Once upon a time, there was a circus...
Many people think that since circuses are mostly shows aimed at children, they do not need to be well-oiled, prepared, serious and formal affairs; that since there is no great capacity for discernment among their best and most numerous audience, any failure can easily be accepted, covered up, set aside or overlooked.
Misconception if any, because every circus that prides itself on this, must be based on knowledge, professionalism, preparation, rehearsal, order and authority. Authority, which is normally exercised by and emanates from the one known as the ringleader, who forms the centre and focus of attention and who generally, with his strong and energetic voice, animates the audience, attracts them and lures them to the next performance while controlling the actions and timings of his comedians, artists or animals in the ring and of those who are ready and willing to enter and perform, as well as all his paraphernalia, fanfares and props.
Needless to say, the problem is multiplied if the circus has two or more rings in action simultaneously; the complication increases and to alleviate it some assistants are needed, who, as second in command, after previous and tacit agreements, coordinate with the Boss, even if only by sight, numbers and timing in such a way and manner, that it is the one who draws and maintains the attention of the public from one ring to another, according to the importance or ostentation of the number presented at each moment, check its harmony, contemplate the timing and opportunity of each event; without anyone, on their own, unexpectedly standing in the centre or the focus of attention hardly ever, and even less so when it is not their turn.
A circus also has behind its large and colourful curtains, a great logistic, development, propaganda and economic apparatus that can pull the necessary strings so that everything is set in the right place according to a plan, a programme of events and detailed and precise budgets, which must be drawn up in advance in order to fulfil and cover the objectives without the prestige and popularity of the circus falling to insurmountable levels because this would mean its ruin or disappearance.
Well, this simplified example is worthwhile, as the picture and basis of what a government should be. A government that has studied, calculated, budgeted and geared everything; A government that knows how to react to any unforeseen event and that works like a Swiss watch owing to its preparation, experience and, above all, because its " ringleader " is a skilful, brave, empathetic, humble man who knows his job well and who, with a good dose of leadership, directs everyone at every moment without letting them, as if in a box of crickets, each one going his own way, occupying the space or act of somebody else, or acting at his own pace because he is looking for his own personal shine, however he pleases or feels like doing so.
If we decide to attend a circus that does not fulfill its program at all, that does the opposite of what it announces and proclaims, we will end up badly. If, at the very beginning of the show, we see that the acts do not come on stage when they are called, their appearance is delayed and when they finally appear, we can see that they have no idea what they should do, they are not dressed for the occasion, they change their roles, they trample on the cast and even change their costumes and props, a tremendous murmur begins to arise among the audience, which usually ends in a great protest, a little fuss and a lot of confusion.
If one thing is announced and another appears, as if the dwarves were doing the work of the animal trainers, the clowns became tightrope walkers, the giants became dwarfs and the trainers became illusionists, the confusion is considerable. When we see that the ringleader talks too much, creating false illusions and expectations of something that is never put on stage or, on the contrary, he is hoarse, cannot or will not talk, he does not announce anything that attracts or convinces us and his assistants speak more clearly than he does, attracting the attention of each sector without order or agreement or when, after his shrill proclamations, it can be seen that what they announce is not what appears on their ring, but on the one next to it much later or sooner, total disaster is assured and prepared.
To top off this sad situation, it only remains to add that, if each spectator finds that the seat they have been placed in is not the one marked on their ticket, that the cost of the ticket has gone up at the last minute and that the sweets that were included in the price of the seats are neither sweets nor anything else, except for precious empty or sawdust filled wrappers, although with a lot of fanfare, people rebel and protest with good reason for so much nonsense.
Although it may seem unbelievable, there are still many people among politicians and in society who are not very well educated who find it difficult to understand that you cannot promise things that affect people's sensibilities and that after a more than prudent period of time, they are not honoured or are only partially honoured; that in order to bring things to a successful conclusion, the means used must meet the minimum requirements of safety and efficiency because otherwise we are destined to make fools of ourselves and to fail.
Working at full speed, without reflecting on the consequences of the decisions taken and their actions, making decisions spontaneously and without consulting the sectors involved or the opposition, and not assessing the capacity for action and the chances of success, is worse than playing Russian roulette with three bullets in the barrel of the gun. Situations such as these have, unfortunately, been witnessed at first hand in the 37 days since the state of emergency was declared.
The bad thing about all of them is that the one who really pays the price -at least initially- is not the government, but the citizens who remain overwhelmed and very affected by: the poor head of government, its lack of foresight, too many and pernicious hidden agendas, deviations, spurious interests or a lot of inability to cope. Things and situations all of them, that due to their serious consequences, lead them to a kind of repression guarded in their homes, to block their means of sustenance sine die or to lose part of their freedom of information due to the veiled control and certain censorships on which they protest; due to the excessive bombardment by the official media or of those other self-serving, self-applauding and sorrowful, which are many -almost all- those who try to convince us in chat shows, networks or newspapers and that in addition, due to their busy activity, they are usually well paid.
