anger and agitation
The last few weeks have been especially unstable in several European countries. The confrontation between large sectors of the population and the government is evident.
On March 15, the striking workers stopped London. More than 40,000 working people took to the streets. A month earlier Britain had also been caught up in a storm of protest.. In mid-February there were demonstrations in more than 40 cities.
As in March, the protesters vented their anger once morest the rising cost of living, which is plunging millions of working people into poverty. On the banners you might read: “Freeze the energy bill”, “Let the rich pay taxes” and “We are not going to pay for the crisis”.
At the beginning of February more than half million british it had already gone on strike in government departments and companies. The current wave of social discontent began last summer. under the name basta ya (enough is enough), social movements and trade unions have united in a front once morest the anti-social policies of the British government.
France has been very concerned since January 19 over President Macron’s attack on pensions. Since then various sectors have been carrying out strikes, roadblocks are being organized and 11 days of action have already taken place. In all these actions, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in dozens of cities.
When Macron shut out Parliament on March 16 to pass his pension bill, the floodgate was opened. Spontaneous riots broke out in several cities. Law f was passed, but the riots have not ended. Surprisingly, not only hard-working people, but also many Young people take to the streets to oppose the law.
Germany is not spared from riots either. At the end of March there was a strike – one of the worst in decades – in the transport sector. It caused enormous disruption to the country’s airports, public transportation, and major ports.
In Germany wages are not automatically adjusted to the consumer price index. Given last year’s high inflation, workers are asking for a wage increase of 650
euroswhile employers only want to give 92 euros.
In mid-March German health workers went on strike 48 hours. In addition to a wage increase, they oppose plans to cut hospital beds and jobs. These are measures that are part of a broader attack on public health.
In Greece, the trigger for the riots was the tragic train accident in Tempe. Greeks of all ages and backgrounds have been participating for weeks in mass demonstrations all over the country. This may be the biggest riot since the anti-austerity riots of 2010.
The anger is directed once morest a corrupt political elite whose record of austerity and privatization is rightly held responsible for the deaths of 57 people.
There is no money?
The trigger for social unrest varies from country to country, but the cause is essentially the same. Each of these governments has austerity plans that tear down public services and coddle the wealthy upper tier while leaving working people impoverished and working longer. In some cases this results in fatalities, either due to the erosion of security systems (in Greece) or delayed ambulances (in Great Britain).
These governments have even more in common. They have a seemingly very large reserve of money that they are spending on a new arms race.
Britain spends significantly more on military spending than its neighbors (1). However, the British Government has decided to give the army
11,000 million pounds (12,500 million euros) additional, while for nursing staff, teachers or civil servants there is no money.
The French government affirms that pensions are unaffordable, but in January it announced in passing that it would increase more than a third the defense budget in the coming years, that is, five times more than the sacrifices required to pay pensions (2).
Due to high energy costs, German hospitals are facing financial deficits. As a consequence, they will have to reduce the workforce and operations already planned will be postponed. Apparently the German government is incapable of stepping in and plugging a hole in 9,000 million euros, but it has announced that it will allocate 100,000 million euros more to the armed forces in the coming years.
The Greek government, which supposedly cannot afford to maintain a secure transport network, has increased military spending by more than
60%
since 2019. Poor Greece already pays proportionately almost three times more in military spending than the rest of Europe (3).
fundamental question of democracy
A central question of democracy is what a government spends its money on. Make it clear what the priorities and their social options are. Do we spend more money on health, welfare or education or, on the contrary, do we spend more money on militarization and weapons?
And if we spend more on weapons, will we create a safer world? Did the years of NATO military concentration on the Russian borders prevent or provoke the terrible war in Ukraine? Will the current arms race in Europe, including arms supplies to Ukraine, bring anything closer to peace? Or, as he maintains Professor Tom SauerInstead, do we need a balanced security architecture that cooperates with Russia on an equal footing? Will the world become a safer place by sending warships french,
Dutchmen,
germans
y British
off the Chinese coast or unnecessarily put us in the line of fire if the US decides to start a war in the Pacific?
Calls for a negotiated peace in Ukraine keep coming from
Brazil,
India
y Chinawhile the West keep boycotting peace negotiations. Doesn’t this show that the NATO side is at odds with world opinion?
The United States is an empire in relative decline and is apparently willing to start a war world in order to maintain its supremacy. Is it prudent for Europe to get on that war train? Is it not urgent to develop our own and independent foreign policy?
That would give us options in terms of trade, international cooperation and also spending that are currently denied to us, because our subservience to Washington has not only (dangerous) geopolitical consequences, but also social ones. Accepting greater spending on weapons undoubtedly means sacrificing social spending and welfare.
Is that the choice we want to make? It is up to trade unions and civil society organizations to think carefully regarding this and make their voices heard in this important debate.
Source of inspiration: Public spending, war and a Europe in revolt: political choices
Grades:
(1) Great Britain dedicates 2.25% of its GDP to military spending. In France it is 1.9%, in the Netherlands 1.45%, in Germany 1.5% and in Belgium 1.1%.
(2) The increase in the military budget amounts to 100,000 million euros. Increasing the retirement age by two years would make it possible to raise 18,000 million euros.
(3) Greece spends 3.59% of its GDP on military spending. The average in the European Union is 1,3%.
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