In literature that has responded to the 1930s in Europe, the in-between-two-world-wars Europe, the Continent is often portrayed as sick, bleak and on the verge of great catastrophe. Catastrophe did come and Europe plunged into its darkest years in recent memory. And since then, the war-weary continent has made every attempt to expunge those times, to go through as much cathartic self-investigation as possible. But it was never to happen. First the Cold war and then the Baltic Wars bled the Continent in spite of its best efforts towards self-preservation. And now a new crisis, a new spectre haunts Europe , a spectre that can strip it once and for all of one of its most cherished institutions: the European social model. In other words, Europe seems to be heading towards another historical moment of crisis, this time entirely economic, a crisis which can threaten its very social fabric, because Europe not only prides but sustains itself on a welfare model of growth and the current financial crisis that has gripped Europe in the past half-a-decade seems in no mood to let it go unless that very model is put to test. In country after country in southern Europe, from the Iberian Peninsula to Italy in the south and Belgium in the north, workers united on Wednesday to create a historic moment of rift with their respective governments who are accused of collectively running economic models considered antithetical to the very idea of Europe.
In one of the biggest solidarity protests across Europe, Wednesday saw workers, students and the common man join hands in over a hundred cities in Europe in protests that spilled over from designated squares to the main streets to the riverbanks in Rome and Paris. They were purportedly showing support for the day-long full strike called by unions in Spain and Portugal which closed down airlines, trains, buses, transport, industry and utility across the two countries. In other countries, with varying degrees, the impact of the protest was felt. The workers were protesting austerity measures which are shrinking jobs, creating unemployment and hurting the socio-economic model. In country after country, notwithstanding the deal with the European Union, governments are busy saving bank spending trillions thereby cutting on public costs, monetising common resources and cutting jobs, threatening the very idea of a welfare state. The protests are highlighting this and demanding measures to get the economy out of this self-defeating model. At the moment Wednesday 14/11 will go down as a day of total strikes and collective public outcry against the government, one of the biggest ones in recent years but nonetheless for a day. But it could also signify the start of Europe’s gradual descent into an unnerving crisis, into something more permanently damaging than what just a day of protest can nullify.
In one of the biggest solidarity protests across Europe, Wednesday saw workers, students and the common man join hands in over a hundred cities in Europe in protests that spilled over from designated squares to the main streets to the riverbanks in Rome and Paris. They were purportedly showing support for the day-long full strike called by unions in Spain and Portugal which closed down airlines, trains, buses, transport, industry and utility across the two countries. In other countries, with varying degrees, the impact of the protest was felt. The workers were protesting austerity measures which are shrinking jobs, creating unemployment and hurting the socio-economic model. In country after country, notwithstanding the deal with the European Union, governments are busy saving bank spending trillions thereby cutting on public costs, monetising common resources and cutting jobs, threatening the very idea of a welfare state. The protests are highlighting this and demanding measures to get the economy out of this self-defeating model. At the moment Wednesday 14/11 will go down as a day of total strikes and collective public outcry against the government, one of the biggest ones in recent years but nonetheless for a day. But it could also signify the start of Europe’s gradual descent into an unnerving crisis, into something more permanently damaging than what just a day of protest can nullify.