Tuesday, September 16

Brother, can you spare me a dime?

So Lehrman Bro. fell and Merril Lynch did too. AIG is in major trouble, "but here all is well". Or so the varous commentors on radio tell me. Here? Nah, we're fine.
Sure, ofcourse, and there is "nothing to worry about". Wild globalization. Israel's privatised pension funds are heavily invested in the US property and mortgage market. Much money has been invested in the over-valued Eastern European property market as well. And when they start to loose, you, me and the rest of us loose.

But there is more and it is all bad.
Over the last so many years Israel has privatised its civil services more and more, putting the responsibility in the hands of so many well-meaning NGO's , while providing some of them with partial financial support, on the expectation the Jewish communities abroad will somehow donate the rest.
"Shnor" has been retermed "fundraising and then "resource development", but it is still the same: wealthier Jews in the US and Europe donate to Israeli NGO's taking care of education, health, housing, welfare, the elderly, food security etc.. The state is less and less responsible and we all accept it.
The 2nd Lebanon war showed how dangerous that is, when the poor, elderly and weak were left hungry and thirsty in the shelters and even in their homes because they couldn't make it down the stairs to the bombshelters in time, in their wheelchairs and with their rollators. After all, the electricity had been cut off and the elevator didn't work and the nurses and social workers had run off to the south and the center, out of reach of the missiles.
"The system" did not function and it was shocking.
But the privatization continued and still does.
Yet those same NGO's have more trouble raising money, as the devalued dollar made their donations of less value and at the same time America's Jewish community donated less.
And now they will give even less and the dollar will go down even more.
NGO's in Israel will stop providing services or provide less services to less people and perhaps of a lesser quality.
Some will stop alltogether.
The poor will be paying first as always. But all of us are loosing now. Loosing our pensions, becoming much poorer. All of us. The rich will, perhaps, give up a skiing holiday or buy a cheaper car.
The rest of us? Brother (or sister) can you spare me a dime? Yes capitalism is really "wonderful".





2 comments:

samc said...

Sister, Can you spare me some Shekels,
I did not get my Bituach Leumi this Month.
I am two years in Yaffo and suddenly Bituach Leumi Yaffo are not co-ordinated with Tel-Aviv Bituach Leumi
I am diabetic and inject insulin twice a day.
Good Luck Yudit

Uncle Sam

samc said...

About the Shekels, I should of got it, but Yom Kippur eve I still did not get BL since September 14th.