For those of you who think Facebooks gives you an appropriate world view, here's a post that'll spice up those daily conversations and take you a step closer to those know-it-all's who make fun of you for not knowing what the heck is going on with the world economy besides the fact that we're in a "crisis" (yes, I talk from experience.). Plus, with all I'm learning about Spanish economy and the European Union, it would be unfair to not allude at least a little to it, democracy being an intricate part of the society we live in.
If you've turned on the world news, you will have seen that Valencia is currently under siege to daily riots and manifestations. Some have turned violent, some are just protests (Yes, Mom, I'm doing well, safely and soundly taking a 10 minute longer bike route to get to school every day to avoid the center!).
What are the protests about? I'll give you the basic social and economical reasons.
Basically, the Spanish government has decided to borrow and borrow to fund projects for the upcoming Formula 1 races held in Barcelona this June, and have buried themselves in debt. Now, when money is low all over the continent, the government has decided to pull funds from the education sector, leaving schools with no heating, teachers underpaid, or no teachers at all, yielding classrooms the size of a closet that have to fit 100 students. Some of you might say, well geez, at USC, we have lecture halls of 300, I didn't even realize my roommate was in the same class until the final exam, suck it up, Spaniards! But these protesters are high-schoolers. 15-year-olds. Did you ever attend a class of 100 in high school? Oh, and remember that super awesome year we had at least 3800 days off for snow days...When you came back, did you have heat in the building? Probably didn't even notice it.
College students have now joined the masses after Sunday's protests erupted into police forces punching down the most violent protesters and handcuffing them, some minors. In all fairness, setting fire to trash cans is not the most diplomatic way to protest, but now citizens are also angry at how the police not-so-gently handled the mass, one policeman even handcuffing a girl that was just walking through with her grandmothers, but looked about the age of the average protester.
Spain has, of course, been hit by the European Economic Crisis like everyone else, but possibly has suffered more. If you look at Spain's economic past (which most people don't unless they have to 2 hours a day), it's a very polar cycle of economic booms and crises (plural of crisis?). Spain has also always had a huge problem with unemployment, always at a rate of around 20.6 %. After a civil war, a world war, and then a long dictatorship where Franco thought it brilliant to isolate the war-torn country and make it stand on its own, Spain's economy has never had the long period of modernization and maturity that most other first-world countries have enjoyed. So the money is low, but does that mean we should support a sporting event that will bring the country so much touristic revenue and attention, and push education for the leaders of our future for later times, or should we put the funds we have in education and start building now a more prosperous tomorrow?
While sitting at the bus stop waiting for a bus that would never come (some routes have been canceled or re-routed because of the protests in the city center, and two major streets are blocked off by shielded policemen), I thought about all the intricacies of the problem.
Education is what elevates a first-world country from a third-world country. Education is what enables teenagers to become adults, with goals and knowledge of the ways to achieve them.
A very intelligent little bird (tall, blond, Austrian) told me that it's no use to ever feel guilty for a gift, but to be thankful for that gift and use it to give back. I was gifted by karma to live in a country where the highest education is offered and possible to obtain, so I know there is something we all eventually can do to help situations like this all around the world, if we just pay attention to what's going on and use the precious education we got to come up with solutions.
As of now, on my way to hopefully changing the world, here's the best solution I have:
EVERYONE COME TO VALENCIA!
1. You'll enjoy the best food and wine.
2. You'll visit unforgettable sights.
3. You'll see Roxy.
4. You'll boost the Spanish economy and pull the country out of this economic standstill!
I'll let you know if anything more revolutionary comes up.
Going running for now, got lots of thinking to do! And of course, I still am taking time to enjoy this still wonderful life here in beautiful Valencia.
Besos, Roxy
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