Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Socrates and Pre-Season IMF Strikes

Wow, Portugal is tough.

EU and IMF operatives haven't even landed in Lisbon, yet, but the Portugese people are already starting to strike.

Workers are walking off the job today to protest austerity measures that Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates is attempting to institute.

“The strike arises in a context of a set of measures that are quite significant and have social impact,” said Carlos Firme, a director at Banif Banco de Investimento SA. “It’s natural that there are demonstrations of discontent.”

3 comments:

  1. Would these be PUBLIC "workers" on strike?

    This is a key distinction. Many compare the strikes and protests in europe to the lack thereof in america and use it to illustrate how europeans are "waking up" to the crony capitalism, hoping america will do the same.

    There's just one problem-- the only thing those lazy euros are waking up to is their cherished entitlements being threatened, and nothing makes a man more angry than losing that to which he is entitled (by someone elses labor and sacrifice, no less)!

    No, people aren't waking up in europe and they won't be waking up in america anytime soon. You can tax a man, you can put his liberty under ball and chain and you can expose him to humiliating personal disgrace, american and european alike, and hell thank you for it, vote for you, even.

    But if you even think about taking away his entitlements, there will be hell to pay!

    This is all childish. People thinking they can suspend the laws of economics or turn financial dealings on their head simply by kicking and screaming enough. Reality is not a debate, though.

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  2. @TaylorConant

    If you are looking for mass libertarian protests anywhere in the world, you are not going to find them.

    This is simply about shifts in the relationship between governments and the people. How it plays out is anybody's guess. But the rumbling is far from over.

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  3. Wenzel,

    I'm not. Others are. These aren't.

    That's my point.

    I agree with you, the future is uncertain. But so far, many people who have become upset and indignant about the current system have not been turning to liberty as an alternative paradigm. Hopefully that will change.

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