Price increases of 20%-50% are not very nice.
I went to the supermarket today and the cheapest pack of 10 eggs, which costed € 1.69 on Friday, is now costing € 2.29. News sites inform us that there are food price increases of 20-50% in German supermarkets in many other products, and this not mentioning the increase in electricity, gas, etc. Of course, increases in fuel cause increases on the transportation cost of food, so it’s all related.
There are already protests against the government in several towns, in Germany, France, Spain, Italy. The current sanctions seem to have affected more Western Europeans than Russians, from the look of it, although I don’t know how things are in Russia right now, and there are other reasons besides the war behind the rising inflation, including the hidden economic cost of all those lockdowns.
Incidentally, today was the first day in months that people didn’t need to use a mask anymore in the supermarkets in Germany, but either because of ignorance or habit, most people were still using them, so it was difficult to see if they were shocked at the price increases.
Meanwhile, some Danish politician said that Europeans need to “help the Ukraine” but taking shorter showers, and afterwards saying “take that, Putin!” I kid you not. Many European politicians are completely out-of-touch, when not actually insane. They live in a bubble and are not affected by the crazy rules that they impose on their own population.
Even though mask mandates and vaccine passports were — for the moment — lifted or reduced in many European countries, including Germany and Italy, they may come back pretty soon. In Quebec, Canada, mask mandates were not even lifted yet (they are supposed to end on April 15) but some politicians are already talking of extending it, due to the “new wave” (how many are there now?). I wonder if with the growth of protests due to price increases, news of a “new variant” will have to be anticipated? After all, social distancing help to stop protests too.
In any case, things seem to be getting harder and harder for the common people, everywhere. Even if this war in Ukraine ends (hopefully soon), and even if the harsh and arbitrary “Covid rules” do not come back (here’s hoping, but I doubt it), the economy is going and will continue to go south. And it hurts most when people’s pockets are hit.
