Mass protests rock enraged Europe: millions on strike, hundreds of thousands take to the streets

reply to post by EnactedEgoTrip


Couldn't agree more. People in Europe (apart from the UK) don't take any nonsense when it comes to their liberties, or their governments imposing unfair taxes/policies. I think it is something to admire. It is nothing at all to do with Europe being anti-nationalist. It is to do with Europeans not bowing down to their governments, and also because their governments tend to take notice when they do go on strike. Europeans I think, have retained a lot of their culture and they are less willing to be told what to do and when to do it.

Also, they tend to support each other. For example, if the French train drivers go on strike, you find that the truck drivers, airport staff, ferry staff etc will join them and it soon happens that travel in France on the day of the strike is nigh on impossible. They have impact.

There is a lot of talk about strikes happening in the UK and I think that will become more apparent when the next range of cuts is announced mid-October by the coalition. People are starting to get angry but it remains to be seen what will happen.

The thing about the British is that we will generally support a strike if it seems fair, but when it starts to affect our daily lives, we lose sympathy - take Royal Mail, a prime example. They had great public support but as soon as we stopped getting our mail every day, we started to go against them and demand that they go back to work.

Originally posted by EnactedEgoTrip
The main reason people here (UK) dont bother taking action is because it is unlikely to work, and people just end up further out of pocket due to not being paid for the days they strike, especially as things are very tight for us now.

Remember the Iraq war? 1 million protestors, and they were completely ignored. The government will ignore us completely no matter what we do. There is only one way to get the government to change their mind, and that is to overthrow them (including the unelected lords) and replace them with competent people who actually care about the human race.

Shame nobody is up for it.

Unfortunately we are all talk, even us on here, were discussing it but what are we actually doing about it - its another form of apathy and I'm a victim too

1 million walkers will never be an impact - park 10 lorries outside a oil refinery and that'll get you some attention (remember a few years back)

We are to afraid to lose what we have to make a proper statement and we will leave it for others to do - how much is going to be too much?

Originally posted by Dr Cosma
Im live in Spain, we managed to shut down the enitre county of Catalunya. The WHOLE country went on strike. One thing im not happy with is the amount of violence that sprung out of the strike. Outside my house there were gangs of people shouting "either close the shops or you will have problems". Its been more like a civil war lol
I believe that if a person who owns a business wishes to open on the strike day for whatever reason, that person should not be threatend or his premises vandalised.
So in part im in favour of the strike but if you didnt live it, if you havent been here during the strike then you dont know. It was more like a syndicate war with thugs ordering the shut down.


'If you kick a stone in anger, youll hurt your own foot'

I'm also located in Spain!

Yeah! Wednesday was kind of crazy here when the "Huelga General 29 de septiembre" started - we could see strikes and protests in most major cities.

Even the Television broadcast, mobile Internet and the electricity disappeared a couple of the times during the day.

Thursday morning one female minister of the Government and one Union-leader met on the morning TV news-show and it seems both parts now have started talks about pension reforms and other economic demands from the Spanish workers-unions.

The numbers about the incoming Spanish tourism was released recently, and they thanfully showed indications that the rest of the Europeans are finally returning to Spain again after 2 years of decline and economic problems.

(Especially the North Europeans and Germans)

So I guess that the Spanish Government were very worried that the General Strike could scare these tourists away if they didn't solve the transport strike very quickly etc?

Anyway! both parts are now talking and hopefully we won't see any more outbursts of strikes spreading in the coming weeks?

Americans are not any more complacent than people in other countries. Most Americans are law abiding and because it is illegal in America to have effective protests most Americans don't bother with it. Why do something if it's got zero chance of being effective?

Go to the thread I did a year ago, Naomi Wolf on why protests don't work in the U.S. for more information on illegal effective protests in the U.S.

She brings up some good points in this video. It is disheartening that our right to non-violent protest has been diminished so much - we are free to protest, it's just that we have to protest the way the government approves of - and that's why they don't work. Watch the video.

The video is very good and explains a lot.

Someone in this thread said:

Well, Americans would protest more if they knew they wouldn't be randomly arrested, beaten or pepper sprayed just for being in the vicinity of a protest

O'boy! then you've never seen the Spainish police in action then?

Remember that Spain was a fascist republic until 1975 - and just few days ago I saw on TV how severly and badly beaten the protesters were in Barcelona and in Madrid during the General Strike.

So your comment and excuse here is kind of poor my friend!

The Spanish Police and Guardia Civil are some tough MOFO'S my friend! Hehe!

