OR
Na Mexican, me, with a daily need to know what is happening, watching the news from France and Spain: astonishment sets in and opens doors to a torrent of ideas and comparisons that I will try to reflect on:
1. I look for information channels and I change looking for essences. Channels abound, but the world that integrates their concerns is only Europe, and beyond the United States, Russia and China, something from the Mediterranean and nothing else, unless a catastrophe happens. Most of the channels give very local news and some reach to be national. A very narrow world indeed.
2. The Spanish health system in total crisis, several days of strike by base doctors in hospitals and health posts. They demand, beware they demand: that the number of daily consultations they have to give be reduced, from 60 to 30, in order to dedicate at least 10 minutes to each patient, which they consider essential to carry out serious diagnoses; In addition, it takes an average month to get an appointment. To which the local governments (Madrid) of the Popular Party respond that the appropriate thing would be to set up a consultation system by videoconference or by telephone to eliminate the pressure. The doctors are outraged and request to hire a reinforcement of 24 thousand more doctors in the public system. They point to privatizations as part of the dismantling they suffer.
3. French doctors, under the same conditions, are considering a crisis and possible mobilizations, since the public system is dismantled, the general doctors have been relegated, devalued, overwhelmed by constant quick consultations, replaced in private consultations by parallel professions, such as kinotherapists. There are beds available in hospitals, but there is no staff, some 70,000 are needed, from doctors to cleaning staff. The crisis deepens because there is a ninth wave of covid infections, with the new variant BQ 11; there is a bivalent biological, but most do not want to be vaccinated, not even health personnel, there are thousands at home who reject the antigen and the debate centers on whether it would be necessary for the unvaccinated to return to work in hospitals.
4. The temperature has suddenly dropped, the thermometer indicates: -1, up to 4 degrees, a difficult winter appears. Two ghosts settle in: the unattainable price of electricity and fuel, to mobilize and try to heat the houses. Governments propose as a solution that their heaters not rise to more than 15 degrees, even so millions will not be able to pay. In France, moreover, the government announces essential power cuts for January, the coldest month, the debate breaks out: which cuts?, how will they warn?, total cuts in schools?, hospitals?, industries? Firefighters and police? Transport and traffic lights? …for the time being, for the weekend, a partial train strike, the system most affected by the privatizations, neglected, with lower salaries (which are only compensated by performance bonuses that are not integrated into the salary and then affect retirements). The government stammers that everything is planned, that the places will be warned, that everyone has to learn to spend less and be very cautious, etc…. The French are rear up
even more… So, it is the French who have the responsibility of managing national problems and not the government?
5. The pernicious inflation has also been installed and puts a greater anguish on the people. On average, according to the news, an inflation of between 15 and 20 percent in food has been unleashed, depending on the products in question. A Christmas, say the many who are on minimum wages, that they will have a hard time: despite the black fridaytoys and gifts have increased by 44 percent.
6. Meanwhile, Macron went to visit, with hype and lights, with Biden. Great declarations of love, an unexpected alignment with the warmongering American policies. Pedro Sánchez is named president of the Social Democratic International, the same hype and cymbals, the same alignment. Brussels imposes a ghostly cap on the price of Russian gas.
Commentators point out that Europe is not remotely in a position to increase support for Ukraine, as Biden demands, a war that is weighing heavily on daily life, they do not dare to openly raise the absolute need to stop the war and negotiate; there is a strong trade deficit, there are urgent needs to strengthen the production of national energy and food, strengthen public services; excessive conditions imposed by Brussels, there are no agreements on increasing taxes, pensions and salaries.
7. Conclusion: in prosperous Europe the neoliberal policies of privatization and commodification are foundering, although they have a hard time admitting it and changing course. Where have we heard this before?
8. Quick and concise news about the trial of Cristina Kirshner in Argentina, the overthrow of Castillo in Peru, nothing more about Latin America, as a strange curiosity; while in Germany they arrest a far-right gang armed to the teeth as something spectacular.
* UPN researcher. author of the inee