Since the beginning of the pandemic and before it reached such a category, we have been lied to about everything, concealed a lot of reliable information, disguised the data on very important issues such as the number of deaths and infections by tireless and prolific media that have presented us with the pretty or less ugly side of this terrible coin, with hundreds of anecdotal details, Miraculous healings very typical of saints before they are canonised, joyful songs, dedications, congratulations, applause on the balconies and sirens of all kinds sounding in unison as if we all wanted to melt constantly in a prolonged burst of joy or a virtual embrace because in Spain we are so well, better than the others, and because nothing bad happens.
But, the truth is very stubborn and at the same time, the bitter and human side of the story has been hidden from us; our elders dying by the handful, alone in their homes or in old people's homes, who despite the fact that the second vice-president, Iglesias Turrión last March 19th promised to take action and a prompt solution, continued to be abandoned to their fate like death niches due to the "exclusive fault" of the Autonomous Regions, because no one has bothered for years and much more since the beginning of this damned infection to give them the necessary health support - except for a few brave soldiers who came to support them with proper disinfection - that every centre of this kind needs to offer the minimum assistance and care.
Other poor wretches, crammed into the waiting rooms and hospital corridors begging for a bed - even a warm one - and a respirator so as not to die in a heartbreaking way and with just a handshake from a person whose face and features are not visible because he is covered with rags and plastic to protect himself from the deadly virus; who, despite all this, will still be tirelessly at the bottom of the barrel if he's lucky, and a few days later is not forced to occupy an armchair in the emergency room of the same hospital waiting to find out whether or not he has the aforementioned infection.
The families of the deceased, in addition to not having been able to accompany their loved ones in their final moments, nor thank them for what they did and gave them, have to be forced into an endless ordeal to: arrange for the transfer of the remains, their deposit, identification, cremation in the same city or in another community, and the final recovery of the ashes or the body in a coffin (sealed) for burial as mandated by the canons of our custom and religion.
They go through this long and painful situation without knowing anything about what has happened for days or weeks with the remains of the deceased or where they are; because no one has bothered to gather together cities, regions or a single register of the dead in Spain with truthful information on all cases and their ups and downs. To make matters worse, in addition to the fact that this widespread, merciless and inhumane event has been going on for more than 37 days, it has still not been corrected or resolved.
To make matters worse, we have learned that many funeral homes have not only been overwhelmed in their ability to attend and inform, but that greedy scouts and opportunists have raised prices in the midst of so much activity and confusion. The government and the ministry of consumer affairs promised an early solution, although I am afraid that, as with many other broken promises, this has not been the case for the moment and we will see, if one day it is appropriate to undertake some kind of claim.
As a cherry on top of this sad and very macabre issue, we have a PSOE and a government that at the time both gave clear instructions not to render any acts or gestures of mourning towards the victims for I don't know what hidden purposes, so that they would not be thought of, as if they did not exist or were simple statistical numbers knowing that they reflected the dismal result of their actions and management, which really and because of the size of the issue, did not benefit them at all.
It must have been the differences between some cities and regions and that the socialist Mayor of Villarreal condemned such an imposture so that, after the 20,000 " official" deaths and before such a shame, the president of the government began and ended his tenth message of Hello President to the nation last weekend remembering them and, as a way of compensation, announced a great act in his honour "when all this is over". Another important issue, which is passed on to the group of filed or delayed matters among many other things, such as the assumption of their responsibilities; so most of their acts and mistakes of true and hard responsibility are left there reserved for an unspecified future moment, which only God knows if one day it will come. And in the next sentence, without any shame or glory, he tells us and proclaims that they-the government-are very self-critical and that they assume all their responsibilities. Incredibly shameful.
On the economic front, millions of dollars in aid have been promised, delays in payments and very few, if any, waivers, but we soon saw that half of the money is hard cash, most of it in the form of guarantees, deferrals of fees, and the few that can be effective do not arrive on time, are cosmetic and only cover a fraction of those who had requested it in order to get out of this ruinous situation.
We will see how the issue of the minimum living income ends, inasmuch as it will come out, whether it is only temporary or will be a permanent sinkhole of money that only seeks the subsidy and free life to retain the barrel of votes full of the self-serving, lazy or even criminals who play simultaneously with the state's subsidy and in the hidden economy in order to avoid paying any kind of taxes and causing the state's coffers to collect less than expected.
