Source: http://worldcrisis.ru/crisis/1819611
Translated by Mikhael
A brief overview of post-election situation in Greece. This is a translation of the Russian version, there is also a published Greek translation
There is a new government in Greece. A left-wing government that has a rather complicated relationship with the “sacred right of private ownership”, particularly when it comes to Greek sovereign debt. In other words, it is leaning towards triggering a full blown debt crisis in the EU (and possibly impacting the entire world). But, as we have been taught back in 2008, a crisis doesn’t just bring problems, it also unveils new opportunities. That’s why it is important to have a more in-depth understanding of Greek politics, in particular to be able to recognize who will benefit from these new opportunities. To be able to analyze the situation correctly, it is necessary to explain one very important point crucial to understanding the events that are unfolding in the EU today.
Debt accumulation was a “reaganomics” instrument used to stimulate consumer demand, first in the USA and then, starting in 1981, across the entire world. In particular, by year 2008, the average household debt in the USA increased more than twofold when compared to 1980 (from 60-65% of available income to over 130%). The situation is a little better in the EU, but in Europe state budgets were used to stimulate consumer demand, resulting in higher national debts. The USA is quickly catching up in that department.
These debts were serviced using refinancing, supported by gradual decrease in borrowing costs (the minimum interest rate set by the Federal Reserve has gone from 19% in 1980 to just about 0% in 2008). Today it is impossible to repay these debts even with zero percent interest rate on refinancing without sharply declining the standard of living for general population. A twofold decline in the EU and the USA would be necessary. But that is unacceptable, which means that these debts need to be somehow liquidated. Either written off or dealt with at the cost of high inflation rates.
I will say this once again: it is impossible to pay off the debt that has been accumulated within the world economy, it simply does not generate financial flows on a scale required for this task. For example, the real average wage in the USA has not changed since 1950’s. All the increased spending happens at the cost of increased household and national debt, and declining savings. This problem must be solved, or it will resolve on its own – through a major economic crisis.
And this problem is already being dealt with. The first experiment was the restructuring of banks in Cyprus. It tested depositors’ reaction to the banks’ refusal to return their funds (or, rather, part of the funds). The experiment was a success – disgruntled depositors have not been able to win a single court case so far. It is possible that some of them were able to settle their claims informally, but such information is not openly available.
However, there is also the problem of national debt, which, in many ways, is a lot more complex as it is no longer about disgruntled ordinary households who can’t really hold the banks responsible, but instead it is going to affect major banks and financial institutions. For this very reason, any actions related to national debt need to be thoroughly planned and tested to avoid any risk. And this is where it would be fitting to recall a phrase from an old comedy: “the most dangerous experiments involve the least valuable members of the crew”.
Note this – when Haider got into Austrian government, Austria was ostracized in EU. A similar reaction could be observed when Jean-Marie Le Pen took part in the final round of presidential elections in France. These were classic right-wing politicians who would be considered mainstream in 1950’s. What about now? Left-wing party wins elections in Greece (with right-wing joining the ruling coalition), but we see no reaction from the EU political establishment, they are silent.
There is also another interesting circumstance. World debt accumulation was made possible by US dollar emission. This emission was supposed to be backed up by new assets, but, since 1990’s, when all former Soviet assets were finally “digested”, nothing new of any considerable value emerged in the world. Therefore, the usual mechanisms of redistribution of the emitted currency no longer work – this is another aspect of falling household incomes in most countries across the world. This brings us to an important question: how can the US be forced to share with the rest of the world?
“Old” elites, who benefited from emission income redistribution for many years, cannot do it – this must be done by new political figures who are currently part of opposition elites. There are minor exceptions such as Hungary. This small (for now?) country in Eastern Europe openly used blackmail when it gave its government control over the central bank. This decision was later revoked, but it is nearly impossible to get the full details of the deal through media resources. Greece has now become the second country in the EU where opposition elites came to power.
I suspect that this particular country will be “the least valuable member of the crew” which will be used to test mechanisms for writing off national debt. Hungary would not be a good choice for this – the government has too much support and its position looks pretty solid. It would be very hard for the EU to force its policies in Hungary.
Let’s reiterate the main point: there is a very high probability that EU leadership wants to use Greece as a “guinea pig” to test national debt write off mechanisms. Greece will get all the “cuts and bruises”, while the rest of the EU will get invaluable experience in minimizing negative consequences of an operation that will eventually have to take place in every country across the world. The main objective of the new Greek government is to get the highest possible compensation for participating in this “experiment”.
I will not be giving advices to the new Greek government – forewarned is forearmed. Especially considering that I do not specialize in politics, I am an economist. But it is necessary to take into account certain developments which might end up being very important. First of all – since opposition elites in the EU will be gaining more and more strength, there is no need to be worried about serious, on the edge of blackmail, confrontation scenarios. They will find their way into world politics one way or another, if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow.
