From Michael Finnegan:

# Could Europe’s Cost-of-Living Crisis Lead to a Revival of Socialism and Communism over the next 10 years?

Across Europe, demonstrations, strikes and public unrest are drawing attention to growing concerns about the cost of living, housing affordability, stagnant wages and declining confidence in political institutions. Rising energy prices, instability in the Middle East, the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine, and the economic consequences of sanctions against Russia have all contributed to uncertainty about Europe’s economic future. If these pressures persist over the coming years, could they fundamentally alter the continent’s political landscape?

Consider the possibility that, over the next five or six years, increasing numbers of Europeans may begin to question whether the existing capitalist economic system can adequately address their needs. If people find that full-time employment no longer guarantees a reasonable standard of living, that home ownership is becoming increasingly unattainable, and that essential goods and services consume a growing proportion of their income, could frustration with the status quo translate into greater support for socialism, communism or other forms of radical economic reform?

History offers several relevant examples. In Russia, widespread poverty, land inequality, industrial unrest, food shortages and dissatisfaction with the autocratic rule of Tsar Nicholas II contributed to the revolutionary upheaval of 1917 and the eventual rise of the Bolsheviks. In China, severe rural poverty, unequal land ownership, social inequality and political instability helped the Chinese Communist Party build support among peasants, eventually contributing to its victory in 1949. In Cuba, corruption, repression and inequality under Fulgencio Batista helped create the conditions for Fidel Castro’s revolutionary movement to overthrow the regime in 1959, followed by Cuba’s transformation into a Communist state.

Although the historical circumstances differed considerably, these examples illustrate how prolonged economic hardship, exploitation and the failure of established institutions to deliver meaningful standard of living can undermine existing political systems. They also demonstrate that revolutionary movements emerge from economic grievances, political exclusion, institutional weakness, military conflict.

Could a comparable violent or revolutionary, political realignment occur in Europe? Might today’s demonstrations be early indications of a broader loss of confidence in the prevailing economic model, rather than merely isolated protests over individual grievances? Could the simultaneous appearance of protests across several European countries encourage people to recognise their economic difficulties as part of a shared structural problem, strengthening cross-border solidarity and support for more radical political alternatives?

Could communism return soon as prophesied at Garabandal in the early 1960s?