The Whole World Is Rioting--Why Aren't We?

by Dollars and Sense

A nice piece by Joshua Holland, economics editor over at AlterNet, and sometime D&S author. Hat-tip to D&S collective member Arpita Banerjee.

The Whole World Is Rioting as the Economic Crisis Worsens—Why Aren't We?

Americans are rightfully angry about the economic decline, but with a few small exceptions, quietly so. Why? It depends on whom you ask.

Explosive anger is spilling out onto the streets of Europe. The meltdown of the global economy is igniting massive social unrest in a region that has long been a symbol of political stability and social cohesion.

It's not a new trend: A wave of upheaval is spreading from the poorer countries on the periphery of the global economy to the prosperous core.

Over the past few years, a series of riots spread across what is patronizingly known as the Third World. Furious mobs have raged against skyrocketing food and energy prices, stagnating wages and unemployment in India, Senegal, Yemen, Indonesia, Morocco, Cameroon, Brazil, Panama, the Philippines, Egypt, Mexico and elsewhere.

For the most part, those living in wealthier countries took little notice. But now, with the global economy crashing down around us, people in even the wealthiest nations are mad as hell and reacting violently to what they view as an inadequate response to their tumbling economies.

Read the rest of the article.

Labels: Europe, financial crisis, recession, rioting

 

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2/04/2009 11:40:00 AM