Our Leaders and the crisis

There are many differences between Europe and the US as far as perceptions go. Part of the reason I am writing this blog is to try and highlight some of these differences so that we can hopefully understand each other better.

The US now is up to 7% unemployment rate. This rate skyrockets in some European countries. In Spain, for instance, it is nearly 14% and growing at an alarming rate. That is double the US rate, but in Spain people seem less concerned about this.

They seem to believe that a social “ cushion” still exists in Europe. That family and its ability to help out in a crisis period is going to be able to cope as was the case 20 years ago. I think they are wrong. European society is now much less vertebrated than in the past. A lot less than some of us would have liked to see in our lifetime. This is the result of political choices, mistakes one could argue, of so many years of socialism.

People also tend to forget that public resources are limited and that the money people on the dole receive every month they are out of a job has to be paid by those of us who still are employed, and by our children.

Another main concern is the capacity of our leaders to steer us out of this crisis. Present European leaders are of the “ optimist” category. They are all very capable as long as we have favorable winds. They cannot acknowledge the gravity of the situation. They have to speak about the recovery, which they label as “ speedy”. 

I believe we lack “ pessimists” in government in most countries. Most European leaders are no Churchills. And a Churchill is probably what we most need now in Europe. Someone has to tell us that “ blood, sweat and tears” is what we can expect in the near future. And that the recession is going to be lengthy rather than speedy. In other words, we need to be told the truth from the people whose job it is to know the truth.

I am in no position to judge President-Elect Obama. I do not know if he is a “Roosevelt” or not. But I will be following closely, because, in Europe, we also need his leadership as much as we need our own leaders to stand up and fight for us.