From AP:LISBON, Portugal – Portugal's disgruntled Facebook generation, inspired by a pop song, marched in a dozen cities Saturday to vent its frustration at grim career prospects amid an acute economic crisis that shows no sign of abating.
Some 30,000 people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, crammed into Lisbon's main downtown avenue, called onto the streets by a social media campaign that harnessed a broad sense of disaffection. Local media reported thousands more attended simultaneous protests at 10 other cities nationwide.
A banner at the front of the Lisbon march said, "Our country is in dire straits." Another said, "We are the future." The Lisbon march was festive and raucous, featuring brass bands, drum combos and small children with balloons. Middle-aged parents also turned out.
Portugal, western Europe's poorest country, is producing the best-qualified generation in its history, thanks to big investments in education.
But after a decade of feeble economic growth and a huge debt burden that has forced the government to enact crippling austerity measures, Portugal's economy can't deliver the opportunities that trained young people are seeking.
The jobless rate stands at a record 11.2 percent, and half the unemployed are under 35. In the third quarter of last year, 68,500 college graduates were idle — a 6.5 percent increase on the same quarter the previous year, according to the National Statistics Institute.
Like Greece and Ireland, other debt-heavy European countries, analysts say Portugal is on the verge of needing an international bailout that would prevent its financial collapse but doom it to more years of recession.....read on
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