the world is falling apart

We as a people are arguably used to seeing (or perceiving) violent riots and fires on the streets of Iraq, Israel, or Palestine. But Switzerland? The World Trade Organization (WTO) is holding a meeting in Geneva, and because of anticapitalistic opposition, protesters are setting fire to vehicles and violently wreaking havoc to the center of international peace and cooperation. If Geneva is under riot, what hope does humanity have?

This is uncharacteristic of a European city such as Geneva. But just last month, the Champs-Elysées in Paris was set ablaze by farmers who were protesting grain prices that fell below the cost of production. These people cannot make a living. And frankly, who can now? Across Europe, real estate has plunged (akin to that of the world market), the financial industry has collapsed, and agriculture cannot suffice (as a result, there is a possible food shortage). Tourism across Europe has dropped signifantly, as Americans and other global citizens face an even worse crisis. Thus, I say the world is falling apart.

No one person is capable of a remedy to treat this serious illness that is civil unrest. But rather than talk about the absurdity of violent protests and their regressive results, instead, we should all be focused on the motives of those protesters. In Geneva, protesters are opposed to capitalism; is there any way to change someone's views on this? I doubt it; in this situation, it is the failure of the Swiss police force to prevent these vehicles from going ablaze. Thus, the protesters should be arrested (14 already have been). But in Paris, is there any regulation that the French government can impose that can remedy food prices?

Frankly, these next decades will be a test of who is the most generous and most able to withstand harsh conditions for the goodness of others. We will not advance without sacrifice, greed must go, and Depression-era thinking must return in some form. Fairly soon, homelessness will become rampant, and a double-dip recession will turn into a recession and then depression.