Europe lives in quarantine, but wants to save its economy. And then it became clear that she could not do without cheap labor. What does it mean?
If today you read the European press (not to mention America), then one of the main discussions in it is how to defeat the coronavirus, but at the same time let the economy “breathe”, because only state aid will not save it.
If you ask, it will become clear that cheap labor is waiting for the fields in Germany, Ireland, Poland and so on. This situation affects several fundamental things.
Firstly, the division of the labor economy is effective when everything is fine – when the world is more or less open, that is, in the context of growing globalization. And when there is a crisis like today, many immediately recall autarky, which they used to laugh out loud at.
For example, the Soviet system was isolated from the world, but viable enough to survive on its own. And today’s China, which is deeply integrated into world trade, and Europe, which, it turns out, cannot do without imported labor, are systemically vulnerable.
Secondly, the situation with the lack of seasonal workers in the EU countries confirms the principles of Western imperialism: there is a rich center, which should become even richer, and a poor periphery, the essence of which is the enrichment of the center.
And most importantly, vassals will never become masters. Yes, a democratic facade can be created, but in reality Poland or Romania, Lithuania or Hungary were and will remain second-rate states in the eyes of France and Germany in the political, economic and psychological sense.
Of course, in this case, we can recall that Poland, for example, receives great support from the EU. However, this only means that a slave working “at home” can be better fed and dressed better (including because it is part of the image of the owners), and modern slaves working in the “field”, for example, Ukrainians, are just a resource, about whose fate you can not particularly worry: there will not be this, there will be another.
Here Italy can be apologized for the ill-treatment, as the President of the European Commission did, because Italy is on one level. And the salvation of other drowning people is first of all the business of themselves. And what is even more interesting, if, for example, the Germans look down at the Poles, then the latter look at the Ukrainians, who, in their opinion, should work on Polish fields. In other words, the classical hierarchy in the “royal court”.
Perhaps that is why today in Europe there is a paradoxical situation – most of the local economy is quarantined, there should be a lot of free labor, and it should cling to any employment opportunity. But she, if she is allowed to let in even foreigners under quarantine, does not want this, because “this is not the business of the gentlemen.” And even the Pole will go to work only in Germany, because they pay more and stay at home with unemployment benefits, because “let the slaves from the East suffer,” who should still be glad that they are allowed to work for the European gentleman.