Spain: In A Socialist Economy You Don't Get Paid

The effects of Socialism, as we are seeing with Spain, are nasty.  After decades of socialist policies that defy fundamentally sound economic thinking the nation has declined to the point were even private companies are no longer able to pay their employees. Naturally some of the workers will blame the companies, saying that they are greedy and keeping all the available money to themselves. But the truth is that those companies are simply not being paid by their customers, or they are not being paid enough.

This is the direct result of socialism, or social democracy as it is known in Europe, and the effects are being felt both those on the dole and those who are productive.  Though it only recently has been called socialism, this sort of thing has been tried throughout human history, and always ended the same way. Ancient Roman politicians like Tiberius Gracchus, Augustus, Domitian, and a host of others, instituted policies such as land redistribution, free grain handouts to the masses, and price fixing. These policies were widely popular with the common man, but in the end created a problem far worse than the one that they were trying to solve. And perhaps the worst thing about this scenario, is that rather than look at the unintended ill-effects of their policies, the politicians of Spain will double down.

Human nature makes this a near certainty.  We are wired to trust authority figures, like wolves and the great apes, our society started out with small groups lead by an alpha figure or perhaps a group of highly regarded individuals.  This sort of structure works for small groups, were honor codes and blood ties helps prevent rampant abuses, and it has become a part of our psyche. It is natural to view socialistic/technocractic/nanny state government as the solution because that is how we are innately wired. Socialism appeals to our instinct, while libertarianism and free market policy require that we use our intellect. And the sad truth is, for every human being on the planet, we are often more irrational that rational.

And so the people of Spain will continue to clamor for more of the policies that have lead their nation to great ruin. At the behest of their leaders, they will continue to throttle the evil rich who are not paying their "fair share" only realizing when the rich have become nothing more than a lifeless corpse, i.e completely disappeared, and seeing that their situation has only decayed further, that they will realize the folly that their leaders how convinced them as truth.  Sadly even that scenario is optimistic, as Argentina has shown, even after the destruction of socialism has become evident, the people still continue to believe the charade that socialism is.

Let me make this clear. Socialism cannot work, has not work, and will not work, ever. Any one who happens to think that it might, but is not too far down the rabbit hole, should take note. What is happening in Spain is a direct result of Socialism in action.

Spain's Robin Hood

This is what happens when you follow the socialist route. Since it is fundamentally unsustainable you eventually open yourself up to politicians with a flair for the theatrical, ability to use populism to further their appeal, along with the willingness to break the law. I give you Spain's Robin Hood mayor.  This is troublesome because the man is obviously playing to certain elements; you think his Castro style beard is just a coincidence?

What he is doing is a classic populist playbook to garner support from elements of society that probably most depend on the government dole.  However, the mayor doesn't consider, or more than likely doesn't care to consider, the long term implications of such an action.  It isn't the grocer or the supermarket that causes the price spikes or makes it difficult for the poor to afford food; though I highly doubt people are really starving in Spain.

But mark my words, this man is dangerous because he is willing to use his immunity to break the law, and he is obviously gunning for bigger and better things. It wasn't too long ago that Spain was ruled by strong man Francisco Franc so there is a precedence for Spain's civil government to be co opted by a man who is willing to use populism, and not be bothered by scruples. 

I wonder how long Spain will remain a first world economy if a man, who is willing to try and take over land that is not his, or men like him begin to take control of Spain's government.  We've seen the damage socialism light has wrought on Europe, the damage done by hard socialism will only be worse.