We Will All Go Down Together

From The Marston Chronicles

We have watched with amusement as we read comments from our World News section here on The Marston Chronicles. Several snide news articles and comments have been made about how the American economy has slid into recession. Usually they accuse us of spending money like drunken sailors not just at the governmental level but at the personal level as well. One must wonder just what they think has been keeping their own mostly socialistic economies afloat lo these many years.

Now that the American consumers have reacted to the layoffs, credit crunch and home price deflation by being more frugal in their purchases, they are buying far fewer foreign imports. No more American tourists on a fling in foreign lands. The end result has been that other countries are feeling the economic pinch far worse than the United States is. Just what made these folks think that we could crash and burn economically and that they would still be peachy keen?

Here is just a sample of how wrong they have been:

• China's migrant workers hit by economic pinch as 20 million lose jobs - Times Online
  China’s economic downturn has cost the jobs of 20 million rural migrants, prompting a call from the Communist Party’s security chief for efforts to calm possible unrest.
• British workers strike as economic unease spreads - Los Angeles Times
  O2/03/09: Hundreds of British workers walked off the job Monday, part of a rising tide of industrial unrest sweeping Europe as the continent's economic downturn worsens.
• More Protests for Greece as Farmers Continue Blockade
  02/03/09: Greek farmers demanding more aid from the government are the latest to protest in the European nation, as the ruling party’s popularity slides.
• As Economy Sinks, Russians Protest
  01/31/09 NY Times: Protesters held demonstrations throughout Russia on Saturday, offering largely subdued, but pointed criticism of the government’s economic policies as the country continues to sink deeper into an economic morass.
• Europe's Economic Protests May Be Contagious
  NPR.org, January 30, 2009 · As the global economic downturn sinks in, some people in Europe are expressing their economic pain in the form of strikes and protests.
• The Associated Press: France's big general strike hobbles services
  Jan. 29, 2009: More than 1 million protesters took part, with tens of thousands of youths, retirees and unemployed people marching across towns and cities, police said.
• Iceland Protesters shoved by Central Bank Economist
  This is a link to an Iceland news broadcast (in Icelandic) that shows just how tense the situation in Iceland is becoming. It appears that Olafur Orn Klemensson (and associate), an economist at the Central Bank of Iceland pushed protesters.
• Iceland banking crisis video and more 2008 and 2009
  An outstanding and frequently updated blog about the Iceland economic crisis by a native Icelander. Chock full of videos and information about the current state of economic affairs in Iceland. This blog is a must read!
• Baltic Riots Spread to Lithuania in the Face of Deteriorating Economic Conditions
  N.Y. Times Article: Riots broke out once again in the Baltic states on Friday, this time in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, where a group of 7,000 gathered to protest planned economic austerity measures.
• Latvia Is Shaken by Riots Over Its Weak Economy
  N.Y. Times Jan 14, 2009: Violent protests over political grievances and mounting economic woes shook the Latvian capital, Riga, late Tuesday, leaving around 25 people injured and leading to 106 arrests.
• Ariz. police say they are prepared as War College warns military must prep for unrest; IMF warns of
  Ariz. police say they are prepared as War College warns military must prep for unrest; IMF warns of economic riots