Secondly, it is important to understand that the EU (and the world) does not care about Greek national debt, it just needs to test new mechanisms. And after this task is accomplished, the reaction to future attempts to write off or restructure national debt might be a lot tougher. That’s why the solution must be found on the largest possible scale, no need to run small-scale experiments.
Thirdly, EU leadership will try to control the situation by applying pressure on the government “from below”. In other words – various social protests will be organized whenever it will appear that the new Greek government is not “behaving”. And it must be ready for such developments.
Fourthly, there is just not that much time left. Various market indicators are suggesting that US markets have reached critical points in terms of overheating and a considerable correction is imminent. And if it begins, mostly likely there will no longer be enough time for complex operations.
In conclusion, it can be noted that the new Greek government has some very interesting political tools that doubtfulness should be used to improve the economic situation in the country. But they should be used with utmost caution to get maximum benefits and avoid potential dangers.
* * *
The article was translated into Greek: http://gr.rbth.com/international/2015/02/11/symboyli_pro_ellada_poyliste_to_tomari_sa_akriba_35303.html
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Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Friday, February 27, 2015
Thursday, January 29, 2015
The limits of what can be expected from the SYRIZA government
by Wayne Hall
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.gr/2015/01/syriza-voting-to-join-realm-of-shared_28.html
The above analysis of the politics of SYRIZA and its government does not say anything that is untrue, but it leaves out of account a number of points that are relevant in estimating the political potential of the new Greek government.
For a start, SYRIZA does not touch on any taboo “conspiracy theory” issues, such as 911 and/or the militarization of climate. They have systematically and resolutely refused to engage any of them. They line up with the side of the climate debate that attributes all anomalous “natural” phenomena to “global warming” (of course the other side of that debate is also manipulated).
On Ukraine and Russia there are also limitations to what they can say or do. The senior member of SYRIZA most committed to policies not hostile to Russia, Nadia Valavani, who was foreign policy spokesperson before the election, has now been assigned to economic issues.
Giulietto Chiesa, the journalist and former Europarliamentarian who, I would say, has a “Vineyard of Saker” political orientation http://main.cse-initiative.eu/?p=242 , tried to work with SYRIZA in Greece and its equivalent in Italy but has been, and is, treated like a persona non grata by them. I don’t think there is anything personal about this. It is a reflection of political differences.
SYRIZA has continued the traditional Greek “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” orientation towards the Kurds, which in the new post-ISIS geopolitical environment involves a convenient alignment with American and international policies of border changes at the expense of Turkey. Greek and Turkish geopolitical interest are arguably converging, with the two countries having more potential common interests than diverging interests. Of course this is a complex issue but categories of “left wing” and “right wing”, while not entirely irrelevant, also probably do not have as much importance as is attributed to them by SYRIZA.
On the subject of “empowerment of citizens’ participation”, SYRIZA’s declared politics deserve more rigorous thought than they are getting. “Citizens’ participation” in a context of corporate mass media control is no guarantee of politics that are in the objective interests of citizens. It can be a Trojan horse facilitating imposition of policies by foreign-controlled NGOs. Possible first steps towards dealing with this problem have been put forward and discussed to a very limited extent https://epamaegina.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/independent-citizens-assembly/ but the discussion has not acquired any traction within SYRIZA. SYRIZA’s policies in this area are as vague as they are in other parliamentary parties.
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.gr/2015/01/syriza-voting-to-join-realm-of-shared_28.html
The above analysis of the politics of SYRIZA and its government does not say anything that is untrue, but it leaves out of account a number of points that are relevant in estimating the political potential of the new Greek government.
For a start, SYRIZA does not touch on any taboo “conspiracy theory” issues, such as 911 and/or the militarization of climate. They have systematically and resolutely refused to engage any of them. They line up with the side of the climate debate that attributes all anomalous “natural” phenomena to “global warming” (of course the other side of that debate is also manipulated).
On Ukraine and Russia there are also limitations to what they can say or do. The senior member of SYRIZA most committed to policies not hostile to Russia, Nadia Valavani, who was foreign policy spokesperson before the election, has now been assigned to economic issues.
Giulietto Chiesa, the journalist and former Europarliamentarian who, I would say, has a “Vineyard of Saker” political orientation http://main.cse-initiative.eu/?p=242 , tried to work with SYRIZA in Greece and its equivalent in Italy but has been, and is, treated like a persona non grata by them. I don’t think there is anything personal about this. It is a reflection of political differences.
SYRIZA has continued the traditional Greek “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” orientation towards the Kurds, which in the new post-ISIS geopolitical environment involves a convenient alignment with American and international policies of border changes at the expense of Turkey. Greek and Turkish geopolitical interest are arguably converging, with the two countries having more potential common interests than diverging interests. Of course this is a complex issue but categories of “left wing” and “right wing”, while not entirely irrelevant, also probably do not have as much importance as is attributed to them by SYRIZA.
