I read an interesting article in the IHT today , about Spain and the increase in the amount of people there who go through garbage bins to find food. (see link below)
We are not talking about bums here, but people who simply cannot afford to buy food anymore. With the austerity programs cutting salaries, pensions and social benefits coupled to the soaring unemployment, one must expect to see more of this.
Caritas (a Catholic charity) is already feeding over a million Spaniards (2010 figures though, double that of 2007).
Scenes of people waiting outside wholesale markets and supermarkets at closing-time to pick-up food to fill their pantries are becoming more and more common.
Some put locks on their bins on health grounds, with the town then posting agents nearby to distribute vouchers for food aid.
This is likely only the beginning, after the “Robin Hood” style store raids a few weeks ago (see one of my previous blogs) and it will get worse.
In spite of the technocratic mambo-jambo one can read about the deficits, the ECB interventions, etc one rarely reads about the socio-political implications of austerity plans. I know I am repeating myself, but millions of hungry people with no hope, no trust in their authorities and wanting simply to survive can be a real time bomb…
Beware of the upcoming BOOM!
Simon Q.
(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/world/europe/hunger-on-the-rise-in-spain.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120925&moc.semityn.www)