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At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

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  • At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

    A letter appeared today in the spanish newspaper "La Vanguardia", translated from catalan by yours truly. Enjoy.

    THE READER exposes

    I accuse me

    ERIC FERRER CANET - Subscriber Granollers
    I accuse me of being an employee with a permanent contract, that has been working for over 15 years in the same company and who is entitled to a severance pay of 45 days of salary per year worked. I earn a wage far above my productivity, competitiveness, flexibility, let alone my zero mobility. I do not work enough, do not make efforts, do not want to learn or improve, do not get training, let alone accept sacrifices or want to prosper. I'm always thinking in completing my eight hours and run out only to hack around, completing my 48 hours and run away for the weekend and wanting to reach 65 and leave spluttering to cash my pension.

    Today, I know I'm guilty of living in an unreal bubble, an unfair and unjustifiable duality. Today, I know that the systemic crisis we're suffering bears on my conscience.

    Therefore, I apologize to the four million and a half of unemployed, to the employers, to the government, to the opposition, to the European Union, to the International Monetary Fund, to Angela Merkel, to Obama, to Hu Jintao, to the public officials, to the journalists, economists, talk show guests, to the markets in general and the one next to home in particular, to the banks, to the "cajas", to the homeless that will have less offices where to shelter this winter, and to my admired Micah P. Hinson because I haven't yet bought his last work.

    But above all, I apologize to my parents, both retired, 84 and 85, whose pension has been frozen because of me.

    And for not having noticed before, seeing them sitting on the couch, that, in fact, life is already a temporary contract with shitty conditions where you always get fired without compensation.
    The original at La Vanguardia (premium content) (free site since monday) reads:

    EL LECTOR EXPONE

    Jo m´acuso
    ENRIC CANET FERRER - Subscriptor Granollers
    Jo m´acuso de ser un assalariat amb un contracte indefinit, treballar durant més de 15 anys en una mateixa empresa i haver de ser indemnitzat amb 45 dies per any treballat. Guanyar un salari molt per sobre de la meva productivitat, competitivitat, flexibilitat i ja no diguem de la meva nul · la mobilitat. No treballar suficient, no esforçar-me, no voler aprendre ni millorar, no formar-me, i ja no diguem acceptar sacrificis i voler prosperar. Pensar a fer les vuit hores i sortir pitant a vaguejar, fer les 48 hores i sortir corrents de cap de setmana i voler arribar als 65 anys i sortir ranquejant a cobrar la jubilació.

    Avui, sé que soc culpable de viure en una bombolla irreal, en una dualitat injusta i injustificable. Avui, sé que la crisi sistèmica en què estem ficats recau sobre la meva consciència.

    Per tot això, demano perdó als quatre milions i mig d´aturats, als empresaris, al Govern, a l´oposició, a la Unió Europea, al Fons Monetari Internacional, a Angela Merkel, a Obama, a Hu Jintao, als funcionaris, als periodistes, economistes, tertulians, als mercats en general i al del costat de casa en particular, als bancs, a les caixes, als indigents que aquest proper hivern tindran menys oficines on aixoplugar-se i al meu admirat Micah P. Hinson per no haver-li comprat encara el seu últim treball.

    Però per sobre de tot, demano perdó als meus pares, jubilats tot dos de 84 i 85 anys, que per culpa meva els han congelat la pensió.

    I de no haver-me adonat abans, en veure´ls asseguts al sofà, que de fet la vida ja és un contracte temporal amb unes condicions de merda on sempre t´acaben acomiadant sense cap indemnització.
    Last edited by tacito; June 21, 2010, 01:00 AM. Reason: Add free site link

  • #2
    Re: At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

    He apologized to merkel, obama, and hu jintao, that was a very good laugh.

    To bad I can't read spanish so I don't understand the context of the article, was he sarcastic? or condescending? half serious?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

      Here in LaLaLand, District of Columbia, the gubmint employees I know are very smart and very overpaid, like at LEAST 50% overpaid and that doesn't count junkets to conferences in Banff or Jackson Hole or wherever. I know lots of federal government workers work very hard but they are vastly, vastly overpaid and in the clouds.

      One of my relatives told me about a woman who lives 50 miles or so from the office. She commutes in at 7AM, so she can leave early and beat the traffic. And works 4 days a week. And I am sure gets amazing benefits and a salary that is probably twice what I would pay.

      Just so we realize that this isn't something confined to Spain

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

        Originally posted by chr5648 View Post
        He apologized to merkel, obama, and hu jintao, that was a very good laugh.

        To bad I can't read spanish so I don't understand the context of the article, was he sarcastic? or condescending? half serious?
        I had my wife (who speaks fluent Spanish) read it. Catalan made it a little more tricky, but she says the translation is on-the-nose and no, he wasn't being sarcastic.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

          Originally posted by jpatter666 View Post
          I had my wife (who speaks fluent Spanish) read it. Catalan made it a little more tricky, but she says the translation is on-the-nose and no, he wasn't being sarcastic.
          However, we do not know who really wrote it. Do we? To get a perspective of things, read also Aetius' latest article - The Brief, Great, Vanished Social Welfare

          Humanism is a philosophical approach to the world where the well-being of men is the starting point for all endeavour. Dating back to the ancient Greeks, Humanism didn't really begin to effect social policy until it was adopted at the start of the Italian Renaissance. Here, in the cool thin air of the Apennine Dukedom of Urbino, perhaps the greatest Humanist leader of his time, Federico da Montefeltro employed and encouraged Luca Pacioli to write his "Summa" and launch, among other things, the practice of accounting. As humanists, it never occurred to either the horrific damage it would inflict, or the shape of the world that might result. Such however, are the foibles of great things.

