Citizens, arise

The euro is dead, but no European pol wants to trigger the unraveling by stating this uncomfortable truth. Therefore, European workers, students and pensioners will be saddled with endless austerity plans to enable the bosses to extend and pretend until eventually the entire Ponzi scheme of bailouts and faux accounting collapses, maybe three, maybe five years from now.

Unless. . . unless the people take matters into their own hands. Demonstrations so far have been rather pro forma, the sorts of rhetorical set pieces with placards that the French and Spanish unions are so good at. But there is a big demonstration coming up in Ireland, of all places, and there are signs it will not be business as usual.

In a by-election in the Republic Thursday, the ruling party was crushed in a race for a once-safe seat with a swing of 30 points.

By comparison, many U.S. states in this month’s Republican sweep saw a swing of less than 10. This suggests a political earthquake.

An uprising at a time of discredited leadership can rattle the ruling elites and unleash a chain reaction. How long will Europeans permit the banker class and its captured multi-state apparatus to impoverish them?

And smug observers from this side of the sea ought to wipe that smile off. Our banks are propped up on artificial life support to no lesser degree, and popular resentment equally seething.