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tioned felt the most important prob–
lem the government should act on is
the rising cost of living. Thirty-eight
percent specifically pointed to the
rising cost of food as being the ma–
jor problem. Those polled felt help–
ing the aged was the third biggest
issue facing England today. Fourth
was the problem of housing.
The poli further showed a large
defection from support of the ruling
Conservative Party of Prime Minis–
ter Edward Heatb.
It
is "part of a
country-wide rebellion by Con–
servatives against rising prices."
One question in tbe poli reveals the
política! implications of people's
strong feelings about issues that
negatively affect their standard of
Living. Britons were asked: "Regard–
less of which party you yourself sup–
port , which party do you think will
win the next general election?"
In response, only 25 percent
thought the ruling Conservative
Party would win, while 50 percent
thought the Labour Party would
win. Five percent felt the Liberal
Party would win, and 20 percent
didn' t know. The next general elec–
tion is scheduled for 1975.
Now let 's look at Belgium, head–
quarters of the EEC. Again, the cost
of living heads the list of the major
headaches fac ing Eur opeans .
Housewives find themselves paying
60 Belgian francs for a pound of
butter. That would be more than
$ 1.7 1 per pound in tbe United
States. This is leading many house–
holds to switch to margarine. For
one dozen eggs, a bousewife pays
tbe equivalent of $1.28. A pound of
ground beef costs ber 75 Belgian
fra ncs ($2.14). A 10-gallon tank of
gasoline or petrol costs a wbopping
$ 12. All over Europe, fuel prices are
astronomical.
Outside the European Commu–
nity, the problems are little differ–
ent. lnterestingly, however , the
Swiss tend to see their problem in a
ditferent perspective. Whi le the rate
of inftat ion in Switzerland stood at
8.5 percent in August, the Swiss ac–
cepted it. To tbem, "over–
population " is their primary
PlAIN TRUTH October
1973
concern. Overpopulation to the
Swiss means too many foreigners
working in Switzerland. They want
no more, and they wish many of
them, mainly l talians, would return
borne. In· their view, the foreign
worker
prob~em
intensi fies the
other symptoms of economic illness
facing Europe: an increase in the
cost of living, a shortage of housing
and, generally, inflation. With fewer
foreigners, there would be less in–
flation. So thinks the average Swiss.
In the Netherlands, the possibility
of local drought, sickness in herds
and similar natural disasters are
pointed out by one farmer as being
typical of the insecurities European
farmers face today. His wife's main
concern is the now familiar "rising
prices and the concurrent deprecia–
tion in the value of money."
The average European's concem
is over the issues that immediately
touch his daily li fe. For matters
beyond that sphere, his interest or
concern rapidly ta pers off. On such
seemingly important matters as the
unification of Europe and the role of
the European Communi ty, public
apatby is amazingly widespread.
Over the years, inquiries made as to
what individuals thought of the
Community have drawn little more
than shrugs of the shoulder. For the
most part, the Common Market is
seen by Europeans as something re–
served for the murky realm of poli–
tics and is regarded somewhat
distantly, even suspiciously. Wben,
for example, hundreds of thousands
of tons of the butter all Europeans
paid so dearly to stockpile were re–
cently sold by the Community to the
Russians for less than one fifth the
price Europeans must pay, many
were angry and upset. Beyond such
fleeting concerns, feeling about the
Community is mínima! for the ordi–
nary individual.
One is reminded of the words of
German historian Golo Mano in
The History of Germany (Deutsche
Geschichte)
1919-1945. In the open–
ing chapter titled "Weimar," he
writes: "Under normal conditions,
the citizen has no great concern for
politics, just as a healthy person
t akes his bodily functions fo r
granted. He's aware of them, but
doesn' t bother himself too much
about them; they take care of them–
selves."
What the average European
is
di–
rectly concerned with are the prob–
lems that come borne to roost in his
personal life - especially those
which threaten his own pocketbook.
In that, he is very similar to his
American, Australian and Canadian
counterparts. He's concerned about
the quali ty of life where he lives, but
feels "too small" to do anything
about the big political and economic
problems of the world at large.
He feels or at least hopes that the
people who run bis and other na–
tion's governments have enough
wisdom, concern and common sense
to keep major national and inter–
national problems in check. Yet
today, it's not solely individuals who
are "too small" to cope with the
world's major problems. More and
more, nations themselves are not
big enough to master their own situ–
ations in the world. According to
Golo Ma nn : "In the turmoil of
world events in the 20th century, no
country is totally in control of its
own destiny. This depends on the
world economy, the world's political
situatioo and on the 'spirit of the
age.' Each nation can contribute to
these, but it cannot master them."
The rate of inflation is contrib–
uting to uneasiness in Europe, but it
does not now pose a threat to the
social order. If the GATT (General
Agreement on Trade and Tariffs)
talks wbich opened in Tokyo in Sep–
tember aod if the EEC-U. S. trade
talks and simi lar conferences do not
effectively deal with the current
worldwide economic instability,
present uneasiness could rapidly
turn into open frustration.
If
left uncbecked, open frustration
could develop into international an–
archy. This, the man on the street,
especiaUy in Europe, does not want.
Whether or not the governments of
the free world can master the situ–
ation remains Lo be proved.
O
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