Some kind of solution...*

This post would fit better as an epilogue of the previous one. However, since there has been an (as usual) long interval between the two posts, it came out seperately.

Many times in the history of a country, especially a small country, come moments when its people do not have their destiny in their own hands. Instead, it is more determined by international conditions and the will of the various regional or global powers. Greece is now in this difficult time, at least for a short term. But it is not alone. Europe's future today depends more than ever in modern history on developments outside Europe.

In the previous post we saw that the main causes of the crisis in Europe are the dramatic changes in the global economy caused by the globalization of trade with the impressive entry of emerging economies in international markets. In other words, Europe is feeling the first shock of, if not just Asian then surely a "global" multipolar century, where its economic supremacy will not be guaranteed, but will be constantly tested.

In the first phase, the crisis hit particularly countries of the South, mainly because their economies were much more vulnerable to new competition, while the North emerged unscathed, if not benefited, from these changes. However, the crisis goes on and is hard to predict the next phase. Perhaps the most important factor for its development is the reaction of emerging economies. If they can cover the ground in the technological-industrial sector, it is likely to see the European powers cross the threshold of the crisis, with trade balances dropping, unemployment rising and wages falling. In Telecommunications and Informatics, for example, Europe has lost its privileged position, with the onslaught of the respective Korean and Chinese industries, which also broke the myth of permanent technological leadership of the West. On the other hand, these economies have a number of major challenges and obstacles before them, such as the fall in demand in the Western World and the stress on material and social infrastructures domestically. It is possible that those countries, in order to create sustainable development based on domestic demand, will be forced to attempt social reforms similar to those achieved in Europe in the last century. And as demonstrated by our history, these reforms are achieved neither quickly nor bloodlessly.

Whatever the developments, however, the question of workers in the West remains: is there "some kind of solution?" Unfortunately, the only permanent solution is to eliminate the most basic cause of the crisis, which is the vicious circle of competitiveness-recession. To achieve this, workers in emerging economies must demand a fairer share of the profits of production. In other words, globalization of capital should be followed by the globalization of working conditions. But that for now seems very difficult. The basic conditions that helped develop the European work model - the industrial mode of production, growth, universal suffrage and an organized labour movement - are not even halfway met in most of the emerging economies. Whether, when and how will they develop are questions that remain unanswered.

So what is left for the economies of the West is to exploit their competitive advantages. Protectionist moves, that would somewhat reverse the globalization of trade, have proven to be extremely dangerous, and while monetary measures can help if they are taken at the right time, but they can not change the situation in relations of production, supply and demand. Within this framework the Europeans are challenged to rediscover the European model that may not offer the same levels of prosperity to the people, but will continue to ensure fairness in the distribution of goods and in general the distribution of happiness opportunities.

*:  from Kostas Kavafis' poem "Waiting for the Barbarians"