Small-town Britain just attributed basically, the victimhood of neoliberalism to, I think, the wrong cause… And when people like me said the real issue here is capitalism, the real issue here is neoliberalism, they would say, ‘Well, OK, but stopping migration still makes it better.’
The anger about austerity — the resentment of the burdens of this crisis being shifted onto average people — is becoming a European problem.
Democracy is beginning to tear the euro apart.
In a historic referendum on austerity, Greek voters overwhelmingly rejected the terms of a European bailout. Thousands celebrated in Athens’ Syntagma Square Sunday night. Then in a surprise move on Monday, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis announced his resignation, saying Greece’s creditors no longer want him involved in the talks. “I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride,” he proclaimed. Tune in to Democracy Now! to see what this development means for Greece’s future.
People are very simply tired and exhausted and angry with austerity measures that have devastated Greek society.
The European Central Bank is playing poker with people’s lives.
Germany deployed 20,000 cops to keep protesters away from the G7 meeting at a secluded Bavarian castle. Is this what democracy looks like? We look at what’s on the agenda, from crippling austerity for Greece to global efforts to stem carbon emissions. Tune in at democracynow.org.
The European Union plans to use military force to curb the influx of migrants from Libya. According to leaked details, the E.U. will destroy boats used for transporting migrants and refugees on Libyan territory, thereby preventing them from reaching Europe. “They are intending to at least risk killing people in blowing up these boats,” says Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks. Watch our exclusive interview with Assange on Democracy Now! today.
Today the European Union asked the United Nations Security Council to permit military action against human traffickers operating out of Libya. The U.N. estimates more than 60,000 people have already tried to cross the Mediterranean from Libya into Europe this year. This comes as a new report by Amnesty International reveals how migrants are forced to flee Libya because of “horrific abuse.” Watch today’s Democracy Now! interview with the report’s author, Magda Mughrabi.
We were not elected to lie. We were elected to say to our own people and to the people around the world that this medicine [of austerity] has not been working. We need a new treatment.