Talking About a Revolution
August
2011 was marred with an unusual event signature of riots and chaos involving an
estimated 4000 youths in the UK. More
than 5,175 offences were recorded by the police (Berman, 2011) and damage to
business was more than $250 million pounds (Lissaman, 2011). Dejection with
social and economic inequality was deemed to be the underlying reason behind
the burning anger of the mob. This was further fuelled by growing rates of
unemployment post the subprime crisis, which increased the inequality gap. What
UK faced in those four days of August shows the ugly side of capitalism. We are
quick to discuss the financial impacts of bankruptcy, but why don’t we put more
stress on the social impacts of such events? This article offers a study of the
dark side of economics.
The Euro
zone is struggling to survive today with unemployment statistics in these
economies becoming ever so alarming. The Eurostat estimates that 25.112 million
men and women in European Union (EU-27) were unemployed in June 2012. Out of
the given figure, about 17.801 million were in the Euro zone (EA-17). European Union’s
unemployment rate was over 11.2% in June 2012, with total youth unemployment
rate being 21.3% (Unemployemnt statistics,
2012).
The unemployment rate in Spain was
24.63% in second quarter of 2012, which means that 1/4th of the working
population is jobless in the country! The unemployment rate for those under 25
years of age rose to 53%. The unemployment
rate in Greece was equally alarming.- total unemployment rate was 22.6%, with
youth unemployment being 52.7%. (Global youth unemployment
2012, 2012).
A shocking 75 million youth worldwide are looking for work. (ILO Global Employment Trends
for Youth, 2012)
Much
literature has been written on Euro Zone crisis. “The problem is more in the
design of the euro zone” says Jamie Daniel, IMF mission chief for Spain. If
that was so, then pray what were they waiting for uptil now? How does he justify
this to the millions of jobless people who have no means to sustain themselves?
Why do we have experts and economists if this is what it has to come down to, or
have we begun to run economies by trial and errors? Whose fault is it anyways?
Who is paying for whose greed? These are the real perplexing questions that
bare warrant. Millions have been rendered jobless, without the means to earn a
living wage, to support their family, and to keep a roof over their head.
These
questions cannot be ignored. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction,
and the unemployed youth will definitely seek their due. The difference lies in
the underlying temperament. As in case of the UK, riots aptly depict the
violent response of the unemployed youth that felt neglected by their own
politicians and economists. They turned to looting and rioting to draw
attention to their cause. In another instance, the dormant frustration of the
youth fuelled by years of oppression erupted like a volcano, leading to the
revolutionary movement called the Arab Spring, in 2011. This famous
revolutionary wave brought down the much feared local monarchies, declaring the
power of the youth.
Youth unemployment
was one of the prime triggers of the Arab Spring. The youth unemployment in
this region, as per last record, was as high as 23.4% in 2010 (International Labour
Organization, 2011). In the Middle East, unemployment rose
to 26.5 percent (Arnold, 2012). The turn of events
in Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Bahrain, Libya and elsewhere was an outcome of
repressed frustration with unemployment, especially in the youth. The anger and
frustration that was already there within people found a voice with the youth
uprising. The enemy may not have been common, but the emotion was definitely felt
similarly across the countries. The rate and intensity of the discontent
brought major monarchic changes in the region (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen),
another nation, Syria is still
struggling for democracy. The fury of a mob deprived of basic livelihood can be
unrelenting, as evident in each of these cases.
Civil
disorder is an obvious outcome of unemployment. When the outburst manifests in
this fashion then it is scary but, what would happen if the feelings of
frustration, dejection remained under the surface? Even more damaging are the
wounds that are left on the psyche of the unemployed. The hopelessness and the lack
of courage in the youth can leave a damaging blow to their lifelong
productivity. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leader. What leaders will they make
if they lack hope and courage? Imagine a country manifested with people filled with
no hope and courage. There couldn’t be a bigger price for an economy to pay or
no sadder reality.
The movements seen in 2011-12, the
Arab Spring and the UK riots, had different agendas, but their cause of
grievance was the same: historically high rates of youth unemployment (25
percent in Egypt, 50 percent in Greece, 16.5 percent in the U.S and 9 per cent in the UK.); high rates of
inflation, frustration with cronyism, inequality; and the loss of faith in the
economic system. The people of Egypt, then Bahrain, then Yemen, and then Libya
and Syria came forward with courage and showed that they had had enough.
The social
impact of the recession is not discussed with the same breath of emergency as
the financial impact of it. We are so busy with the numbers that we are missing
out on the true grave reality. We are busy looking at the hand that is pointing
to the moon, than the moon itself. One can imagine the plight of twenty-
somethings graduating from colleges in Spain, Greece and Italy not finding
jobs. With loans to repay, such realities can lead to desperation and
degradation. Imagine how desperate a family man would be without the means to
provide for his family. Let us not forget that desperation is the root cause of
many evils!
One of
the scariest prospects of unemployment of the world’s young adults is that
jobless youth may turn to crime and terrorism for solace. Unemployment is gradually
transitioning from an unfortunate social ill to a major threat to future
economic and political stability.
Between
the raging, seething, unforgiving anger and frustration of the unemployed youth
to the silent, hopeless, brooding surrender of it, there is not much choice.
The angry youth can create violence that may put the 20th century to
shame. The hopeless youth can create an era of low motivated, dejected,
depressed and suicide prone work force, which would never quite reach its
productive optimum.
Let
us not underestimate the strength and power of the youth of a nation. All the greatest
revolutions in the history of the world have been made possible because of the
power of the youth. Politicians should fear, because the youth believe with
passion, they live with passion and they are ready to die for that passion. Governments across the world should unite for
a common purpose - to save the youth. Financial instability is important to
address, but isn’t it the moral duty of every government, from Spain to Syria,
from Greece to USA, from UK to Spain, to safeguard its youth?
Poor people will rise up and take
what is theirs..
Finally the tables will start to
turn.....we are talking about a revolution
References:
Inspired
by Tracy Chapman’s song called Talkin’ ‘bout a revolution,1988. The song was
used as an inspiration during the revolution in Tunisia, 2011
Works Cited
Arnold, T. (2012,
May 23). Youth unemployment in Mena soars to more than 25 per cent. The
National .
Berman, G. (2011, October 26). The August 2011 riots: a
statistical summary. Retrieved August 3, 2012, from www.parliament.uk:
http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN06099
(2012). Global youth
unemployment 2012. business and finance.
(2012). ILO Global Employment Trends for Youth.
International Labour Organization.
International Labour Organization. (2011). Youth
unemployment in the Arab world. International Labour Organization.
Lissaman, C. (2011). Riots claimants in England hit by legal
woes. BBC News England .
Unemployemnt statistics. (2012, June). Retrieved Juy
30, 2012, from Eurostat European Commission:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics
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