As the Capitalist drama continues its descent into chaos, any hope of saving itself is fading fast. In both the United States of America and the European Union, divisions are deepening and the concept of unity is giving way to what amounts to an intensification of class warfare fought on a regional as well as a personal level.
In Europe, the future of the Union is in danger as a result of the growing sovereign debt crisis. First Ireland, then Greece, and now Portugal and Spain have found themselves in dire financial straits and have turned to the Union for support in the form of financial bail-outs, the burden of which would fall primarily on Germany and France. But talk of such assistance is being met by resistance from the citizens of those two countries who object to the idea that they will end up paying for the shortcomings of others. They worked hard, they saved, they lived within their means, and now they are being asked to pay for the profligacy of their southern neighbors and EU partners. Whether those countries on the verge of defaulting on their sovereign will receive the aid they need is in serious doubt, which means that the future of the European Union is also in serious doubt.
In the United States, the millions of families who have lost their homes due to foreclosure are being blamed for their situation. As a result, there is growing resistance to a government program aimed to assist them in having their mortgages renegotiated. Why should they be helped, others are asking, by those people who behaved themselves, did not take on more debt than they could manage, and lived within their means. What is not understood is that living beyond their means and then being fed easy credit was necessary to keep the Ponzi scheme going.
If anyone or anything is at fault for the international financial crisis, it’s the financial system itself. The present situation is the natural outcome of a competitive system, and unless that changes, it is difficult to see how we can avoid the more troublesome times ahead.
Today’s (r)evolutionary music is brought to you by the Beatles: “All You Need Is Love.”<