The problems and great spectacle given regarding the supply, purchase, arrival and distribution of health and protection material, fundamentally for those most exposed to the contagion, the sick and finally for the rest of the personnel, have been many, varied, scandalous and absolutely pitiful; I therefore hope that one day they will take pride of place in the more than obligatory and necessary process of judicial investigation following this crisis because I am very much afraid that there has been a great deal of neglect of responsibility, reckless behaviour with a risk of death and, fundamentally, repeated promises by the Minister for Consumer Affairs, which are still not being fulfilled since, if someone is able to find a mask in a pharmacy, its existence and sale is limited, with just one use and at a price of three euros, when before this pandemic it cost around fifty cents. As announced by the BOE late Sunday, within 48 hours, a commission will set the maximum prices for such a necessary element. We will see if this is the case and how it is fulfilled.
The issue of the unfinished course, what to do about its evaluation, how to return to the classrooms that already before the crisis suffered from a large overcrowding - which will be even greater if the government ends up accepting, as it seems to intend, subsidised education - and the release of under-age children back into the streets to get some fresh air and sunshine after a very long and inexplicable period of confinement for those millions of children who do not have a garden, just as the other day the vice-president of the government, Iglesias, boasted of having one, even though he seemed to realise that the situation was not the same for everyone.
The many unfulfilled promises, the dozens of false hopes never achieved, errors of appreciation, actions not taken and bad actions of principle have caused serious damage or thousands of lives lost and that have only remained anecdotal as if they were the result of minor mistakes and what is worse, have not raised any outcry from the aggrieved public or from close relatives and those most affected by such dire actions or decisions.
The attempts to hide the steps taken, especially the failed ones, by a government that takes advantage of the state of alarm by restricting - perhaps beyond what is allowed by the very law that regulates it - the rights and freedoms of citizens by trying to limit them, and even suppressing freedom of movement, and we will see what happens to freedom of the press and information because even the possible restriction of freedom of expression has been clearly or vaguely announced, messages from citizens and political parties being protected by the fact that most of them are criticising the government's actions, they do so by means of hoaxes, which encourage attacks on the government without cause or reason and foment hatred. These are very serious situations on the edge of the partisan " judialisation of politics", which must be closely studied by a special Public Prosecutor's Office, given that any misconduct or joy of the government will result in a major complaint and scandal before the highest national and international courts.
The government pacts prior to the appearance of the crisis with separatists and philo-terrorists have been an incredible burden at the beginning, during and towards the end of the health crisis; they will be a great obstacle in finding a solution to the social crisis already underway and, of course, they will be an almost insurmountable impediment to bringing to fruition the position that the government has taken and which it has named the new Moncloa pacts and which are now being redefined for Reconstruction. Attempting to lead those parties that do not abide by the Constitution and that only think of Spain to find the most productive way out of it, in search of a national consensus or the signing of a blank cheque by all the political parties as the government pretends, is impossible with them; but it will also be impossible for them to join the support in a submissive way that the opposition understands.
Opposition, which drags and again, deepens a tremendous division into three parties that have little or nothing to do with the usual ugly and insincere role of Cs in permanent search of their lost territory, so it does not hesitate to approach, with its scarce and depleted fleet the warmth and shelter of a nearby port and identifying with power even at the cost of separating and even strongly criticising their partners on the bench and government in the Autonomous Regions and large cities where they do so in coalition. With Vox, which, in spite of continuing to be the third political force in Spain, and which defines itself as right-wing, is dedicated to dynamiting the policies, plans and budgets of the PP-Cs; as well as to leaning so much towards the extreme right, that soon it will be impossible to do anything with them without running the risk of being identified or branded as such, with the problems that this entails both in Spain and in Europe.
These situations give PSOE much more of an advantage despite its poor foresight, bad management and the major mistakes made in this crisis due to its lack of preparation and scarce resources to face the brutal economic crisis that has already arrived and is coming at us like a great and unstoppable snowball and that will become, according to most scholars of the subject, much more serious than all the economic crises of the past, at least for Spain.
In any case, if anyone thinks that, once this whirlwind is over and the economic crisis gives us a break to protest, we will take to the streets in unison to do so; we must bear in mind, that the protection measures after the exit of the infection, based on the precaution to avoid new infections, will officially prevent any massive protest in the way and form to which we are used to protesting in the civilised world (one more right that will surely also be curtailed), which together with the extension in time or official suppression (due to lack of opportunity and time) for real investigation of the facts and the acceptance of responsibility or to give the more than necessary explanations - things that will never happen with this trilateral government - and furthermore, will give it wings to escape - as it has been doing - from seriously responding to dangerous situations resulting in mass deaths to which its multiple actions or omissions have submerged and subjected the entire nation and its citizens.
I sincerely believe that this circus as it is set up, and despite the enormous and sometimes unethical efforts of its propaganda team, as it is working so badly, will end up with dwarfs growing up, elephants losing their ears, the clowns will make us cry and the ringleader, despite his studied and contrived voice and full of deceptive gestures, will stop convincing more spectators, above all, when the EU's teat is gone or they impose harsh conditions on us because, in the end, it will be the one who pays the bill for this great party.