Portugal's credibility is mortally wounded. It's a funny thing, credibility, wouldn't you say? I'll come back to it in a moment.
We've followed an austerity recipe for the past 2 years. We're getting a bit fed up with it, at the moment. "Why?", you ask. Well, if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it's the total absence of results coupled with the complete presence of destructive side-effects. You see, it's not so much the austerity that bothers us, it's seeing that after all this austerity, we're still not getting anywhere.
Yes, it's true we haven't had much luck with our rulers (actually, that applies both to current and past rulers, but I'll just stick to the present). However, our current rulers have been "approved" by the troika. Our de facto PM (which was our Ex-Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, not our actual PM) is highly regarded among every institution currently sending orders to Portugal. He has a brilliant resume, a "best of the best" career, with an European stamp of quality and approval.
I wonder, though. What happened to this brilliant fellow when he arrived here? Was it the air? The food? The weather, perhaps, as he so wittingly mentioned a few days ago in Parliament? Because this man, this shining beacon of European genius, was a total failure, here.
I could forgive the aforementioned recipe; after all, it was externally-imposed. However, he himself repeated, on numerous occasions, that he actually agreed with said recipe. Add to that all the budget adjustments and, particularly, all the consecutive failed predictions, and this starts looking like a not-so-brilliant chap, after all.
So, I've got to ask: Is this your level of demand for brilliant? Someone who defends a failed economic recipe, in fact, someone who defends a recipe that anyone with a reasonable count of brain cells - say, above 1 - predicted (correctly, if you care to notice this distinguishing trait) it would destroy the economy? Someone who presented failed prediction after failed prediction? Someone who, I assume based on the valour of the aforementioned brilliant European career, has the approval of a large majority of foreign decision makers and still can't work out a credible plan?
Because the performance of this man that arrived in Portugal with your (European) label of Brilliant has been below appalling.
You want Brilliant? I dislike everything that comes out of Cupertino, and I hated his tyrannical management style, but Steve Jobs was brilliant! I disapprove of Mourinho's arrogant image, but the man is brilliant! I hated when Anders Hejlsberg left Borland for Microsoft, but his work on Delphi and C# is brilliant. These are all examples of brilliant people. Not perfect, but as close as Humanity can aspire to. And there are plenty more men and women like those throughout the world, fortunately.
Vitor Gaspar? Not so much, my fellow Europeans. I don't know what exactly you've been drinking for these past decades (actually, I've pretty much asked that, the last time I addressed you), but the result of the work of this man you labelled as Brilliant is not even remotely close to anything any of those I mentioned above created.
I started with credibility. I'll finish with credibility.
It's not Portugal's credibility that's mortally wounded. It would be, if we were following our own plan. We weren't. We were following a bicephalous "plan" (for lack of a proper designation), which originated in the IMF and Berlin (no, Brussels is just for laughs). So, credit where credit's due.
If the recipe had worked, I'd be the first to say "I don't like it, but I respect results, so I'm willing to continue listening to what you're saying, carry on". But it didn't. The only "positive" aspect that came out of these two years is that, as countries like Portugal continue sliding down (and, eventually, out of the EU), the "interest game" for countries like Germany gets better and better.
Ah, you noticed the coincidence, too, right? The same country that's deciding what happens here has an incentive to make sure our situation doesn't actually improve. Life is full of coincidences.
So, you see, my fellow Europeans, when you mention Portugal's lack of credibility, the only thing that comes to mind is this quaint little phrase about a pot and a kettle.
We've followed an austerity recipe for the past 2 years. We're getting a bit fed up with it, at the moment. "Why?", you ask. Well, if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it's the total absence of results coupled with the complete presence of destructive side-effects. You see, it's not so much the austerity that bothers us, it's seeing that after all this austerity, we're still not getting anywhere.
Yes, it's true we haven't had much luck with our rulers (actually, that applies both to current and past rulers, but I'll just stick to the present). However, our current rulers have been "approved" by the troika. Our de facto PM (which was our Ex-Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar, not our actual PM) is highly regarded among every institution currently sending orders to Portugal. He has a brilliant resume, a "best of the best" career, with an European stamp of quality and approval.
I wonder, though. What happened to this brilliant fellow when he arrived here? Was it the air? The food? The weather, perhaps, as he so wittingly mentioned a few days ago in Parliament? Because this man, this shining beacon of European genius, was a total failure, here.
I could forgive the aforementioned recipe; after all, it was externally-imposed. However, he himself repeated, on numerous occasions, that he actually agreed with said recipe. Add to that all the budget adjustments and, particularly, all the consecutive failed predictions, and this starts looking like a not-so-brilliant chap, after all.
So, I've got to ask: Is this your level of demand for brilliant? Someone who defends a failed economic recipe, in fact, someone who defends a recipe that anyone with a reasonable count of brain cells - say, above 1 - predicted (correctly, if you care to notice this distinguishing trait) it would destroy the economy? Someone who presented failed prediction after failed prediction? Someone who, I assume based on the valour of the aforementioned brilliant European career, has the approval of a large majority of foreign decision makers and still can't work out a credible plan?
Because the performance of this man that arrived in Portugal with your (European) label of Brilliant has been below appalling.
You want Brilliant? I dislike everything that comes out of Cupertino, and I hated his tyrannical management style, but Steve Jobs was brilliant! I disapprove of Mourinho's arrogant image, but the man is brilliant! I hated when Anders Hejlsberg left Borland for Microsoft, but his work on Delphi and C# is brilliant. These are all examples of brilliant people. Not perfect, but as close as Humanity can aspire to. And there are plenty more men and women like those throughout the world, fortunately.
Vitor Gaspar? Not so much, my fellow Europeans. I don't know what exactly you've been drinking for these past decades (actually, I've pretty much asked that, the last time I addressed you), but the result of the work of this man you labelled as Brilliant is not even remotely close to anything any of those I mentioned above created.
I started with credibility. I'll finish with credibility.
It's not Portugal's credibility that's mortally wounded. It would be, if we were following our own plan. We weren't. We were following a bicephalous "plan" (for lack of a proper designation), which originated in the IMF and Berlin (no, Brussels is just for laughs). So, credit where credit's due.
If the recipe had worked, I'd be the first to say "I don't like it, but I respect results, so I'm willing to continue listening to what you're saying, carry on". But it didn't. The only "positive" aspect that came out of these two years is that, as countries like Portugal continue sliding down (and, eventually, out of the EU), the "interest game" for countries like Germany gets better and better.
Ah, you noticed the coincidence, too, right? The same country that's deciding what happens here has an incentive to make sure our situation doesn't actually improve. Life is full of coincidences.
So, you see, my fellow Europeans, when you mention Portugal's lack of credibility, the only thing that comes to mind is this quaint little phrase about a pot and a kettle.
Yours truly, etc...
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