Over the last few weeks I have been in Portugal; One of the worst hit countries in the European Economic Crisis. I travelled around the country from Porto to Lisbon and villages in between me and my family were shocked at what we found there.
So, first we visited the Portuguese wine capital, Porto. The city has 4 bridges all within 1 km of eac
h other which were all funded by the European Union. This is the way that the European Union covers itself, by building bridges that nobody really needs and says that it is helping the country’s economy. Meanwhile, alongside the shiny new bridges stand derelict houses, boarded up businesses and people living in what appear to be garden sheds. The real economy is non-existent and the EU funded economy is the only game in town. It can’t go on. If the EU thinks they are helping the country by forcing them to stay in the Euro Zone, I’m afraid that they are sadly mistaken. What Portugal needs is to leave the Euro, default on its debts and chop its over bureaucratic Government dominated economy down to something the country can truly afford.
And now to Lisbon, the country’s capital city. We saw practically the same thing (with the exception of 4 bridges in the city). Derelict buildings and bankrupt shops but a thin veneer of prosperity with cafes and restaurants apparently busy. Here EU money flows freely through Government hands into civil servant and ministers salaries and lavish Government buildings in the most expensive parts of town. No one with an ordinary job in the Portuguese economy can really afford to live there – only people with an EU funded job.
If you want to see what the real state of the EU is and how the future will look just go and look at the derelict buildings and the boarded up businesses of Portugal, a fantastic country with no hope for the future unless its politicians have the guts to face facts and stop the ever increasing dependency on the EU and Euro Zone.
Seb
Gimme My Future Back 