Social Issues

While austerity still reigns supreme over Greek society, amid resurgent refugee arrivals, still near-record high youth unemployment, record-high suicide rates, and a constant brain-drain exodus of young talent, this weekend saw a brief silver lining as the government decided to scrap the controversial special consumption tax on wine.

The measure, which not only did not meet revenue targets, but actually boosted illegal trade in wine and grapes, will be halted by the end of the year.

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

After a surprisingly brutal showdown in Las Vegas last night between Mixed Martial Arts fighter Conor McGregor and undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, McGregor was quoted as saying that he turned Floyd Mayweather "into a Mexican."

As you might have expected, the social justice crowd immediately pounced into action across the internet.

Words like racism, bigot and stereotype started flying.

While statistics are somewhat sketchy on the topic, most research suggests that the average retirement-age household has managed to set aside roughly $200,000-$250,000 for their golden years.  Unfortunately, they'll need more than that just to cover their healthcare costs.  Per Bloomberg notes today, the average 65-year-old couple will need roughly $275,000 to cover their healthcare costs during retirement...and that's with Medicare.

Via StockBoardAsset.com,

Police in Rome evicted 100s of refugees that had occupied Piazza Independenza just one block from the country’s main train station.

The squatters were defiant so local police used water cannons and batons in the forceful eviction. As Reuters reports,

Some 100 refugees had occupied Piazza Independenza since Saturday, when most of about 800 squatters were evicted from an adjacent office building they had occupied for about five years.

 

Authored by Paul Craig Roberts,

When I read Professor Thomas DiLorenzo’s article, the question that lept to mind was, “How come the South is said to have fought for slavery when the North wasn’t fighting against slavery?”