A friend, 50, was telling me on Friday that he will be jobless on 1. May. Another friend, 35, was telling me the same on Monday morning. A third friend told me that he hasn’t been paid in the last 6 months. Other friends call from time to time and ask if I knew a job for a man or woman, between 25-60 years old. Anything! At any salary, with or without insurance and social contributions! Main thing some hundreds euros land in the household of a jobless father or a mother without income. Enough to cover even just basic needs. Day in, day out, the nightmare of unemployment hits more and more people and families. Loss of work place, loss of income, loss of dignity and lots of broken dreams.
And here come the European Statistics Authority (EUROSTAT) to confirm what we all know in Greece.
According to latest report, unemployment in Greece reached 21% in December 2011. Top on the EU27 list is Spain with 23.6%. Compared with a year ago, Greece’s unemployment recorded the highest increase from 14.3% to 21% between December 2010 and December 2011. In Spain the rate increase was from 20.6% to 23.6%.
Unemployment among youth under 25 years old reached 50.4% in Greece and 50.5% in Spain. Yes. One in two young people are without job – in both countries.
Another no present and no future generation is on the making. Well done, euro!
Not surprised by this. When will Greece leave this nightmare that is the Euro ?
Totally agree Andy, but the Greeks seem convinced their future lies with the euro, in this they have my deepest sympathy. Though it seems it’s easier to blame those of the 80’s & 90’s for the ills of the world, perhaps if those from the 80’s & 90’s were just lined up for voluntary euthanasia all the problems would be solved….. Merkel, and the whole tribe residing in Brussels, politicans, banks & corporations hanging on the coat tails of politicans are responsible for the mess of today, but some are incapable of putting the blame where it lies.
Never Mind the Bollocks. The previous generation that had no future grew up from 1977 onward. There was no euro. But their children are now the 50% plus unemployed youth. And now there is a single currency.
Only conclusion to be drawn is that with and without the euro this has happened twice within 35 years.
Who is to blame? Partly the same people who where the lost generation of the late 70s, early 80s…
So don’t blame the euro. Blame the previous lost generation. Blame the society they build or allowed to be built. But also blame yourself for either believing and living the lies or not fighting hard enough against them when everything seems so nice, but was so fake. A train wreck waiting to happen…
“God save the Queen, and her fascist regime”, the Sex Pistols sang. Sid Viscous killed and died. And an anthem was born for a generation that was lost. Years later they learned that it was just a commercial ruse. Nothing political. Nothing fundamental. Just to shock for the sake of it. Just emptiness.
It feels like one hundred years: http://youtu.be/lkelr1HunO0 Doesn’t matter if we all die. But somewhere in the middle there is the sentence “Caressing an old man”. A line that holds hope for the future.