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France paralysed by a wave of strike action, the boulevards of Paris resembling a debris-strewn battlefield. The Hungarian currency sinks to its lowest level ever against the euro, as the unemployment figure rises. Greek farmers block the road into Bulgaria in protest at low prices for their produce. New figures from the biggest bank in the Baltic show that the three post-Soviet states there face the biggest recessions in Europe.
It's a snapshot of a single day – yesterday – in a Europe sinking into the bleakest of times. But while the outlook may be dark in the big wealthy democracies of western Europe, it is in the young, poor, vulnerable states of central and eastern Europe that the trauma of crash, slump and meltdown looks graver.
Exactly 20 years ago, in serial revolutionary rejoicing, they ditched communism to put their faith in a capitalism now in crisis and by which they feel betrayed. The result has been the biggest protests across the former communist bloc since the days of people power.
Europe's time of troubles is gathering depth and scale. Governments are trembling. Revolt is in the air.
Athens
Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year-old middle-class boy going to a party in a rough neighbourhood on a December Saturday, was the first fatality of Europe's season of strife. Shot dead by a policeman, the boy's killing lit a bonfire of unrest in the city unmatched since the 1970s.
Without organization, cooperation, planning, and fair trade practices, this is the result of the merging of global economies. I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before American anger reaches the level of the rest of the world's anger.
The folks at The Guardian should really check the hyperbole. They did this during the Greek Riots, and so did Der Spiegel. The rioting will subside. I don't think it will lead to full scale revolutions as they're implying.
Very interesting how this will play out...could this be the start of the unraveling of the EU? These Eastern countries especially sure aren't happy with the current state of affairs.
The Icelandic public fear that their country has virtually been stolen by the globetrotting business elite that spent more time rubbing shoulders with international high society than giving back to the society that enabled them to enjoy this privileged lifestyle. Now ordinary Icelanders are determined to take their country back.
I can empathize. I feel the exact same way in america for years, not just because an economic crisis became too obvious for anyone to deny any longer.
The other million $ question will be how regulated will capitalism become, or will the whole world abandon capitalism because encouraging a pirates life isn't stable enough for civilization to continue? America ever pulls the nonsense going on in Ireland where pensioners are denied health care or if social security goes bankrupt I expect revolutions here.
And the biggest riots in the US are over gay marriage... Damn its good to be an American!
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