D.L. MU 74-2025 - ISSN 3045-6703
Being Kept in the Dark
Costa Calida • No. 2078 • 1 - 7 May 2025
SPAIN on Monday April 28 plunged into a world of darkness - no electricity, no communication, just an eerie silence and a feeling of deep vulnerability. On a busy Monday morning in the head office of the business I have loved for nearly 30 years - the business of news, the business of connection and community - we were all isolated and alone. ‘Chinese whispers’, if that’s appropriate, were in abundance, but the end result was simple: we were left in the dark. We unplugged everything, packed up, and locked the doors at 1.00pm on Monday, April 28, 2025. It felt hauntingly reminiscent of March 13, 2020 - the never-to-be-forgotten days of Covid. We had seven papers to complete, a bank holiday looming, a website with more than two million monthly visitors - and suddenly, all workers, all suppliers, rendered impotent. After visiting the vulnerable in our community, we hurried home to make sure we had provisions: torches with sufficient batteries, candles, and a kettle that could work on a BBQ. Last night, we made a makeshift meal with friends and neighbours. We played Jenga after copious glasses of refreshment. We talked. We laughed. We buried our fears
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as deep as we could. Later, after a luxurious bath by candlelight, we talked and read by flickering flame. But as the night deepened, the flames of doubt grew into an uncontrollable blaze. By midnight, I was incandescent with rage. How dare they keep us in the DARK? We elect politicians they are paid handsomely, revered, respected. They live the best lives possible. They were not left in the dark, neither physically nor metaphorically. They have the knowledge they are refusing to share with
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the people they are sworn to protect. They are not keeping us safe. They are not ensuring peace. They are not standing beside us. They did not have to cancel holidays. They did not have to explain to children why cancer treatments were suddenly cancelled. They slept soundly while the rest of us lay awake with worry. As an employer for nearly 40 years, my people are always my paramount concern. When there is discord, it is my
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job to bring peace. When there are shortages, it is my duty to find a way to fund it. When mistakes happen, I own them. I have survived global recessions. I have navigated Brexit. I have clawed my way through Covid — all at great personal cost. And now I am once again being kept in the dark. We are working under immense pressure, carrying dreams that must once again be put on hold. But I am surrounded by an army of business owners just like me, battling to survive, while still paying taxes to governments
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who have proven themselves utterly incompetent. And now - I am ANGRY - VERY ANGRY If I did my job so shambolically, I would be fired, fined, imprisoned. Yet we are expected to carry on,often working 20-hour days and pay them for the privilege of their failures. I have never liked the
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dark. I never have, since childhood. And I refuse to be placed back into this terrifying place after more than six decades of surviving their misdemeanours. I want truth. I want peace. And more than anything, I want these people who run our countries to be held to account! Am I alone? I don’t believe so. The housing crisis is spiralling out of control. The numbers of homeless innocents grow daily. Mental health issues are reaching pandemic levels. In this darkness, it is time to scream and be heard. With the daylight comes the realisation: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. With the emergence of light do you too feel this anger - this injustice of life changing decisions which are impacting us all so severely? One thing I do know after listening to their endless excuses this morning - this is only the beginning.
Michel Euesden
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