Who Will Ride The Revolutionary Wave?

Europe has been where it is today once before. In 1848 a wave of liberal revolution swept through the continent as the people, tired of the restrictions imposed on them by their "betters", rose against the establishment and demanded change. Like most revolutions it was largely without direction and was largely leaderless. The unrest that can felt today is similarly directionless and lacks leadership. In 1848 the liberal revolution was effectively hijacked by conservatives who replaced the yearning for freedom with something that was at least concrete - nationalism - and we all know where that led. For the next one hundred years Europe did its best to annihilate itself. The most outstanding figure in this period was Otto von Bismarck who took a rudderless liberal revolution and created a new nation state - Germany. Today conservatives across Europe are desperate to emulate his success, preaching the need for us to endure austerity while they enjoy what little wealth is left, turning us against ourselves while they remain unscathed. Like so many political surfers, leaders like Cameron are trying to ride the revolutionary wave while the rest of us are left to flounder and, eventually, drown. Bismarck did have something to offer, even if it was nothing more than an illusion, but what can Cameron and the rest of the conservatives in Europe offer us? The answer is quite simple - nothing. What we need is a bigger surfboard that we can all ride.

The Turkeys Vote For Christmas

It is not often that you get to see an entire nation committ collective suicide but that is the effective result of the Greek elections. After a sustained attack by the banks who want the money they recklessly gambled away back and by European leaders more interested in their own careers than the welfare of their people, the Greeks cannot bring themselves to be rid of the Euro. They have clung to it like a child clings to its mother's skirts. They have been blackmailed, lied to and bullied unmercifully and, as Antonus Samaras said, "have decided to stay anchored to the Euro." Why anyone drowning would refuse to let go of an anchor is beyond understanding, but any real alternative was carefully hidden from sight. And there is an alternative as Iceland has amply demonstrated. It is possible to say "no" to the banks, arrest their directors and even impeach the politicians who have conspired with them to line their own pockets at everyone else's expense. After two years of dire predictions as to what would happen to Iceland if they didn't do as they were told, they have cast off the dead hand of the banks who are now queuing up to knock on that country's door and begging to be allowed to do business there once again. The world has been through 30 years of sheer economic insanity and, when the wheels came off, all our politicians could do was insist on more of the same. And, like sheep, most people have gone along with it. Entire countries have voted for austerity, inequality and poverty, frightened by two-faced politicians intent on protecting their own wealth and privileges. Some like France, however, have not. The stage is now set for a titanic struggle between the stupid and selfish on one hand and those with a better vision on the other. What happens next is up to us.