Social Unrest Growing Again?
Reporting on social unrest had taken a bit of a breather with Greece out of the headlines. But recently outbreaks in Bulgaria and the threat of continued outbreaks in Italy, never mind events in Cyprus, remind us that things haven't settled down at all.
So let's consider the question: What do the protesting people want?
Of course, each country has its own specific problems, but "austerity" always plays a role. With governments cutting back on services, people become angry. Why angry? Because austerity takes away things people not only got used to, but that they feel they are "entitled" to. If you never saw it (and can stomach it), the ridiculous video of the woman touting her "Obama phone" provides a good example of where the whole "entitlement" mentality ultimately leads. It's not a pretty picture. (Click HERE to watch it.)
Just think and use your imagination and you can see where someone who feels entitled to an "Obama phone" might at some point demand even more, and do so in league with hundreds - even thousands - of others in a violent riot. Really, it's not all that hard to imagine, is it?
"Austerity" doesn't stop with taking away Obama phones of course. It reduces pensions, cuts back on health care services, reduces subsidies for such things as public transportation, gasoline, electricity - and on and on. All of these "benefits" were supplied by politicians who should have known better. The politicians lied during good times and provided services to people, as well as promised future benefits (pensions, health care, etc.) that they knew at the time would not be affordable. But shouldn't people have known better too? If politicians should have known that these benefits weren't really affordable, then why shouldn't the people who benefited have known better too?
For example, what's so hard about understanding that if government spends more than it takes in, it has to borrow the difference? And the debt that's built up becomes a burden to someone in the future, when interest is due on the debt, never mind the eventual repayment of the debt. Doesn't everyone know this simple relationship between income and expense?
Apparently not. We could just look at the example of all the American students who build up enormous debts to pay their tuition and graduate from college owing tens of thousands. But that really doesn't capture the depth of the problem. Many of these same students also build up debt on their credit cards for personal expenses incurred while they're in college. And for many of them these are discretionary expenses, discretionary meaning not necessary for their well-being.
You can talk about how these kids weren't educated in the finer aspects of financial management or fiscal responsibility, but, really, can these people who were smart enough to get into college possibly be this ignorant when it comes to money?
Apparently so. But maybe using the word ignorance let's them off the hook here. Maybe "willful" ignorance is a more accurate term. There's no way these people don't know that they are spending money they don't have. I guess they think that it's just fine to do so. But why would they think that?
Could it be that their parents have lived their own lives in debt to such a degree that such living appears perfectly natural to these kids? So do we now blame the parents?
Or could it be that these kids grew up seeing their government building up entitlements even as they built up debt? Do we blame the government's bad example?
Look, there's plenty of blame to go around. And until someone takes responsibility for their own personal actions, there's no end to this. Well, not just someone, but lots of someones. We need people to face up to their personal complicity in this impossible situation we find ourselves in. That includes irresponsible spend-thrift politicians, parents and their children.
Or we can look forward to endless social unrest. Maybe it will continue in fits and starts as has been happening since 2008. But even in fits and starts, does the prospect of continuing social unrest sound appealing to you? Wouldn't it be far better for everyone to sit down and beat their breasts as they proclaim "Mea culpa" (my fault) and face up to their own role in perpetuating this unsustainable system?
What do you think the chances are that this will happen? What do you think will happen if it doesn't?
So let's consider the question: What do the protesting people want?
Of course, each country has its own specific problems, but "austerity" always plays a role. With governments cutting back on services, people become angry. Why angry? Because austerity takes away things people not only got used to, but that they feel they are "entitled" to. If you never saw it (and can stomach it), the ridiculous video of the woman touting her "Obama phone" provides a good example of where the whole "entitlement" mentality ultimately leads. It's not a pretty picture. (Click HERE to watch it.)
Just think and use your imagination and you can see where someone who feels entitled to an "Obama phone" might at some point demand even more, and do so in league with hundreds - even thousands - of others in a violent riot. Really, it's not all that hard to imagine, is it?
"Austerity" doesn't stop with taking away Obama phones of course. It reduces pensions, cuts back on health care services, reduces subsidies for such things as public transportation, gasoline, electricity - and on and on. All of these "benefits" were supplied by politicians who should have known better. The politicians lied during good times and provided services to people, as well as promised future benefits (pensions, health care, etc.) that they knew at the time would not be affordable. But shouldn't people have known better too? If politicians should have known that these benefits weren't really affordable, then why shouldn't the people who benefited have known better too?
For example, what's so hard about understanding that if government spends more than it takes in, it has to borrow the difference? And the debt that's built up becomes a burden to someone in the future, when interest is due on the debt, never mind the eventual repayment of the debt. Doesn't everyone know this simple relationship between income and expense?
Apparently not. We could just look at the example of all the American students who build up enormous debts to pay their tuition and graduate from college owing tens of thousands. But that really doesn't capture the depth of the problem. Many of these same students also build up debt on their credit cards for personal expenses incurred while they're in college. And for many of them these are discretionary expenses, discretionary meaning not necessary for their well-being.
You can talk about how these kids weren't educated in the finer aspects of financial management or fiscal responsibility, but, really, can these people who were smart enough to get into college possibly be this ignorant when it comes to money?
Apparently so. But maybe using the word ignorance let's them off the hook here. Maybe "willful" ignorance is a more accurate term. There's no way these people don't know that they are spending money they don't have. I guess they think that it's just fine to do so. But why would they think that?
Could it be that their parents have lived their own lives in debt to such a degree that such living appears perfectly natural to these kids? So do we now blame the parents?
Or could it be that these kids grew up seeing their government building up entitlements even as they built up debt? Do we blame the government's bad example?
Look, there's plenty of blame to go around. And until someone takes responsibility for their own personal actions, there's no end to this. Well, not just someone, but lots of someones. We need people to face up to their personal complicity in this impossible situation we find ourselves in. That includes irresponsible spend-thrift politicians, parents and their children.
Or we can look forward to endless social unrest. Maybe it will continue in fits and starts as has been happening since 2008. But even in fits and starts, does the prospect of continuing social unrest sound appealing to you? Wouldn't it be far better for everyone to sit down and beat their breasts as they proclaim "Mea culpa" (my fault) and face up to their own role in perpetuating this unsustainable system?
What do you think the chances are that this will happen? What do you think will happen if it doesn't?
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