Forever Clueless

Jeremy Corbyn is not a man I would vote for. He's basically a hard left politician, wedded to the policies I recall being espoused by Tony Benn (another man whose views were hard left), in the 1960's and 1970's.

Corbyn Lives In The 1970's and 1980's Where Life Was Simpler
..... Michael Foot and Tony Benn Were Left Wingers

They had a certain amount of traction then, as the western socialist tide reached its high point, but since then these ideas have ebbed and are now only followed in broken states such as Venezuela and other failed South and Latin American states. Take for instance his latest policy announcement of 'free' school meals for primary school children.

Lessons Of History

Spain is in full-blown economic meltdown .... a 'depression' rather than a 'recession', with the overall unemployment rate at 23.6 per cent, which is comparable to the US/Europe in the depths of the Great Depression of the late 1920's and 1930's (with the youth unemployment rate over 50 per cent) .....

Communist and Nazis Street Fights - Berlin

This simply can’t carry on without risking the kind of social breakdown last seen in the 1930's (Street fighting and extreme political parties on the march .... Communists and Nazis), as the rise of the Far Right and Left in France, and perhaps more worryingly the Far Right  'Chrysi Avgi' ('Golden Dawn') in Greece illustrates.

Extremist Parties Rise In Economic Crisis

This is an era that modern Europe is starting to replicate in ever more faithful detail.

Greek Political Factions Fighting Over Economic Ruins

The 30's depression only ended after countries exited from the gold standard, which is the equivalent  of an exit from the Euro today, and the restoration of national currencies .... as an alternative to carrying on imposing ever-harsher austerity on countries that were already suffering Depression levels of  unemployment. However its the course of  imposing ever-harsher austerity that the European governments and ECB have reinforced.

It's hard not to conclude that rather than admit that the policies being followed are wrong, most European leaders seem determined to drive their economies and their societies into the ground  ..... you would think the Germans and the French leaders would be worried. Certainly many others fear that the whole world may pay the price.

Unbalanced Reactions?

On a side note, the attack by Anders Behring Breivik on the Norwegian Labour Party members made me consider the the reaction to this event.

Anders Behring Breivik

We do seem to have different ways of dealing with the "Far Left" and the "Far Right" in the UK ....