On the subject of “empowerment of citizens’ participation”, SYRIZA’s declared politics deserve more rigorous thought than they are getting. “Citizens’ participation” in a context of corporate mass media control is no guarantee of politics that are in the objective interests of citizens. It can be a Trojan horse facilitating imposition of policies by foreign-controlled NGOs. Possible first steps towards dealing with this problem have been put forward and discussed to a very limited extent https://epamaegina.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/independent-citizens-assembly/ but the discussion has not acquired any traction within SYRIZA. SYRIZA’s policies in this area are as vague as they are in other parliamentary parties.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Syriza: Voting to join a realm of shared, sustainable prosperity
by Mario
Recap:
In 1971 Bretton Woods failed. The United States implemented a new strategy:
Disregard its twin deficits and act as a gargantuan vacuum cleaner that sucked in the trade surpluses of Germany, Japan and later China, attracting into Wall Street between $3 to $5 billion net on each working day.
Forcing productivity and zero real wage rises created a further daily 5$ billion domestically for corporations.
All this money, in Wall Street banks, created new money with financialisation.
By 2007 for every one dollar issued by the Fed 50 dollars of this bank private money (mainly CDOs) were circulating.
It took a small correction in the housing market to collapse this bubble and we write 2008.
The CDOs became worthless and to save the criminal banks, governments printed trillions of public money. Debt was transferred to the tax payer.
The banking system was not reformed, to the contrary, it kept the freedom to speculate, to short and manipulate the world economy.
Greece:
A common currency, like the Euro, requires monetary and fiscal coordination.
As long as debt, taxes and government expenditure stays national, the weakest members of this monetary union have to run deficits and borrow.
A country which creates surplus (like Germany) needs to invest this surplus in the weaker members, to create employment and development, to maintain their health and their demand for German products. It was never done.
Borrowing was easy and rampant until 2008.
Enter 2008: The European banking system (mainly Germany and France) holds debt from Spain, Italy, Greece and others.
Germany, mainly, could have searched for a sustainable debt relief and repayment, taking into account the debtors ability, instead it instructed austerity and the granting of new and expensive loans to repay ultimately the German banks.
Enter 2015: Expensive $240 billion loans did nothing to help Greece.
25% unemployment (50% unemployed youths), halving of pensions, failing medical and social assistance and being treated as a 2nd class European is the result of the mantra "that debt is a contract and contracts must be honoured" (Lagarde).
The political class failed and Greece could have gone to 'Golden Dawn', the fascists, but it did not, as others in Europe do by taking refuge in nationalistic and xenophobe movements, instead it voted in a modern socialist alternative, based on democracy and solidarity.
Enter Syriza: The Thessaloniki declaration demands:
1. Confronting the humanitarian crisis
2. Restarting the economy and promoting tax justice
3. Regaining employment
4. Transforming the political system to deepen democracy
On (4) the immediate programme is:
Regional organization of the state. Enhancement of transparency, of the economic autonomy and the effective operation of municipalities and regions. We empower the institutions of direct democracy and introduce new ones.
Empowerment of citizens’ democratic participation. Introduction of new institutions, such as people’s legislative initiative, people’s veto and people’s initiative to call a referendum.
Empowerment of the Parliament, curtailment of parliamentary immunity, and repeal of the peculiar legal regime of MPs’ non-prosecution.
Regulation of the radio/television landscape by observing all legal preconditions and adhering to strict financial, tax, and social-security criteria.
Re-establishment of ERT (Public Radio and Television) on a zero basis.
More details on the programme:
http://www.transform-network.net/en/blog/blog-2014/news/detail/Blog/-5ed1064aab.html
Recap:
In 1971 Bretton Woods failed. The United States implemented a new strategy:
Disregard its twin deficits and act as a gargantuan vacuum cleaner that sucked in the trade surpluses of Germany, Japan and later China, attracting into Wall Street between $3 to $5 billion net on each working day.
Forcing productivity and zero real wage rises created a further daily 5$ billion domestically for corporations.
All this money, in Wall Street banks, created new money with financialisation.
By 2007 for every one dollar issued by the Fed 50 dollars of this bank private money (mainly CDOs) were circulating.
It took a small correction in the housing market to collapse this bubble and we write 2008.
The CDOs became worthless and to save the criminal banks, governments printed trillions of public money. Debt was transferred to the tax payer.
The banking system was not reformed, to the contrary, it kept the freedom to speculate, to short and manipulate the world economy.
Greece:
A common currency, like the Euro, requires monetary and fiscal coordination.
As long as debt, taxes and government expenditure stays national, the weakest members of this monetary union have to run deficits and borrow.
A country which creates surplus (like Germany) needs to invest this surplus in the weaker members, to create employment and development, to maintain their health and their demand for German products. It was never done.
Borrowing was easy and rampant until 2008.
