Persistent discomfort

Everyone has people in their circle of acquaintances, whether close or distant, whose living conditions have worsened. We are living amidst a persistent and growing malaise.

The lack of affordable housing is making life miserable for many people. The prospect of being evicted within a few months because your lease isn't renewed, or is renewed at a price your salary can't afford, and having to consider leaving the neighborhood or the city, is causing social suffering. People who are responsible, those who have done everything they were told to do to have a decent life, who have worked, who have studied, who haven't overextended themselves, who have paid their bills on time, are finding themselves on the street.

Catalan society is experiencing, regarding housing, the kind of anxiety many Americans experience regarding health insurance: that it will abandon them if they have a serious illness or need to undergo complicated surgery. The effects of this anxiety are paid for in mental health, personal development, and social cohesion. Because from here to disengagement and tension, there is only one step. The road blockades by farmers in recent hours express their discontent at seeing that the international agreements that states sign with geopolitics in mind do not take into account people's lives.

We live in a time of suffering and tension. Now it is more visible than ever how much humanity and progress there was in the concept welfare stateMeanwhile, the inhumanity of this state of unrest continues to grow.