Spain’s economy is thriving this year, with the highest growth rate in the EU and one of the top rankings in the world, thanks to a tourism boom and demand for Spanish exports. Spanish banks are making record profits, unemployment is at a record low, and homes are increasing in value.
You would think all this would be good news, but think again. Homelessness in Spanish cities is also growing like never before, in no small part because homes are simply unaffordable to a growing number of working Spaniards. Unemployment is low, but many new jobs don’t pay enough to cover the cost of a home (unless that home is in a hinterland). Bank and real-estate market profits are way up, but of course this is only good for speculators, which is to say for gamblers (when has gambling ever contributed to well-being?). Never mind the negative effects of a growing economy on the planet and climate change. The only good news that actually affects people –economically speaking– is Spain’s relatively low inflation rate.
What is the point of a growing economy then? Who is a good economy “good” for, exactly? Ah, the benefits will “trickle down” to us bottomfeeders eventually, we are told. Really? When has that ever happened? Profits have always streamed into tax havens, where they do absolutely no good except make the rich even richer.
The economy is one big scam. It only benefits those who don’t need more benefits. In 2010, Spain’s economy hit rock bottom, and yet homelessness was no worse than it is today. So really, why should we give a flying shit about the economy?
Supposedly, we live in a meritocratic economic system in which those who work the hardest are rewarded the most. That’s not true, though. Only the already well-off are benefitting: either those who own a business in which workers are paid a non-living wage, customers are ripped-off, the revenue agency is cheated, and benefits are wired via shell companies and legal loopholes to tax havens; or else those who become corrupt politicians promoting climate change-denial, the sale of arms to Israel, and tax breaks for the richest so that the way is unobstructed for business-as-usual. It’s a rigged, self-serving, and totally unfair system that only promotes cheating and stealing, not honesty and hard work.
The planet, meanwhile, is getting completely trashed by these “well-performing” economies, which is to say by a handful of billionaires who only comprise 1% of the planet’s population, and who think they and their families can survive in a luxury bunker or escape to Mars when Earth becomes completely uninhabitable. These folks should think again: their own survival would be much better guaranteed by investing in renewable energy, affordable housing, and remediating economic inequality.
Economic growth is wrecking our humanity and our habitat. Don’t rejoice over how well the economy is supposedly doing, because in reality it’s a disaster in the making.
Criticalista 