Poverty!

You don't know the meaning of the word!

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Tonight I wanted to talk briefly about poverty.  This morning, I was watching a show on British television.  It was about an unemployed young man, in his thirties, complaining that he was not given enough money by the state, to live on. In the past I may well have agreed with him, but today, as I write this article, I do not.  In fact it has been making me angry all day, which is why I am having to say something now, to get it off my chest!

There is a something for nothing culture in Britain; people expect others to provide for them and that really depresses me. Britain has a huge welfare bill, growing year on year, because we hand out benefits to people, who quite simply do not deserve them or have been in the country for such a short amount of time, that in my eyes, it is unacceptable to even think about giving these people, any access to state funds!

When I lived in Britain, I used to moan all the time, about how much income I did or didn't have; it is a British pastime after all.  When I look back now, myself and Darrell were extremely well off and really had to reason to complain.  When one compares ones life now, at this point in time, with our life a few years ago, there really is no comparison, at least in a financial sense.

Life in Spain is hard, harder than I have ever experienced before.  The laws in this modern European democracy are outdated and need urgent reform.  As an employer in Spain, you remain at the mercy of left wing, socialist style regulation, that prevent organisations taking on new employees.  The minimum wage is 3€, unemployment is high and there is little or no chance of obtaining decent employment opportunities, especially as an English Expat.  Not great, when you consider the amount of money, the community of which I am a part, bring into this region!

I am always busy; I teach one day a week, write and am looking forward to a new future.  At this moment, despite all I do, I am as poor as a church mouse, have no access to income at all, accept what I receive from the school, which is limited,  When Jamie left in the way he did, I was left in a real predicament, with no money. So life for me today, is the hardest it has ever been, in my whole life.  The last time I survived with no dough was when I was at University in 1992.  Back then a friend used to bring me 'Red Cross' type parcels and I managed to survive, as I will now.

This is not a post, where I am trying to gain sympathy, far from it, this is about teaching people about real poverty, which Spain has much of.  After the crash of 2008, many Brits left for home, broke and penniless.  There is no access to benefits for me here, no safety net, no welfare state or access to free health care.  There are no crisis loans, tax credits, family tax credits or dole money, there is absolutely nothing; yet everyday I here stories of poor destitute Britons, unable to survive on their unemployment benefit, housing benefit and the many other freebies my old home country hands out, without a thought.

If you don't work over here you will starve, if you can't work or find a job, especially as an Expat, you are left to fend for yourself.  People often ask me, if I have any regrets, moving to Spain, especially with my situation so precarious at the moment.  My views change almost on a daily basis, depending on my mood at the time, but one thing that never changes, is I have absolutely no regrets at all.

Despite being penniless, my time here is more productive than it ever has been.  As a person I am stronger and able to survive the harshest of situations.  I have to live, rather like my grandparents used to live in the 1950s and try and make the most of what I have.  I do not waste anything, I never throw away food, as I did in the UK and have learned to live on nothing, zilch, peanuts.  I have never had to do that.  Even when I was a poor student in Southampton, or working in Woolworth's in the 1980s, I still had more money than now.

I hope my situation changes very soon; of course one can never guarantee anything in this world, but their is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.  Unlike others, we can not run home whenever we choose, there is nothing left for us there.  Our future, at least for the moment is here, in Spain; somehow we have to make it work.  The biggest bonus for me, today and the best thing, to come out of my situation, is that I finally like who I am, learning the value of life, not spending out of control, able to rely on myself and no one else.  Money isn't everything; I need very little of it, to survive; it makes ones life easier, but taught me very little, in the same way, living on the edge has done. Experiencing real hardship is a humbling experience, especially at my age, when I should be settling down at the pinnacle of a career that was ripped away from me. Restarting from scratch is something I never wanted to do, but actually I have learned more during this last year than I have in the last ten; for that I am grateful.

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