Has a hurricane, tsunami, or flood hit Spain that I’m not aware of? If not then why is the Spanish Red Cross collecting money to help their fellow country man?
The Red Cross is out soliciting donations around Spain because people are beginning to starve in Spain. How can that happen in a First World Nation? Has there been a Famine caused by drought, locust or some other Biblical Plague? No. There hasn’t been a faminine in Europe since Laissez-Faire Capitalism hit the shores of Europe.
Has there been a war that has disrupted the economy? No, Spain’s last real war was the Spanish Civil War back in the 1930′s.
Has there been a massive outbreak of disease forcing millions to be unable to not work? Well sort of. Its not a physical disease but rather a mental “disorder” that is causing massive physical effects for the people of Spain today.
The reason why so many people in Spain are needing ”assistance” is because of the ideology the majority of the Spanish have embraced over the decades. Spain and the other “PIIGS” Portugal, Ireland, and Italy are suffering the effects of what happens when Individuals embrace the ideas of Collectivism and elect politicians who put those ideas into action.
I’m not saying that the Bankers, Politicians and Pundit apologists didn’t orchestrate this collapse. They were front and center. But when individuals forget they have a God-given right only to their own life, liberty and property they suffer the effects of the violation of the Natural Laws.
Right now the Red Cross in Spain is going around the country soliciting donations for those according to Bloomberg Business “are hurt by the economy and government austerity measures”. But the article did not dig into why the economy is in shambles in the first place.
Spain is the case study for how Collectivism fails even when its shrouded in t”Deomcracy”. It was on the forefront of the Green Economy movement and gover the last decade has seen massive government intervention into every aspect of the economy. Just four years ago American politicians were pointing to Spain as the model for how to turn an economy around. Those politicians may want to rethink that now.
Spokesman Jose Javier Sanchez Espinosa for the Spanish Red Cross laid out the current ”Utopian State” of Spain today:
“25 percent of children are living under the poverty level and old people now have their children and their grandchildren depending on their pensions,” he said.
“Spain is in its second recession in three years, and has near 25 percent unemployment”
Spain is in bad shape. The reason why is simple. The people of Spain like the people here have traded liberty for security and now they have less and less of both.
It reminds me of the story of the Farmer who wanted to catch some Wild Hogs on his property and domesticate them. The Wild Hogs were wary and proud creatures who regarded the farmer with great suspicion because of the stories they heard of the animals being caged and slaughtered on the farm. They valued their independence living in the forest only by their brain and their brawn. Sure the forest was dangerous and nothing was guaranteed but he Wild Hogs were crafty, strong, and self-reliant; that was until they discovered how tasty free Farmer corn could be.
The Farmer was cunning and patient. He knew he could never get all the Wild Hogs into a pen by force. So instead of the stick he used the carrot or more accurately, free corn. .
He began putting corn out in a small clearing next to the forest. At first The Wild Hogs were leery but soon one by one they began to eat the corn. After a few days of laying out the corn the Farmer put up some fence. Not too close to the corn but close enough that the Wild Hogs noticed it when they ate. They rationalized it away. They told themselves “Hey, I’m still free I can come and go as I please and this corn is mighty tasty”.
Now as days passed the Wild Hogs continued to eat the free corn and the Farmer began putting up more and more of the fence. The Wild Hogs didn’t mind at all and became more and more accustomed to it. As the second side of the corral was completed the Wild Hogs told themselves “I’m not worried I can still come and go as I please and this corn is so tasty”. They even didn’t mind seeing the farmer because they knew that he was the one brining them the corn. After a few weeks of this The Wild Hogs now didn’t even notice the fence at all, it was just part of the landscape. That was until the Farmer put in the last of the fencing, installed a gate and locked it shut. That was the day the Wild Hogs became very aware of the fence and that they could no longer come and go as they pleased.
But the Farmer assured them that the fence was there for their protection. They were safe in the pen from the wolves that lurked in the forest and they no longer had to go out searching for food in the forest. So the Hogs calmed down and settled into a routine of sitting around each day waiting for the farmer to bring the free corn.
Over time the farmer began cutting the rations back and the pigs after a while noticed and began to protest. But what could the pigs do? The Farmer simply ignored their pleas. They were trapped. They could no longer escape. They now were no longer the Wild Hogs who lived free in the forest by their brains and their brawn. Their muscles had atrophied and their power to reason was gone. No longer were they strong enough to push the fence over or smart enough to work the gate. The once Proud Wild Hogs were now nothing more than trapped domesticated pigs.
The people of Spain,Italy, Ireland and Greece are all beginning to feel the “restricted rations of corn” from their Government Farmers. The crazy thing is that those who are calling for austerity are the one’s who have fattened themselves the most by using the Central Banking System and the ability of Government to tax through force. The PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) don’t have a chance. The Farmers today, the central bankers, politicians and pundits, are all trying to pen up as many people as possible so that they ensure that their supply of corn is never shut off.
The people were not forced into these pens by the pointing of guns. They were domesticated little by little over the years by the desire for a steady diet of free corn. The majority of people around the world clamor to be taken care of. People naturally want to do other things besides work. Work is strenuous, hard and requires people to use their God-give ability to reason. None of that is easy. Mises like to called this natural human tendency the “disutility of labor.” Everyone he wrote would rather do something else besides work. Fortunately (I’m being sarcastic) there are philosophers and politicians who take advantage of this human tendency with concocted theories of “collectivism” which gladly relieve the masses of their need to reason and place the responsibility of their lives in the hands of the Government Farmers.
The observable results of the Collectivist philosophy in action are always the same. It is not something new. In the last century Collectivist Governments have killed over 170 million of their own citizens. A lot of these were “non-comliant” pigs who were agitating the other pigs in the pen and others were “undesirable pigs” who were starved to death either by design or simply through bureaucratic neglect. When your life is in the hands of the Central Planners, a.ka., the Government Farmers, they decide who lives and who dies.
It is sad. This is not some abstract debate about the theory and practice of governing. This is about millions of people beginning to starve to death in a First World Nation. That is startling. I think more people should be outraged at this because the same ideology that penned up the people in the PIIGS is running rampant through the hearts and minds of Americans today.
A lot of people in America are beginning to notice the government fencing in their lives. Unfortunately Mitt Romney and Obama are not talking about taking down these fences, they are in fact talking about making them higher and stronger. Make no mistake about it, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Obama Care, 401ks, IRAs, tax deductions are all Fences designed to keep you in the Centrally Planned Pen. Instead of demanding to hear about how these fences should be taken down, the only thing most Americans want to hear is who among the Government Farmers will be giving them the biggest ration of corn.
Brad Miller
AdvocateofLiberty and Living Free of Government Fences
