Not only Greece, but all of Europe is falling into the abyss

According to the website of the Russian Strategic Culture Foundation on October 25, in April 2013, the US "Forbes" magazine published a high-profile article entitled "Poor Europe: What Is the Prospect for the Eu?" " pessimistic predictions about the future of EU countries: "The tax burden will increase significantly compared to the present ... A range of countries, including Spain, Italy and Greece, will be shrouded in the shadow of extreme poverty. ”

Italy Infographic Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Alberto Lingria)

The full text is excerpted below:

Forbes predicted: "The entire European Union will fall into an economic depression." The financial sector will move to the United States, China and Singapore. Industry will move to Asia. How far talented and educated young people will go. ”

Just 8 years later, forbes' prophecy came to fruition. Eurostat has released statistics on the economic situation of residents of European countries in 2020. The Greek press wrote that the data was worrying and that Greece was "simply miserable." The country is falling into the abyss, with 27.5% of the population at risk of poverty. Romania and Bulgaria are worse off than Greece. The poverty rate is closely followed by Greece by Spain (27%).

Meanwhile, the average poverty rate in the EU is 21.9 per cent. In Greece, 31.5% of young people (under 18 years of age) are marginalized or socially isolated, while another 19.3% of older people (over 65 years of age) are at risk of extreme poverty.

If you look at Romania, you will find that in its poor countryside, "thousands of people live only by working in the rich countries of the European Union, picking up empty bottles and begging, forming a complete organizational chain of exporting foreign workers".

Even European countries that were once considered wealthy are moving towards poverty. In the UK, for example, according to the Ministry of Employment and Pensions, more than 14.5 million people lived below the poverty line as of March 2020. The long lines that London and other cities often line up for free food may be a visual illustration of this.

A reporter from the Italian newspaper Le Repubblica described his feelings at the Food Relief Distribution Point in Milan: "The middle class stands in the middle of the streets in embarrassment and helplessness, trying to maintain its dignity while waiting to receive its meal and hot soup. It's Milan today, but it looks like Wall Street in 1929. Data released by the Italian Statistical Office a year after the outbreak showed that 2 million new poor people were added to the country... They are not homeless or antisocials, but representatives of the bourgeoisie, people who once became rich by their labor and achieved a class leap. ”

Even in Germany, the richest European country, poverty is spreading. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, "By the end of August 2020, the income of 15.5 million households in Germany has shrunk significantly. According to the government report, the epidemic mainly affected 'low- and middle-income workers'. Der Spiegel pointed out that since the early 1990s, the gap between rich and poor in Germany has widened significantly, and the public's sense of unfairness in income distribution has risen.

The reality across the EU is that 24 million workers earn only the minimum income and live below the poverty line. This dilemma cannot be expected to be reversed, especially now that electricity and gas prices in Europe are soaring and the economy hit by lockdown measures is not yet out of crisis. Not only Greece, but all of Europe is falling into the abyss.

(Original title: "The whole of Europe is falling into the abyss")

Source: Informational messages

Process Edit: TF060