Austerity can be associated with sobriety.
Austerity is a term that indicates the quality of austere . Someone who is austere, on the other hand, is sober, moderate, penitent and severe , who does not make any kind of show off and who rigorously adjusts to the norms of morality .
For example: “This government will maintain austerity and will be totally transparent,” “I think that, in this time of economic crisis, austerity is essential,” “The singer is not known for his austerity: he has just spent half a million dollars on toys for his daughter.”
We would have to go back to Latin to find the etymological origin of the word austerity. Specifically, we have to say that it is the result of the sum of two components of said language: the adjective austerus , which is synonymous with "rough or difficult" , and the suffix -itas , which can be translated as "quality" .
What is austerity
It is possible to associate austerity with frugality (the measured consumption of goods and services ) or with asceticism (the denial of material pleasures). That is why austerity can be understood as the mortification of the passions or the senses .
However, austerity should not be linked to lack . A millionaire can be austere, while a poor person can squander the little he has. Let's say the owner of a large company makes $200,000 a month. This sum would allow him to have luxury cars and a mansion, or take trips around the world. However, this businessman prefers austerity: he lives in the house he inherited from his parents, has an old car and always spends his summers on a beach in his country.
A man who is unemployed, on the other hand, spends beyond his means and consumes his savings without thinking about the future. Despite not having a job, this person shows that he does not know what austerity is and decides to buy a new car even though he already has one that allows him to get around without problems.
Austerity is linked to frugality.
A type of economic policy
In a situation of economic crisis, the continued application of what has been called economic austerity usually occurs.
Specifically, with this term what is intended to be defined is a type of economic policy that governments carry out with the clear objective of somewhat improving the financial situation, although in many cases they do not achieve the expected results.
In this way, when economic austerity is encouraged and committed to, what is done is a set of tax increases while at the same time a reduction in public spending . That is, what ordinary citizens call cuts .
Thus, for example, in Spain the Popular Party government established this type of policy in 2014 through forceful cuts in education or public health, which at the time aroused complaints and reproaches from the population because they considered that these represent a serious detriment to their quality of life. All this while they have seen how taxes increased in aspects such as electricity.