Enter 2008: The European banking system (mainly Germany and France) holds debt from Spain, Italy, Greece and others.
Germany, mainly, could have searched for a sustainable debt relief and repayment, taking into account the debtors ability, instead it instructed austerity and the granting of new and expensive loans to repay ultimately the German banks.
Enter 2015: Expensive $240 billion loans did nothing to help Greece.
25% unemployment (50% unemployed youths), halving of pensions, failing medical and social assistance and being treated as a 2nd class European is the result of the mantra "that debt is a contract and contracts must be honoured" (Lagarde).
The political class failed and Greece could have gone to 'Golden Dawn', the fascists, but it did not, as others in Europe do by taking refuge in nationalistic and xenophobe movements, instead it voted in a modern socialist alternative, based on democracy and solidarity.
Enter Syriza: The Thessaloniki declaration demands:
1. Confronting the humanitarian crisis
2. Restarting the economy and promoting tax justice
3. Regaining employment
4. Transforming the political system to deepen democracy
On (4) the immediate programme is:
Regional organization of the state. Enhancement of transparency, of the economic autonomy and the effective operation of municipalities and regions. We empower the institutions of direct democracy and introduce new ones.
Empowerment of citizens’ democratic participation. Introduction of new institutions, such as people’s legislative initiative, people’s veto and people’s initiative to call a referendum.
Empowerment of the Parliament, curtailment of parliamentary immunity, and repeal of the peculiar legal regime of MPs’ non-prosecution.
Regulation of the radio/television landscape by observing all legal preconditions and adhering to strict financial, tax, and social-security criteria.
Re-establishment of ERT (Public Radio and Television) on a zero basis.
More details on the programme:
http://www.transform-network.net/en/blog/blog-2014/news/detail/Blog/-5ed1064aab.html
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Who benefits from the expulsion of a Greek athlete from the Olympics?
Frankly, this is a dumb story. But then, considering how politicized everything "Olympic" really is, it makes me wonder whether there is more to this one that meets the eye.
 |
| Voula Papachristou |
Pretty simple summary: a Greek athlete called Voula Papachristou posted the following joke on her Twitter account:
"So many Africans in Greece at least West Nile mosquitoes will eat homemade food."
I don't know about you, but I cannot say that this is absolutely hilarious. Can't say that I find that offensive either. Am I missing something here?
"So many Africans in Greece". Dunno if that is true, but for the life of me I cannot see what could be considered offensive about this statement either.
"West Nile mosquitoes will eat homemade food." Okay, calling any human "food" is not very respectful but, hey, we *are* food for the mosquitoes. Here were I live, in Florida, tourists even purchase T-shirts with a nasty looking mosquito on it and with the caption "I gave my blood in the Everglades". Human, including Africans, are potential food for many animals, even if we rather not think about it.
So its got to be the "at least" part which suggests that Africans in Greece are a negative phenomenon which is only partially compensated by the fact that "local African" mosquitoes get some homemade food.
Fine, let us assume for a moment that Ms. Papachristou really does not like seeing Africans in her country. So bloody hell what? Its her right to like or not like whatever she wants, no?
Is her "crime" (as in "crimethink" of course) that she actually expressed her displeasure in this tweet? Well, either its a crime and she should be prosecuted or is a lack of "sensitivity" towards those who might find her statement offensive. But she did not get sued, so her only fault, assuming that it was one, was to have shown a lack of humor, a lack of sensitivity, or both.
So, okay, maybe her coaches should remind her that Olympics are a high-visibility international events which includes participants from all over the world and that she, being part of the official Greek team, might show some common sense and not share any of her opinions without thinking about this context.
But no.
Voula Papachristou actually got banned from the Olympics!!
Poor Ms Papachristou could not even get a break by publishing the following snivelling apology:
"I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account. I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights. "My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore, I could never believe in discrimination between human beings and races."
Setting aside the usual misconception about the existence of some "African race" that type of completely over the top apology did not do the trick either: Papachristou is out, no clemency considered.
But the worst part comes now. Its not even the International Olympic Committee which kicked out Ms Papachristou: its the Hellenic Olympic Committee! The Greeks did this one to themselves!
And, sure enough, the notorious Greek Fascist party Golden Dawn had a fit over this and released the following statement:
“The expulsion of an athlete in the wake of backstage political interventions -- simply because of a joke that is going around the Internet -- proves how miserable and anti-Greek our state and the international bodies that use the Olympic ideals as their own are (...) The only racism in Greece is the racism against the Greeks,” (...) “Anybody who says even a word against illegal immigrants is held up to public ridicule... It would be more honest to pass a law condemning everybody who has different views to death by stoning”
Now this is no laughing matter. Why? The current pro-banking coalition government has absolutely no chance of survival, and everybody knows that. It is also very likely that the anti-banking coalition of the radical Left "SYRIZA" will win the next elections. So what do the bankers do? They fan all types of extreme movements inside Greece to turn the anger of the Greek people away from its legitimate target (the international plutocracy) and pitch one community against the other, in this case Greeks versus immigrants.
