Feeling Europe’s pain
All is not well in the old world of organisational paternity, job security and economic rationality. But the silver lining is that we have millions of virtual ‘friends' to feel our pain.
Friday 9 September 2011
As the networked society lurches from place to platform, and younger generations rail against babyboomer notions of working, saving and, indeed, living, very little of the Europe's cradle-to-grave social paternity pact looks likely to survive.
Greeks are on the streets protesting that austerity measures imposed on them as a pre-condition for bailout loans by the European Union and World Bank are crippling the small country. Those with an understanding of economics are claiming it will stimy demand and further hobble the economy's ability to ‘grow' itself out of the debt crisis that the Greeks have saddled their children with.
Rational observers of the situation in other EU member states, but especially Germany, shake their heads in disgust that their hard-earned savings are being squandered on profligate states, in other words ‘lazy good-for-nothings'. But no one is allowed to say that for fear it stirs up the sort of divisions that in the past have led to fragmentations in Europe's social order, and even wars.
Portugal and Ireland have also faced harsh economic realities of late, but appear to have taken their medicine with a degree of understanding based on the thinking ‘we probably got ourselves into this in the first place'.
Facing the ire of the world's financial markets, the Italians are now also on the ropes. Parliamentary promises of sweeping cuts to bring the country's bloated debt under control are being watered down by an ineffectual Italian government bent on safeguarding the wealth of the few.
Belgium, the place where the European Union starts – and perhaps ends – is not looking so good either, with markets starting to grow weary of the country's inability to form a federal government which, as outsider's perceive, is the only body capable of addressing the small nation's own financial woes.
Britain's got its own troubles, both economic and social, which largely coalesce under the banner of ‘what to do about youth disenfranchisement'. Well, more jobs and social mobility would be a start, so the chorus goes.
France, Holland and Germany are trying to pick up the economic pieces, while Spain is doing its best to put its own house in order. And the Nordic bloc are trying to remember why they got themselves into this Union in the first place – though Denmark and Sweden probably knew something by opting out of or neglecting to sign up to the euro.
Friends like these
With economic stress, the usual issues of health, wellfare and social protection come under serious scrutiny. Younger generations, perhaps with the exception of those in Greece, are largely under no illusions that the systems set up by their parents and grandparents to provide a secure net and a way forward for post-war Europe will serve them equally as well.
Graduates and entrants to the labour market today are increasingly working on ‘contracts' with minimal perks and protection and maximum ‘flexibility', as it is no doubt sold to the X and Y generations who, according to Entrepreur magazine, are sincere in their comittment to jobs but for a ‘limited time'. Employers, who perhaps initially lamented this new twist on company loyalty, are now spinning it to their own good. It costs way too much in most EU countries to hire and fire people under permanent work contracts, so this is a win-win, as they see it.
With this so-called ‘job mobility' in overdrive – a euphamism for hidden, and even real unemployment – the contributions to Europe's once highly valued pension and social welfare system are thinner or more fragmented, at best. And then the whole ageing European population argument pops up, which is a ticking timebomb for the current 35 to 50 year-old workers who are like the factory, the factory worker and vaccuum-sealing machine in the corner. This worker bee generation is struggling to pay for the babyboomers who are exiting through the gift shop, their own teenage children's education and (potentially bleek) future, all the while hearing that the social contributions they are squirelling away may well be a dry well when and if they are ever allowed to retire.
Troubling as this all sounds, there is a silver lining … social networks have apparently got our backs. ‘Job for life' may not be trending right now, but who the hell cares? We've friends for life, millions of them all over the world who ‘like' us even though we don't have a job or can't pay for the next round. In fact, we're all gurus in our own minds with more ‘followers' than James Jones ever mustered.
We've got faster, better, ‘funner' smart devices and no shortage of apps to serve our every whim. And there is the whole ‘future internet' (which is, by the way trending) thingy that promises to unleash the power of all the data we've been happily putting out there, joining up stuff, services and infrastructure in a federated wonderland which has the potential to create new business models, more and even better jobs, and the ever-illusive economic growth. Yes, we're in hommage to the European Commission's ambitious Digital Agenda.
So, a message to all you belt-tightening Greeks, confused Italians, stoical Swedes, miffed Germans … you've got loads of friends who feel your pain, and that's really all that matters.
