Especially as in Europe poverty is generally measured in relative terms. As of being a certain amount below the median income. So actually ending poverty and inequality are the same and can be solved by making everybody dirt poor.
Btw. I signed a petition by some protesters the other day. They demanded world peace and happiness for everybody, that robots should clean the streets and that the state should pay everybody kr. 30,000 a month ($5,000). And who in their right mind wouldn’t want that?
If no employer values your skill to pay you a wage in which you will eat or no one values your services enough to pay you, then there is either subsistence farming, or, government safety net. However, one would argue that if you can indeed farm, then you have some skill, enough to get paid (at least in first world countries; war-torn and other desolate, resource deprived areas are another matter).
I dont know anyone personally participating, but there is at least two groups of protesters with a bunch of subsets. The first are the usual suspects that have been protesting the G* meetings ever since I can remember, normally anarchists for the most part.
The second group, are people that have recently lost their jobs, homes, money and what not depending on the particular situation and they have found that they have common cause with the anarchists, and they did not all buy underwater mortgages. The economy imploded starting with the fannie mae and freddie mac, but quickly engulfed most of the manufacturing sector.
These folks are there to vent and make noise, regardless of how futile you might believe it is.
As an aside, one of the things I have noticed some people mentioning is Ayn Rands , atlas shrugged , for what ever reason is selling like hotcakes again. Usually it comes up when these anarchists start to mention what they are owed and government should provide by diktat. This in my opinion would be the happy ending, for also in my opinion what they should be re-reading is a tale of two citys by Charles Dickens, not so much for the characters in the novel but the background action.
Yes, my girlfriend is participating. NOT because she wants to take part in a riot (a tiny stupid minority), NOT because she thinks the world should give her a job on her plate, but because, whilst the world’s leaders gather together to chinwag, she wants to make sure they can see, in real people, in great numbers, the human cost of their mismanagement of the economy, so that when they come up with any ideas they come up with, they’re thinking about the little people, and not how to protect their non-exec board positions when they retire. For the record, she is a well educated professional with over 15 years experience, at the top of her profession, earning a six figure salary. Until the credit crunch threw her on the dustheap six months ago. Since then, she’s had not a single job interview. Not one. And yeah, she’s bloody furious.
You GF sounds reasonable and logical. That I can stand behind. I think all we can do is say this is what’s fucked up, and these are ways we may be able to improve. Not “you owe me decent job with benefits you bastards!” while tipping a car or such.