Unlike SYRIZA, the Fascist Golden Dawn is - like all Fascist parties - more of an ugly joke than a credible force capable of actually administrating a country, nevermind leading it through, and out, of an inevitable crisis. However, just like all the other "official bad guys" parties in Europe, Golden Dawn might be very useful to the bankers to take just enough votes away from SYRIZA to make the difference.
The French author, sociologist, historian and philosopher Alain Soral has devoted a great deal of time to this most interesting topic: how the "system" creates and promotes all kinds of extremist parties and movements with the double aim of a) channeling the people's anger away from itself and the trans-national plutocracy ruling the West, and b) taking away as much of the "protest vote" as possible from any party which might successfully challenge the status quo. And this is exactly the tactic which we see now used in Greece.
Kicking out Ms Papachristou will achieve only one thing: it will give votes to Golden Dawn. Nobody in the IOC forced the hand of the Hellenic Olympic Committee and no African team or country has demanded that Ms Papachristou be kicked out. Frankly, if some oh-so-clever "observers" had not made a huge deal out of nothing, I don't think anybody would have cared.
Cui bono is, as usual, the key question. And, in this case, I think the answer is self-evident.
The Saker
Monday, June 18, 2012
What happened?!
The way I see it the results of the vote in Greece are a huge, tectonic *disaster*.
When I heard of these results, my first thoughts were exactly like Carlo's: "The Greeks are either crazy, or there was severe fraud in the elections".
Indeed, how anybody in their right mind could ever not vote for Syriza and the only person with a clear concept for a solution to the Greek crisis, Alexis Tsipras, is simply beyond me.
I just cannot believe that those who courageously resisted for so long are now just going to surrender.
What happened?
What will happen?
Will there now be a violent uprising?
Any ideas?
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Good news from France, Russia and Greece
Bad day for the Empire, good day for the rest of us.
First, Hollande won the Presidency in France. Or, to put it in a more realistic way, Sarko lost. Which is good, even if Hollande is likely to be as "Sarko light". Sarko was all about rabid turbocapitalism and Zionism, whereas Hollande at least pretends to care about social issues and has declared that he would recognize a Palestinian state. Of course, Hollande will prove at least as sold out to the French Israel lobby as Sarko was, but at least this shows that the French Israel Lobby does not hold power over the French people, but only over the French government. Finally, Sarko out is also good for Europe where Madam Merkel is now alone in trying to impose wealth on the bankers and austerity on everybody else.
The other good news comes from Moscow where the modestly named "March of the Millions" ended up bringing less than 10'000 people out in the streets. And even though the demonstration had been allowed by the authorities, the organizers clearly had to compensate for their lack of numbers by breaking police cordons, beating up TV crews, and getting arrested. Bottom line, the opposition is clearly desperate and using its last whiffs of energy to try to get some "repression" going, mostly for the Western audiences, really, and in particular their generous sponsors (Soros, the CIA, NED, etc.).
Finally, the pro-financier parties in Greece have suffered huge losses at the polls. New Democracy (pseudo-democrats) down from 33% to 20% while PASOK (pseudo-socialists) crashed down from 44% to 14%. These are provisional figures, but the trend is clear.
France, Russia and Greece - three traditionally very anti-capitalist countries (at least culturally, on the grassroots level) have today clearly shown the middle finger to Obama and his Zionist overlords. Oh, I am not so naive as to think that now these countries will peacefully prosper. What happened today is not so much a tectonic shift as a gradual erosion of Anglo-Zionist power. But it might well be that 2012 will mark the beginning of a slow process of European decolonization.
The Saker
Monday, April 9, 2012
Wonderful reaction of Greek anarchists against the corporate media
Egg and yogurt tossing at a reporter on Greek TV:
If the talking heads of ABCBSNBCFOX were treated like that by the general public in the USA the Zioempire would collapse rather fast. But, of course, in the USA such protests would be met with tasers, pepper spray and live fire.
They day we all begin tossing our shoes at politicians and our eggs and yogurt at journalists we will finally see "real change we can believe in".
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
ΧΡΕΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ - DEBTOCRACY
For the first time in Greece a documentary produced by the audience. "Debtocracy" seeks the causes of the debt crisis and proposes solutions, hidden by the government and the dominant media.
Note: the EU commercial at the beginning about "fighting torture together" is really surreal, considering that the EU bosses are doing their utmost to subject the Greek people to the EU's torture.
The Saker
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Another interesting discussion of the crisis in Greece
This time its Bonnie Faulkner on Guns and Butter who interviews Max Keiser. Another excellent discussion you can listen to here:
Enjoy,
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Excellent discussion of the crisis in Greece
George Kenny has recorded yet another most interesting interview, this time with Dr. Richard Wolff. They discuss the economic crisis in Greece, of course, but also the larger implications of the latest manifestation of the crisis of capitalism.
