Democracy In Workhouse Europe

a. money
Faced with the prospect of a common European devaluation, it is relevant to imagine some scenarios for the near future in order to place ourselves as an individual, a municipality, party, region, nation and continent.
But nobody is talking about devaluation! No, but it's already taking place at pan-European level, noticed by the people only at the counter and petrol dispenser. Here prices rise more or less constant - opposite wages, which of course urges us to spend less.
"We" are not all of us - but only the majority. There's a group - or class - which can upgrade its own resources in relation to their ability to exploit a situation where the majority is getting poorer: the self-proclaimed international heroes, enterprising business owners and investors who can rejoice that some of our products despite the bad times are enjoying production and export growth on the basis of decreasing labor costs.

Let us drop the Euro, many Germans say, let us disconnect from the Euro many Danes think, hoping to leave Southern Europe in poverty while the middle and northern Europeans still could enjoy the southern sun, cuisine and charm at discount prices.
BUT where would we Danes end up on the global market, if the Danske Krone for a while were allowed to move freely in relation to the Euro? Even our smartest designs would be so expensive that they would remain on the virtual shelves. So some of us would exchange their short-time overrated Kroner to Euros or Neodrachmes (to anticipate a continued Greek downturn) and disappear with this gain to southern skies. But what about those who still want/need to work and survive here?
We will most likely experience our own devaluation together with our European neighbors - which all in all probably is preferable to a short-term monetary upturn and subsequent meltdown of trade- and payments balance.

b. democracy and peace
Yet democracy still rules in Western, Central and Southern Europe but apparently there is only very little awareness that democracy is very much dependent on the maintenance of social peace.
Those liberals who with joy and conviction recommend to let the poor trash of Southern Europe to their fate, have not fantasy or historical consciousness to see the drift towards fascism already underway. Can anyone really imagine that a fascist Hungary would be able to live peacefully together with Romania? Who could imagine that a local armed conflict down there had no influence on us? When Greeks in anarchic desperation attack tourist sites and branches of foreign banks and companies, could that happen without all Europeans suffering?

"Solidarity" is a concept that came out of fashion a few decades ago. It is time to reintroduce it - not only for the good conscience sake - but to find a way out of the economic but first and foremost political downturn that's threatening us.This solidarity is not free, but would be an excellent investment in a joint and hopefully peaceful future.
The U.S. rating agencies and global banks will punish us very hard for acting against their and World Bank recommendations. It will cost us dearly - but it would be a small price to pay compared to a social meltdown without solidarity with social unrest, fascism and possible war and civil war to follow.

Pursuing a particularly sharp increase in income disparities between the classes as crisis resolution is still "en vogue" with economy-experts and others of the same casting. But these people could not even spot the financial crisis when it was already on the way. They would first discover the serious threat to peaceful democracy (which they themselves have created) the day they pack their platinum credit cards to escape.