[deMolay]

From the Asian Times. Documenting widespread civil unrest globally. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Eco ... 6Dj02.html

[Nefarious]

Running out of time to prep.

[neocone]

Yawn... the Calamitous 14th Century was worst... Check the endless civil war in Italy and the Hundred Year War in France and the litany of Famines, marauding bands of ex-soldiers killing looting and raping (joined by "knights" equally depraved... it was the end of the knighthood myth).

The world population collapse by 60% but this cleanup gave birth to the Renaissance and also the concept of modern state (pioneered by Joan of Arc).

[Tanada]

Yawn... the Calamitous 14th Century was worst... Check the endless civil war in Italy and the Hundred Year War in France and the litany of Famines, marauding bands of ex-soldiers killing looting and raping (joined by "knights" equally depraved... it was the end of the knighthood myth).

The world population collapse by 60% but this cleanup gave birth to the Renaissance and also the concept of modern state (pioneered by Joan of Arc).

What you say is true, however a similer case can be made for the fall of Rome in the 5th century and that lead to the Dark Ages with centuries of ignorance, terror and state religion suppressing free thought.

[hironegro]

I believe what you describe mostly happened on western eurasia. Most likely the singularity will hit before there is a total collapse.

[bratticus]

Financial crisis sparks unrest in Europe

Reuters
Thu Feb 26, 2009

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* BOSNIA -- Workers of Bosnia's only alumina producer Birac protested on Feb. 9 in Banja Luka, demanding salary payments and government support to offset falling metal prices.

* BRITAIN -- British workers held a series of protests at power plants, demonstrating against the employment of foreign contractors to work on critical energy sites.

-- The protests follow a week-long dispute at the Total-owned Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire, which resulted in Total agreeing to hire more British workers on the project. Workers voted to end the unofficial strike on Feb. 5.

* BULGARIA -- Police officers, banned by law from striking, have held three "silent" protests since December to demand a 50 percent pay hike and better working conditions. Bulgaria, the poorest EU nation, has been hit by protests demanding the government take measures to shore up the economy.

-- Farmers blocked the only Danube bridge link with Romania and rallied across Bulgaria on Feb. 4 demanding the government set a minimum protective price for milk and stop imports of cheap substitutes.

* FRANCE -- President Nicolas Sarkozy faced criticism from both unions and bosses on Feb. 19 over new measures to tackle the economic crisis. Sarkozy offered an additional 2.65 billion euros ($3.4 billion) of social spending in an effort to quell labour unrest over a previous stimulus package that targeted investment rather than consumers. France's eight union federations called for a day of action on March 19.

-- Up to 2.5 million protesters took to the streets of France on Jan. 29 in a day of strikes and rallies to denounce the economic crisis but the strike failed to paralyse the country and support from private sector workers was limited.

-- A union representative was killed last week and several policemen wounded by protesters on the French Caribbean island in violence over the cost of living. Guadeloupe, a region of France and part of the EU, has been brought to a standstill in February by a general strike over high prices for food.

* GERMANY -- Thousands of Opel workers from around Germany took part in a mass rally at the company's headquarters, demanding on Thursday that parent General Motors scrap plans for plant closures in Europe. Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the rally, added, "This is about more than just Opel. It's about the future of the car industry in Germany." * GREECE -- Greek farmers protesting low product prices ended a two week blockade of a border crossing with Bulgaria on Feb. 7 when their demands for compensation were met. Greece had endured days of travel chaos with thousands of angry farmers setting roadblocks across the country, but most have ended after the government pledged 500 million euros ($640 million) in subsidies on products such as olive oil and wheat. -- High youth unemployment was a main driver for rioting in Greece in December, initially sparked by the police shooting of a youth in an Athens neighbourhood. The protests forced a government reshuffle.

* ICELAND -- Prime Minister Geir Haarde resigned on Jan. 26 after protests. The first leader in the world to fall as a direct result of the financial crisis, he was replaced by Johanna Sigurdardottir, who heads a new centre-left coalition.

* IRELAND -- Nearly 100,000 people marched through Dublin on Feb. 21 to protest at government cutbacks in the face of a deepening recession and bailouts for the banks.

* LATVIA -- A new Latvian prime minister was appointed on Thursday after the four-party ruling coalition collapsed on Feb. 20 and the president called for talks to forge a new government to tackle a deepening economic crisis. The government was the second to succumb to the financial crisis.

-- Latvia's agriculture minister had already gone on Feb. 3 amid protests by farmers over falling incomes. A 10,000-strong protest on Jan. 13 descended into a riot. Government steps to cut wages, as part of an austerity plan to win international aid, have angered people.

* LITHUANIA -- Police fired teargas lon Jan. 16 to disperse demonstrators who pelted parliament with stones in protest at cuts in social spending. Police said 80 people were detained and 20 injured. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said the violence would not stop an austerity plan.

* MONTENEGRO -- In Podgorica, aluminium workers demanded on Feb. 9 to be paid their salaries and an immediate restart of suspended production at the Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica (KAP), a Russian-owned plant.

* RUSSIA -- Hundreds of angry communists rallied in Moscow on Feb. 23 in protest at the Kremlin's handling of the crisis that has rocked the Russian economy, the latest in a series of demonstrations held across Russia as the economic crisis bites.

-- The opposition rallied about 350 people in central Moscow two days earlier to demand early presidential elections.

-- On Jan. 31, thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Moscow and the port of Vladivostok over hardships caused by the financial crisis. The next day hundreds of Moscow demonstrators called for Russia's leaders to resign.