Excellent stuff, I highly recommend it! Check it out here:
More generally, George churns out one interesting interview after another, week after week. Keep an eye on his "Electric Politics"!
The Saker
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Two very different takes on the "Greek crisis" (UPDATED!)
To be very honest, I have not kept a close eye on what has been going on in the EU or, even less so, Greece. I also get a strong feeling that there is a lot of smoke and propaganda around all this. I would like to share with you two very different outlooks on this topic: the analyses of investment banker Marshall Auerback and French economist Franck Biancheri. They are both 'heavyweights' in the field, they both speak very convincingly, and yet they both totally disagree, in particular on what the Greek crisis means for the EU, the UK and, eventually, the USA.
Listen to Biancheri here:
As for Auerback, you can listen to his very interesting interview by George Kenny by visiting the website Electric Politics:
http://www.electricpolitics.com/podcast/2010/05/i_euro.html
If you know of any good articles, audio or video recordings or books which you believe could help me make sense of what is going on in this latest economic crisis, please let me know.
Thanks,
The Saker
UPDATE1: L. just reminded me of these most interesting YouTube videos of Peter Schiff - the chief economic advisor for Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul. Also very interesting!
UPDATE2: another very interesting take on all this: Michael Hudson, Chief Economic Advisor to Dennis Kucinich in 2008, just published "Drop Dead Economics: The Financial Crisis in Greece and the European Union - The Wealthy Won’t Pay Their Taxes, So Labor Must Do So" at GlobalResearch.ca.
Listen to Biancheri here:
As for Auerback, you can listen to his very interesting interview by George Kenny by visiting the website Electric Politics:
http://www.electricpolitics.com/podcast/2010/05/i_euro.html
If you know of any good articles, audio or video recordings or books which you believe could help me make sense of what is going on in this latest economic crisis, please let me know.
Thanks,
The Saker
UPDATE1: L. just reminded me of these most interesting YouTube videos of Peter Schiff - the chief economic advisor for Lew Rockwell and Ron Paul. Also very interesting!
UPDATE2: another very interesting take on all this: Michael Hudson, Chief Economic Advisor to Dennis Kucinich in 2008, just published "Drop Dead Economics: The Financial Crisis in Greece and the European Union - The Wealthy Won’t Pay Their Taxes, So Labor Must Do So" at GlobalResearch.ca.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Euro crisis: Latvia and the PIGS
Down on the Euro Animal Farm, some animals are more equal than others, finds Eric Walberg
Two million people took to the streets of Athens last week in the country's second general strike this month, protesting the austerity measures proposed by their socialist government. All of Greece came to a 24-hour standstill and the airport was closed as a result of the action. The only public transport was the commuter train so that protesters could reach the demonstration.
The crisis broke last autumn after Prime Minister George Papandreous took office and discovered the country was bankrupt. The conservative government had cheated to get into the European Union euro zone in 2001, cooking the books. What on paper -- creative accounting courtesy of Goldman Sachs -- was a budget deficit of 3 per cent and public debt 60 per cent of GDP, by 2009 had ballooned to 13 per cent and 125 per cent.
Initially, the EU tried to finesse the issue, declaring solidarity with Greece. But the financial sharks are sharpening their teeth, smelling blood. Their response to the Greek problem is naturally to rush to profit from it. Greece's "credit rating" has already been lowered, meaning any new bonds will carry a much higher price tag for the government (read: people). That of course makes it all the harder for Greece (read: the people) to actually pay the bankers. And when the country defaults, the EU will be forced to cough up in any case. Win, win for the fat cats. What EU leaders meant by solidarity was not that they were going to pour public money into Greece, as they have been pouring into their banks over the past year and a half, but that they intended to squeeze the money "owed" the banks out of the Greek people, relying on IMF oracles.
The European Parliament, the democratic facade for this, is really just the mouthpiece for the austerity seekers. Chairman of the EP Special Committee on the Economic and Financial Crisis Wolf Klinz has called for a commissar to be sent to make sure the Greeks deliver the required pound of flesh.
But who did the fiddling in the first place? The EU statistics agency Eurostat says that in 2001, Goldman Sachs secretly helped the right-wing Greek government meet EU membership criteria by masking the extent of public deficit and national debt. Once in Euroland, Greek consumers naively snapped up slick German goods and let their own industry atrophy. Now the debt trap is closing.
The traditional way out would be to devalue the drachma, in order to cut imports and stimulate exports, distributing the overall burden of adjustment to the nation as a whole -- rich and poor. But there is no drachma anymore. Bound to the euro, Greece can neither stimulate its domestic market nor export successfully. Poverty appears to be the only solution. Or, at the suggestion of Josef Schlarmann, a senior member of the German Christian Democratic Party, sell off its islands and antiquities -- presumably to rich German bankers. Greeks still resent as their brutal WWII occupiers, and this clumsy faux pas has already set off a campaign to boycott German goods.
