Spain Goin' Ham

On March 29th a general strike was called for by Spain's two main trade unions, UGT and CCOO, in response to a recent overhaul of labor laws that make it easier for employers to hire and fire employees. While hundreds of thousands of Spaniards showed up for demonstrations throughout the nation, support for the trade unions is dwindling due to their failure to prevent the surge in unemployment and controversy regarding the unions' reliance on government subsidies. As far as the actual impact of the protests, while heavy industry and large parts of the transportation network were disturbed by the massive protests, it seems as though the protests made a minimal political impact. Francisco Pérez, a former union representative, states that the strike was a "useless response to the problems that Spain is facing." Pérez additionally questioned, "What is the point of a strike before even knowing what kind of budget this new government has put together and when unions have presented no alternative proposal to create jobs? The union leaders are nowadays clueless because they prefer to sit on the board of a bank than work alongside those they should be representing."

Furthermore, the protests came on the eve of Rajoy's budget cut announcements. On March 30th Rajoy unveiled plans for the largest budget cuts since Spain's return to democracy in 1978. Rajoy's promised deficit reduction of 3.2% of the GDP would be the the largest since 1980. In order to avoid succumbing to Europe's current debt crisis, Rajoy is risking a deeper recession that would be catastrophic to a nation already in a financial quandary. The majority of the budget cuts are expected to come from tweaking of loopholes of tax exemptions for various corporations and households as well has a multitude of cuts in spending by the central government, primarily in healthcare and education.

Questions for the class:
1) Was there any purpose for the general strike on Thursday? Did it actually accomplish anything? How do you think American would reply to a 23% unemployment rate and an ineffective government?
2) How will Rajoy's budget cuts affect the economy? Is Rajoy jeopardizing the Spanish economy simply to appease the EU?

 


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/world/europe/spain-hobbled-by-general-strike.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-29/rajoy-to-unveil-deepest-spanish-budget-cuts-in-30-years.html

"Spain Requests Ministerial-Level U.S.-E.U. Climate Change Consultations"

For my WikiLeak article on Wednesday, March 28th, I read a letter received by the U.S. ambassador in Spain, Ambassador Solomont, from the Spanish Secretary of State and Vice Minister for Climate Change Teresa Ribera. This letter, on behalf of the EU, requests consultations with the U.S. government regarding climate change at the ministerial level. In particular, the letter written by Ribera portrays the shared sentiment in the EU for the need to continue international dialogue on climate change after the Copenhaguen Accord. The Copenhaguen Accod is a document ratified at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which endorses the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol (an initial protocol aimed at fighting global warming ratified by the UNFCCC). The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty that pursues the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to mitigate the current global warming crisis.

Questions to be discussed in class were:
1) Should a country be required to impose stricter regulations on their industries and factories if they are unintentionally destroying the atmosphere of a country "downwind" of them?
2) Who's responsibility is it to save the Earth's atmosphere? Can anything really be done if every single person in the entire world doesn't commit to this cause?

http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2010/02/10MADRID202.html#

Show and Tell

On March 26th, instead of reading an article for "Mass Media Monday," I brought collectibles to class that I had received from an old man (who was almost 100 years old) at a flea market in Barcelona. The collectors cards that I obtained were notarized by some collection organization in Barcelona, and ranged from cards about World War II and the Franco offensive against Spaniards to cards about Don Quijote de la Mancha and Don Juan de Serrallonga. Furthermore, I engaged in a conversation with the flea market vendor for an extended period of time. During our conversation we talked about the ethics of war, societal differences between contemporary Spain and Spain during the Franco regime, media and comics such as Don Quijote and American Western films, American culture, and Asian culture. Based on the conversations I had with the vendor, I asked the class the following questions:

1) Are wars ever truly justified? Is war a necessary means to achieve peace or a greater good (ex: WWII and Hitler)?
2) How does the history of the world impact our lives today? How has history shaped contemporary society using Spain as an example?