Jesus gave.
In a weekend that celebrates an anniversary of Azusa Street, the outpouring that many would see as the first of three distinct outpourings in the 20th Century, it is worth remembering that this was not just an outpouring of ‘power from on high’ but of social justice that crossed the very real racial and gender barriers. Egalitarian at heart it gave to the disempowered dignity and significance. Without that effect we have no gospel.