We continue the Meltdown series with part three out of four: Paying the Price, which looks at how the victims of the 2008 financial crash fight back. A protesting singer in Iceland brings down the government; in France a union leader oversees the kidnapping of his bosses; and thousands of families are made homeless in California.
Hordur Torfason, an Icelandic singer, leads the way in holding protests over the country's economy, calling for the resignation of the government and new elections. Geir Haarde, the prime minister of Iceland, was surrounded and pelted by the protestors. Haarde soon resigned and the country's government collapsed.
In France, workers fought back to claim their rights. The Continental Tire factory announced its plant would close by 2010, meaning job losses for its 1,120 employees. Workers occupied offices and trashed the place in protest. Protests spread right across France and Europe.
As the grim toll of the financial crisis continues to mount around the world, many governments are looking for the true causes of the meltdown. In many cases, what they are discovering amounts to a crime.
Incidentally, we want to point out that we incorrectly identified Al Jazeera as the source of these non-fictional accounts. The Arabic media network is just a distributor: the original source is CBC Canada. That said, we are confident the fringier elements will simply resume their calls for some grand propaganda conspiracy only this time they will blame Canada...
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