France unrest, a prologue of the future of Western Europe.

 EXPLOSIVE SOCIAL UNREST SIMMERING IN MUCH OF WESTERN EUROPE

IMMIGRATION, INFLATION, SHORTAGES AND UNEMPLOYMENT

The riots in France, blamed on the shooting of youth by police, may just be the beginning of social crisis in Europe. There are long simmering problems that are very likely to get much worse very soon. The middle east wars and the EU immigration policies have introduced millions of new immigrants into the continent. In many of these countries they really have no jobs available to put these people to work. In Germany for instance many of the new immigrants are being warehoused in public housing and paid a monthly support, but with high inflation and shortages of many items, it is all unsustainable in the long run. This coupled with high social spending, high energy prices, there is an escalating unemployment crisis brewing and the economy has now officially entered a recession.

At the same time most of these countries have an increased call to increase defense spending, often needing to be purchased from sources outside the country. With energy prices often rising by up to 400% many businesses are non longer viable and there is no remedy on the horizon. The stage is being set for historic upheaval in the future.

The Ukraine conflict and sanctions have brought many of these simmering issues to the forefront. It is likely that Europe will never regain access to low priced energy from Russia. The unrest will eventually dampen the tourist business in many of these countries. This combination does not look good for the economic prosperity of the region. It will again put pressure on the availability of the expected social spending that has been the norm in the past decades, this will add more social unrest.

Eventually there will be an end to the Ukraine conflict and it will usher in a new crisis in Ukraine. Massive inflows of money will quickly dry up, this coupled with an impoverished nation awash in modern weapons, will be another dangerous ingredient to the situation. This past week, in France, we  saw many videos of full auto weapons in the possession of rioters. One can only imagine the source of many of these weapons.. While small arms have always been available, handheld anti-aircraft and anti tank weapons are now readily becoming available on the black market. 

Western Europe may be running out of time to address the problems that have been building for decades. It is not unimaginable as these economies decline to see unrest not seen for over 70 years in the region.