The proof that the groups - and related left-wing political parties - that supported the demonstration on April 20 entitled "Canarias tiene un límite" (Canary Islands has a limit) did not have a proposal for an economic model, is that they have now transformed into what they call "Canarias Palante" participatory process where they are finally looking for a "process of collecting proposals for economic and social change to improve people's lives, that respects the territory and puts life at the center," according to La Voz de Lanzarote.
Who can criticize this? Who doesn't want to improve the economy, society and the lives of people that have become so difficult in recent times with impossible access to housing? However, all these adanist movements will achieve nothing. That is, nothing relevant beyond cosmetic patches here and there and that the smartest within those organizations become the Pablos Iglesias and Iñigo Errejones of the moment, with a little chalet on the outskirts included.
Why won't they achieve anything relevant? Firstly, as I have pointed out in my latest columns, because they start from a bad diagnosis of the underlying problem. They believe that mass tourism and vacation rentals are to blame for the lack of sufficient housing and low wages in the Canarian economy. A linear, first-degree thought that does not delve into the deep causes of the problem.
The reality is that the housing problem is a classic supply problem, where for regulatory reasons the market has been artificially strangled to such an extent that, as Salud Gil - president of the association of developers and builders of the province of Las Palmas - pointed out in an interview here in La Voz de Lanzarote on April 26, from 2007 to 2023 "the production of free housing has declined by 88% and the production of protected housing has been reduced by 99%" (sic).
Serious numbers that the left also refuses to accept because they cannot comprehend that the solution is to build more housing, which is what is missing (and fix the current serious legal uncertainty). This is like nuclear energy, which they still do not accept is the best alternative against anthropogenic climate change, since even wind or solar energy has a serious environmental impact. With almost all of them, reason and numbers do not fit.
Secondly, they will not succeed because they do not have an alternative and viable economic model. Now they are looking for it on the fly through surveys in forms so that any "bro" can leave their opinion. Napoleon Bonaparte already said that "if you want something done, name a responsible person and if you want something to be delayed eternally, name a commission." In these things, it is not enough to add the opinion of any Tom, Dick or Harry.
But, in addition, to change the economic model of a country or region, 3 fundamental elements are needed that the ecological left lacks: a clear vision of the future, a solid and meritocratic educational system and the patience to execute it for 30 years.
Proposing ideas for an economic model without a clear vision of the future to which one aspires is like putting the cart before the horse or starting the house from the roof. Of course, these types believe they have some kind of vision, but a vision is not that you dislike some things about the current world, but having a clear and precise idea of where you want society to be in 30 years, accepting the reality that a change of model takes decades and having the wisdom and patience to apply it without faltering in the attempt. Something easy to say but extremely complicated to do.
In addition, and you will see that they will not mention any of this in their Gmail form-surveys, any change of model for the better must be based on a profound change in the educational system. Because if you want to produce a better version of society, you cannot do it with laws and decrees, but by improving the very material of which society is made up: people.
Either you change to an educational system that seeks excellence and meritocracy so that it can create professional profiles of a higher level, or you will simply continue to produce precarious jobs with low added value.
They simply say "we want to earn more", without realizing that in the real world and in general, one earns more when one contributes more value to the economic whole. If your job does not require specialization, you will not earn much because that job can be done by anyone without having invested absolutely anything in their education. And when we face the second quarter of the 21st century, by anyone you can already refer to anyone on the planet that you bring by plane to work in a hotel. Globalization brings challenges and consequences that many on the left do not want to accept, but it is impossible to stop now. And you have to adapt to the real world and not the other way around, because that is what a mature reflection consists of.
To earn more, not us because we are already late, but our children and grandchildren (remember, it takes 30 years), the educational system would have to change radically. With what we have now, children pass the course suspended and leaving educational centers as functional illiterates, without understanding the true meaning of things. What's more, they don't even leave speaking English, which is already illustrative that they are not even prepared for the current model.
And, in the third and last place, they will not succeed because to change a model sovereignty is needed. At the regional level you patch, but to change something in depth you would have to have the capacity to legislate according to your vision and that does not happen today. That is, no matter how much delegation of powers exists in some issue in favor of the autonomous communities, we are subject to Spanish and European laws.
Easy example, it is impossible to change the educational model to move towards a better society if you do not change those laws at the national and supranational level. There is no way to generate an educational system of excellence because where the laws are made is in another place. And in that other place their educational laws are garbage.
Thus, with a bad diagnosis, without a clear, avant-garde and integrating vision on the economic and social future of the Canary Islands and without a first-class education and not having its own sovereignty to execute that hypothetical vision, simply inertia will continue to reign. That is, those of "Canarias Palante" will not achieve anything of interest.
That's what there is.
