Source: Guardian UK Governments across Europe tremble as angry people take to the streets Ian Traynor, Europe editor The Guardian, Saturday 31 January 2009 Article history 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 â yesterday â 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. SOME OF THE COMMENTS: 1. As an American in Paris said in "Sicko"; "In Europe the government is afraid of the people, in America the people are afraid of their government". 2. It will come. This gives me hope. Updated at 6:30 AM Just let one more CEO, or SENATOR, fer crap's sake, take a dump on the American Taxpayer... They broke it, they bought it! Pay the Piper! 17. If they keep giving all of our future earnings to the greedy bankers.. and CEOs, there will be a tax revolt.
The French were quick on this one, weren't they? Where are the americans? Who cares if towns are really big and it's hard to organize, get a few thousand people in NYC to block some roads and take it from there.