* UKRAINE - Hundreds of Ukrainians protested at separate demonstrations on Feb. 23, with some urging President Viktor Yushchenko to quit while others demanded their money back from banks hit by the financial crisis.

Bosnia faces social unrest, political crisis looms

Reuters
February 26, 2009

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On Thursday, a highways official said demobilised soldiers blocked a major road in central Bosnia for several hours to demand delayed benefit payments and secure future funding.

"The country ... is in crisis," said Fuad Kasumovic, deputy finance minister in the central cabinet. "More and more people are losing their jobs, industries cannot get funding and financing is becoming more expensive."

... snip ...

[bratticus]

Mexican town fed up with violence turns to army

LA Times
February 26, 2009

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For Mexicans to call on the armed forces, whose human rights record has been dubious at best, testifies to the firm conviction that the state and its civilian authorities, including the police, no longer protect them from the gang warfare of narcotics traffickers.

... skip ...

"The threat is of social and political decomposition in Zacatecas, and in the nation, in which the authorities remain subordinated and violence is the norm," he said. "The situation has overtaken the government and its institutions."

... snip ...

[eXpat]

Moody’s warns of 'social unrest’ as sovereign debt spirals

In a sombre report on the outlook for next year, the credit rating agency raised the prospect that future tax rises and spending cuts could trigger social unrest in a range of countries from the developing to the developed world.

It said that in the coming years, evidence of social unrest and public tension may become just as important signs of whether a country will be able to adapt as traditional economic metrics. Signalling that a fiscal crisis remains a possibility for a leading economy, it said that 2010 would be a “tumultuous year for sovereign debt issuers”.
It added that the sheer quantity of debt to be raised by Britain and other leading nations would increase the risk of investor fright.

Strikingly, however, it added that even if countries reached agreement on the depth of the cuts necessary to their budgets, they could face difficulties in carrying out the cuts. The report, which comes amid growing worries about Britain’s credit rating, said: “In those countries whose debt has increased significantly, and especially those whose debt has become unaffordable, the need to rein in deficits will test social cohesiveness. The test will be starker as growth disappoints and interest rates rise.”

It said the main obstacle for fiscal consolidation plans would be signs not necessarily of economic strength but of “political and social tension”.

Greece, where the government has committed to drastic cuts in public expenditure, has suffered a series of riots over the past year which are thought to have been fuelled by economic pressures.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/6819470/Moodys-warns-of-social-unrest-as-sovereign-debt-spirals.html

[hillsidedigger]

I've got popcorn but might need more butter.

[Tyler_JC]

People need a better understanding of logic.

If a government doesn't have the money to pay for a program and it cannot borrow the money...it's cannot spend money on that program. It's quite simple.

By rioting, you are merely wasting what few resources are left.

The State is afraid to trim military spending because they see unrest threatening their power. Yet, it is this wasteful spending that is diverting resources from the general welfare.

These stupid rioters are responsible for exactly the kind of misery they are trying to protest against.

They are creating exactly the kind of crisis that leads to the crackdowns that they protest against.

Argh.

Go with margarine, hillsidedigger. Your arteries will thank you.

[pablonite]

ordo ab chao, everyone will get their required doses depending on who and where you live.

Like the author comes right out and says, the vultures are circling...

Without 16 intelligence agencies under you, you'll still have a pretty good idea of the places that Blair and his associates are eyeing in terms of instability as the future darkens on a planet at the brink

[eXpat]

We must arm ourselves for a class war

The recession has increased the wealth gap to dangerous levels, and George Osborne does not seem serious about tackling it, says Edmund Conway.
If you don't work in the City or in economics, you may not have heard of the annual Mais lecture, which was delivered last night by George Osborne. But it's a big deal, arguably the most important set-piece speech in the Square Mile calendar. And only once before has City University, the host, deigned to invite an opposition politician primed for election to deliver it.
...
Today, the economy is in a far more damaging spiral. The first leg of the financial and economic crisis, which stemmed from excessive private borrowing and the subsequent collapse of the banking industry, is over. The second leg, characterised by a crisis of sovereign debt in even the richest economies, is only just beginning. The Bank of England's inflation-targeting approach is under question from sources as authoritative as the International Monetary Fund. The world economy looks increasingly vulnerable to a "double-dip", tipping back into recession or stagnation rather than bouncing back to health.

More important, both political parties are committed to spending cuts of a scale never before experienced by the public. Ignore the fuss about economists' letters: based even on Labour's plans for public spending, the next half-decade will be the first time in modern history that a government has imposed five successive years of real spending cuts. The question is not about timing (the Tories would cut earlier and slightly more) but over who will push the cuts through. Labour perennially disappoints and misses its fiscal targets. What most recommends the Tories is the pedigree that suggests they will at least approach the task with some relish.
...
The poorest today are, in absolute terms, less destitute than before, able to afford food, shelter, even satellite TV. But the disparity between them and the richest has risen. It is not merely, as Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett point out in their book The Spirit Level, that this damages health and encourages crime; in times of austerity, inequality can tear apart the social fabric. Take Greece, where the most frequent chant in this week's riots was: "Make the plutocrats pay!"

So Ed Balls's plan to pitch this election as a class war is, I'm afraid, on the button. Class, money and privilege will be unavoidable issues during the next parliamentary term. Rather than ignoring them, the Tories must take action. Better to start thinking about free-market reforms that share the wealth more equitably than to leave it to the Left to suggest that taxes on the wealthy are the only solution.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/edmundconway/7312625/We-must-arm-ourselves-for-a-class-war.html