The disenchantment of Europe

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We are accustomed to speak of the crisis. To look to the future with concern. To see how the european leaders are trying to summit after summit, to overcome the situation.

Germany and France are leading a new fiscal union. The United kingdom has strayed from the rest. They are the heart of Europe, the strongholds.

This report is a portrait of those who resist

We wonder if their citizens have the same doubts as us. We’ve traveled to London, Paris and Berlin , to listen to them. The disenchantment of the europeans is the fear to subside a model of well-being and consumption that they believed eternal. That’s why this story could only be a kaleidoscope, a set of faces and voices of the three capitals.

The banker

John is a banker. What we find in a situation surprising: in a discussion with the outraged of London. We wonder why the crisis began, why the banks gave mortgages with a risk as high. Responds that the aim was “noble”: to lend money to those who had no other way of purchasing a home. You wonder why the Uk is committed to protect the City, a place with dyes of tax haven. Responds that the financial sector employs 300,000 people. They ask her why she charges more than a teacher. And you don’t know what the answer is: “I don’t know, but it is so long, isn’t it?”. Perhaps, raise the indignados, something is wrong if a teacher who educates our children is paid less than an investor who speculates with our money.

The change

James worked in the financial sector until in 2008 the bubble burst, and lost his job. Then she decided to change her life. Became a window cleaner. We find it in the “bank of ideas”, a bank of London occupied by the indignados. He says that the time has come to “stop complaining and take action”.

The future stopped

Patrick is a laborer and within a few weeks is going to lose his job. What we find in the outskirts of Paris, driving to and from work. Is your daily route from 18 years ago. Now your factory is going to close, and he wonders why his company removes thousands of jobs in France, while creating many thousands of jobs in India or China.

The money in the bottle

The financial economy has grown much more than the real economy

Bernard is an economist and believes that the economy is very easy to understand. We met him at his Paris home. We put an example: if now buried a bottle with money in your garden and go back for it within a few years, the money will not be multiplied. As much, they have eaten the mice. And yet that is not what has happened in the last few years: the financial economy has grown much more than the real economy. If someone you have a headache is, perhaps, because something has not worked well.

The resistance

Brigitte is a lawyer and has spent all his life fighting for human rights. To be found in La Défense, the largest financial center of France. Defends the indignation of Paris against the police, just to evict them.

This report is a portrait of those who resist. Do not forget that Europe remains a world privileged in comparison with others. Simply, we wanted to give a voice to those who protest, those who doubt, to those who attempt to the crisis is an opportunity to find a model that is more just and more sustainable.

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Cristina Olea