Whatever paper is used to cover the cracks, the outlook for Greece -- and the EU -- remains grim, because France and Germany are merely adding to their own liabilities while not reducing Greece’s, and Greece will be quite unable to cut its deficit by the requisite 10 percentage points of GDP.
The very fabric of the European Union is being torn asunder as the rich members turn their backs on the poor. The iron law of capitalism -- the strong protect their own interests at the expense of the weak -- is once again being played out. Squeeze the workers. Communist propaganda, you might say, but unfortunately true.
In an ideal Europe, workers in Germany would come to the aid of workers in Greece by demanding a radical revision of economic policy, making the banks sovereign and the bankers civil servants, building a real social democracy. The reality is quite different. The Greek financial crisis exposes the absence of any real community spirit in the EU. The solidarity declared by EU members is a solidarity of businessmen.
The EU now has an ersatz ideology of internationalism, rejecting the nation state as the source of all evil, cultivating "a pompous pride in Europe as the centre of human rights, giver of moral lessons to the world, which happens to fit in perfectly with its subservience to US imperial foreign policy in the Middle East and beyond," according to Diana Johnstone, author of Fools Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions. In this cosy Euro brotherhood, Greece is portrayed as a picturesque Third World country, living the Aesopian carefree life of the cricket to the Germans' ant. The likes of Portugal, Italy / Ireland, Greece and Spain are affectionately dubbed PIGS, a chilling throwback to Orwell's Animal Farm.
But the storm clouds now gathering are not just over Greece; the entire western world is still very much in fiscal crisis. The investment bank Societe Generale recently published a frightening estimate of the real liabilities of Western governments, including off balance sheet debts. In every case the numbers, including unfunded pension fund liabilities, dwarf the official debt position. Greece is by far the worst because of what Otmar Issing, the German former chief economist of the European Central Bank, described with German tact as “one of the most luxurious pension systems in the world”. Its total net liabilities are 800 per cent of GDP – eight times the official position. For the US , it is 550, the UK 400, Germany 400, France 550, Italy 350 and Spain 250. In other words, the entire western world is insolvent and each country is facing its own day of reckoning – starting, appropriately enough, in Greece, the home of western civilisation.
Who cleans up the mess when bankers play casino capitalism and go broke? Ninety-three per cent of the people of Iceland rejected a proposal requiring them to cover the debt of their oldest and largest bank on 6 March. Covering the debt would have cost Iceland's 317,000 citizens around $17,000 each. Iceland's national referendum was the first (legal) expression of the people's will to decide who pays when the financial elite fail. Greece's (illegal) general strikes were the first truly democratic expression of the people's will. The sharks should take heed. When the oxygen is used up, the water turned into a cesspool, their days are numbered too.
As the working class begins to wake up, it takes a page from its master's book. It must be international. Last week saw a succession of strikes and protests throughout Europe: Lufthansa’s pilots, French air traffic controllers and oil refinery workers, protest rallies in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia against the austerity measures of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party government. Trade unions in the Czech Republic announced that public transport would be halted this week. A one-day general strike of the public sector in Portugal protested measures to cut the deficit to 3 per cent of GDP by 2013. A truly pan-European movement is being born. The Independent's Sean O’Grady predicts such actions “promise to be just the start of the greatest demonstration of public unrest seen on the continent since the revolutionary fervour of 1968.”
The other lesson the workers are learning is that they must throw off their deadwood leadership. The aim of the unions is to regulate social tensions and ensure that they do not pose a threat to big business and the state. British Airways cabin crews were set to strike until their union put strike action "on hold". The German pilots' union, Vereinigung Cockpit, called off the strike at Lufthansa on its first day, as did the General Confederation of Labour in the strike against the oil giant Total in France. In both cases, the unions capitulated without having won any of the workers’ demands.
The most draconian cuts are being imposed by social democratic governments; in particular, the socialists in Greece, Spain and Portugal. In every instance, writes Christ Marsden, "they were elected with the support of the trade union bureaucracies, which have remained their allies as promised reforms have given way to austerity budgets." The general strike in Greece is a sign that the corporate union leadership is being swept into action against the pseudo-socialist government by incensed workers, a portent of what will no doubt come. More communist propaganda, but unfortunately true.
A sad footnote to this is the case of the weakest new members from the ex-socialist bloc. Latvia's 25.5 per cent plunge in GDP over the past two years is already the worst two-year drop on record ever, ahead of the Great Depression, with projections of even greater debt and the need for even great austerity measures, as the government madly continues to pursue the euro will-o'-the-wisp. Yes, the Latvias are indeed corrupt, their post-Soviet elites stole, stripped and sold the shop to Western interests, and then transferred their ill-gotten gains abroad.