          Humanism fought a valiant but hopeless struggle against the forces of capital and commerce throughout the west. The system was gamed against any kind of synthesis, although many tried and lost. From the earliest late Medieval champions like Petrarch (who coined the term "the Dark Ages" from his efforts), through Boccaccio, Cicero, Edmund Burke and the Age of Reason, and through to Thomas Paine and the founding of America. An entire movement extinguished and replaced by Goldman Sachs, Blackwater, and Chevron. Humanism, we are told, is no compliment to capitalism, free markets, and rational men. Humanists don't CEO.

          Humanism has retained a strong influence in Europe however, and can be seen in the different social values Europeans have that Americans do not. Humanists still populate public service, the arts, and social studies enough to remind folks of their roots. Humanists, not surprisingly, populate the left most sections of the political spectrum. Many remain in what's left of the Catholic Church, and the force of Humanism on local affairs is often directly related to the "level" of their Christianity. In these communities, a wider worldview is more adaptable to economic change, especially so when change becomes essential.

          One such area was the Basque region of Spain, which suffered disproportionately from the ravages of two world wars and was the proving grounds for the Nazi war machine. Having survived that, the Basque people then faced relentless oppression from the Franco regime that followed. The Basque region of Spain is a confusion of hills, valleys, mountains, and streams that tumble gracefully towards the sea. The Basque people are fiercely proud and stubborn, scattered amongst the landscape in hundreds of small, ancient communities. The Basques are hard core Catholic.
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          • #6
            Re: At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

            tacito, you appear to have very little familiarity with Tacitus.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

              Originally posted by chr5648 View Post
              He apologized to merkel, obama, and hu jintao, that was a very good laugh.

              To bad I can't read spanish so I don't understand the context of the article, was he sarcastic? or condescending? half serious?
              This is a letter to "La Vanguardia", the newspaper, that got published in the section "Reader's letters" of today's edition. I posted the complete text of the letter, so you have all the context. About the situation he's referring to, I'll try to summarize it here:

              Our goverment's president is not Rowar Atkinson, but the similarities are remarcable. His name's José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. He's built a reputation among his peers in Europe with his smart comments about economy. Among them:
              • Learned economy in two evenings.
              • Spain is going to surpass France and Germany in per capita income in two or three years.
              • Spain will achive full employment in the next legislative period.
              • Spain is in the Champions League of the global economy.
              • We'll continue growing in real estate. Home prices will "moderate".
              • No recession in Spain.
              • No subprime mortgages in Spain.
              • Banks in Spain are the safier in the world.
              • Plus lots of green shots when they were so fashionable.

              His economic policy has been mantaining and increasing subsides to the unemployed and extreme keynesianism. Until now. Now the germans (Merkel) have forced them to austerity measures (they want that their banks get its money back). And he has been called by Obama. Probably because he couldn't be convinced of the severity of the problems if not told by his friend Barack. Yes, he's that dumb. And now we are practically intervened by the IMF and the European Union. The austerity is not because of the goverment debt (it's not that high yet, but could become because of the deficit), but because Spain is supposed to bailout its banks as the other countries did, and it cannot. So in the end will be Europe who bails out the spanish banks from its non performing mortgages.

              Up until now, the spanish goverment has taken three main measures:
              • Reducing public officials' wages.
              • Freezing public pensions for the retired, and
              • Reducing the cost of dimissals for the employers.

              The letter's author is sarcastic: he has a fixed contract with a high severance pay (almost two years of salary if you do the numbers), but he doesn't feel guilty for a systemic crisis. And he's ironic about the reasons usually given for dimissals (low productivity and the like), because he works hard. The productivity problems in Spain are not the fault of the workers (hey, "siestas" are only for hollidays), but the problem of business with low capital and intensive use of the work force. And bitter about the future if you re-read the last sentence.

              The "labor reform" (cheap firing) has been sold as a means to create jobs. Of course, it is intended so employers could fire more and cheaper, because they need to. That will save some business, so in the end that will mean less job destruction, but not creation. So we are headed to an interesting Fall.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

                Originally posted by KGW View Post
                tacito, you appear to have very little familiarity with Tacitus.
                Why?

                I'm not familiar with the historian. I'm tacito from latin tacere - be quiet. Look at my post count.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: At last, the spanish worker gets it and apologizes

                  The real crime continues to be the use of debt by politicians and dumb people who vote them in, why should this generation and taxpayers pay for the past?, and why should the future generations pay for us now?. You should reap the fruits of your own labor not someone else's and neither in the present or the future. This is a ponzi scheme, aka madoff.

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