No protests in Britain, just Spain.

reply to post by badgerprints


Ding Ding Ding .....Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Badgerprints is 100% right ... imo

As far as FEMA goes I would say 75% of people I mention the agency to, have never heard of the them. The other 24% had only heard of the agency after HAARPican Katrina. Then you are left with the 1% of us( if we even constitute a full %) That are well aware of the agency and its questionable agenda...

So "No" the fear of FEMA camps is Not whats keeping American people pacified.

Its complacency, laziness, and lack of good social awareness.... that keep Americans pacified.

As long as the BestBuy stays open & Americans have money enough to go buy their i-pads & flat panel tv's,
There Will Be No Protest.... Not until people can't buy food @ the supermarket & all the Wally World shelves are Bare, Not until a large portion of the American people are homeless through foreclosure and eviction....

Then there will be protest... too late

reply to post by Haydn_17


Thatcher made general strikes in the UK illegal when she was hammering the miners back in the 1980s. Some notable union leaders are speaking of mass protests against the sweeping cuts in public sector spending, but it will take quite a bit before the UK witnesses scenes similar to elsewhere in Europe.

Edit: You gotta love the French. Protesting is in their blood. A two-year increase on the pension age and they hit the streets in uproar. The Roma issue aside, I think other nations could take and learn a lot from how protective the French are over civil rights.

people in stuttgart are being treated terribly trying to protest against the building of a new train station that will cost billions..yesterday was a very dark day..police attacked school kids..

first part:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UaWfXQL4k8

more protests are planned..this could get even nastier...

heres a report from the main german news..theres a lot of injured people...one man may have been blinded

www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/ondemand100_id-video781606.html

Looks like it's about time they start pouring Fluoride into European water supplies.

Southampton is the latest European city to fall for it. If you live there get out before you become as complacent as the average Yank news.bbc.co.uk...

heres some more info regarding stuttgart...and this is in probably one of the most peaceful and prosperous parts of the world...people have NEVER demonstrated like this....and what happens....the iron fist comes straight down..

www.n24.de...

Along with complacency, I think the spirit of "individualism" in the states is what is holding them back from collective action. There is a strong sense there of "every man for himself". Whilst that has its clear benefits, it definitely works in the PTB's favour when the populace is unable to see beyond each of their individual needs. They remain ignorant of the larger picture.

The financial crisis and illegal war boondoggle has some of them wondering if there isn't something beyond their latest gadget purchase to worry about, but for the most part they are unable to grasp what that is.

Hopefully, watching the Europeans on news broadcasts might give them some ideas - if they turn the sound off that is, cuz we all know what slant the news broadcasters will put on this story.

I'm kind of afraid that the Americans will get up off our butts and protest. Because when we do, I think it will be a full-on civil war. (And I'm certain to be a victim.)

the articles are very interesting.

this thread even moreso though...shows you where peoples minds are.

You got many here that are basically saying americans aren't running wild in the streets angry because we are too apathetic and sedated...otherwise, we would be out there enraged about the liberalism going on like they are overseas.
then you got the few people that read the article and saying the protestors are idiots because they are angry there isn't enough liberalism.

the articles are pretty straight forward...spain is protesting a bad decision by the government to stop spending money on the people...I guess they deemed it a very bad move for the economy and growth..so they are protesting against the fiscal conservatism being implemented (for better or worse is not up for me to judge)

Germany is a union protest.

get your facts straight...this isn't some tea party protest euro style...its actually a opposite tea party..a demand government keep spending. Since I do not know jack about their economic system (beyond they are currently doing a bit better than us economywise) I won't weigh in on which side is "right".

now then, I see the veiled attempts to bring this to a discussion about the US...why? This protest has little in common with the problems and bickering the US is currently into...lets take a half second and not be a narcissist nation. if you have an educated opinion about the spanish economy, great...Do you have an opinion about unions in Brussels? brilliant...lets hear it. if you have an opinion about protests in general as a concept, great...but to start completely twisting the movement to your wishlist or fearlist...that is just distorting the facts.

Originally posted by Evergreen
I'm kind of afraid that the Americans will get up off our butts and protest. Because when we do, I think it will be a full-on civil war. (And I'm certain to be a victim.)

Contrary to thread logic...

Americans protest all the time. We assemble, wave pickett signs, and grumble at even the smallest of provocations.

I think what the idea is overall...is some are saying protest, when what they are trying to say is "civil war". protesting with blood and guns and all that so that the people can make this nation what it should be. and by what it should be, what that means is what 33% of the nation wants it, not the majority...which is known in other nations as a ku