"Workers
hit by lower living standards and record high unemployment staged May Day
protests across Europe on Wednesday, hoping to persuade their governments of
the case for easing austerity measures and boosting growth." Reads the
first paragraph of the online article by Reuters titled: "Thousands rally against European austerity on May
Day", which claims to be the largest European May Day rally ever. Almost
all progressive media and some other international instruments have publicized
these events. Of course, major US media (even some progressive ones) have been
quite about it!
The history of
International Workers' Day (May Day) was published in this blog last year. A
detailed account of International Workers' Day can also be found on Wikipedia, starting
with: "International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago." It should be emphesized
that May Day has been attached to “Political Left” by most Western governments.
Instead, first Monday of September is celebrated as Labor Day, in most of these
countries.
Cutting social benefits has been a priority for all US presidents
since Reagan. From the beginning of this century and with the empowerment of the
neo-cons, this process has been expedited precipitously, while everyone is kept
in a shock (see "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein, for a detailed and a historical
view of the process). Today’s worldwide demonstration may be a wakeup call! US
government, as the military superpower of the world, has increasingly been
leaning towards the Right, regardless of the political party (of the two) has been
in power. Dismantling banking regulations, most notably Glass-Steagall Act,
signing NAFTA, creating a new generation of poor through Welfare reform act and
many other cuts in social services were major victories for the Right, signed
by a Democrat president- Clinton. Expansion of present wars and initiation of
new wars, using targeted attacks, increasing military budget, expanding
military ambitions of the US globally, continuation of illegal arrests,
tortures, and detention of foreign nationals (and in some cases US nationals),
and violation of civil liberties are just a few highlights of Obama’s reign,
again a Democrat.
However, the significance of this year's ‘Day of Labor’ is more
pronounced by the rapid increase in unemployment rates, worldwide (as a result
of the austerity measures and economic globalization). Child labor, human trafficking,
new-age slavery, abolition of labor unions and many other anti- labor- organization
measures result in widening the economic and political gap between the so
called 99% and governments (supporting the 1%), all over the world. Exponential
increase in global poverty, as a result of Western governments’ centuries of
exploitation of inhabitants of the nations with rich natural resources, brings
a larger crowd in major streets of those nations, today.
One
of the largest factors separating so called "developed" from
"developing" nations has been economic factors; such as widening the disparity
between the rich and the poor, resulting overwhelming increase in sustenance insecurity
among the poor. Cuts in social programs and benefits have been in rapid rise in
the past seven years in "developed" countries, moving them closer to
"developing" nations’ standards.
As cutting social benefits are
termed "sequester" in the US, the rate of wealth, or accumulated
money by the rich multiplicities, at the same amplified rate of poverty and
hunger. World Bank and International Monetary Fund (major economical levers US
government utilizes to keep neo-colonial nations under control) has been
expanded to European nations recently, titled "austerity". These
economic measures, which rapidly reduce social welfare, not mentioning people’s
investment for future (such as Social
Security and Medicare) are creating a new wave of underprivileged in Western
countries, for the first time since the New Deal (US) and WWII (Europe). Of
course, those at the bottom of the social structures, such as
"illegal" immigrants and racial minorities would be effected initially
and foremost. A recent blog by Chelsea Badeau titled "Why Doesn’t Everyone in America Have a ‘Place at the Table?’" discloses a troubling fact that in the US (the prosperous nation in
the world) 49 million people don't know how they would get their next meal.
May
1st provides an opportunity for many activists to demand their rights. May Day
articles in progressive media around the world testify to this fact. Headlines
such as the followings: "Building a True People's Movement- May Day and
the Failure of the Immigrant Rights Movement" by AJAMU BARAKA (Counterpunch.org); "After unsafe Factory kills 400 in Bangladesh, on May Day workers Demand
Rights" (Informed Comment); "Class War and Labor’s Declining Share" (Monthly Review); "Immigrant Rights Groups, Labor, Occupy Plan May Day Protests" (The Nation);"May Day Keeps Militarized Police in the News" (Antiwar); "Truthdiggers of the Week: The May Day Occupiers" (Truthdig).