But worse yet is the outright theft carried out in broad daylight by Western banks, whose academic friends were hired to write the Latvias' tax codes and who provided easy euro-denominated credit, so when the crunch came, they could move in and take whatever was left. Why invade such countries as Greece or Latvia with armies when you have bankers?
The real significance of the euro is now becoming clear: just as there are no national economies anymore, there is no national solution to the crisis facing workers in Greece, Spain, Portugal or anywhere else. They are forced into a common struggle against global capital. "Workers of the world unite!" never sounded so apt. And a mini-oracle to Goldman, Sachs, Klinz and Issing: Take your next winter holiday in sunny, profligate Greece at your peril.
***
Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ You can reach him at http://ericwalberg.com/
Two million people took to the streets of Athens last week in the country's second general strike this month, protesting the austerity measures proposed by their socialist government. All of Greece came to a 24-hour standstill and the airport was closed as a result of the action. The only public transport was the commuter train so that protesters could reach the demonstration.
The crisis broke last autumn after Prime Minister George Papandreous took office and discovered the country was bankrupt. The conservative government had cheated to get into the European Union euro zone in 2001, cooking the books. What on paper -- creative accounting courtesy of Goldman Sachs -- was a budget deficit of 3 per cent and public debt 60 per cent of GDP, by 2009 had ballooned to 13 per cent and 125 per cent.
Initially, the EU tried to finesse the issue, declaring solidarity with Greece. But the financial sharks are sharpening their teeth, smelling blood. Their response to the Greek problem is naturally to rush to profit from it. Greece's "credit rating" has already been lowered, meaning any new bonds will carry a much higher price tag for the government (read: people). That of course makes it all the harder for Greece (read: the people) to actually pay the bankers. And when the country defaults, the EU will be forced to cough up in any case. Win, win for the fat cats. What EU leaders meant by solidarity was not that they were going to pour public money into Greece, as they have been pouring into their banks over the past year and a half, but that they intended to squeeze the money "owed" the banks out of the Greek people, relying on IMF oracles.
The European Parliament, the democratic facade for this, is really just the mouthpiece for the austerity seekers. Chairman of the EP Special Committee on the Economic and Financial Crisis Wolf Klinz has called for a commissar to be sent to make sure the Greeks deliver the required pound of flesh.
But who did the fiddling in the first place? The EU statistics agency Eurostat says that in 2001, Goldman Sachs secretly helped the right-wing Greek government meet EU membership criteria by masking the extent of public deficit and national debt. Once in Euroland, Greek consumers naively snapped up slick German goods and let their own industry atrophy. Now the debt trap is closing.
The traditional way out would be to devalue the drachma, in order to cut imports and stimulate exports, distributing the overall burden of adjustment to the nation as a whole -- rich and poor. But there is no drachma anymore. Bound to the euro, Greece can neither stimulate its domestic market nor export successfully. Poverty appears to be the only solution. Or, at the suggestion of Josef Schlarmann, a senior member of the German Christian Democratic Party, sell off its islands and antiquities -- presumably to rich German bankers. Greeks still resent as their brutal WWII occupiers, and this clumsy faux pas has already set off a campaign to boycott German goods.
Whatever paper is used to cover the cracks, the outlook for Greece -- and the EU -- remains grim, because France and Germany are merely adding to their own liabilities while not reducing Greece’s, and Greece will be quite unable to cut its deficit by the requisite 10 percentage points of GDP.
The very fabric of the European Union is being torn asunder as the rich members turn their backs on the poor. The iron law of capitalism -- the strong protect their own interests at the expense of the weak -- is once again being played out. Squeeze the workers. Communist propaganda, you might say, but unfortunately true.
In an ideal Europe, workers in Germany would come to the aid of workers in Greece by demanding a radical revision of economic policy, making the banks sovereign and the bankers civil servants, building a real social democracy. The reality is quite different. The Greek financial crisis exposes the absence of any real community spirit in the EU. The solidarity declared by EU members is a solidarity of businessmen.
The EU now has an ersatz ideology of internationalism, rejecting the nation state as the source of all evil, cultivating "a pompous pride in Europe as the centre of human rights, giver of moral lessons to the world, which happens to fit in perfectly with its subservience to US imperial foreign policy in the Middle East and beyond," according to Diana Johnstone, author of Fools Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions. In this cosy Euro brotherhood, Greece is portrayed as a picturesque Third World country, living the Aesopian carefree life of the cricket to the Germans' ant. The likes of Portugal, Italy / Ireland, Greece and Spain are affectionately dubbed PIGS, a chilling throwback to Orwell's Animal Farm.
But the storm clouds now gathering are not just over Greece; the entire western world is still very much in fiscal crisis. The investment bank Societe Generale recently published a frightening estimate of the real liabilities of Western governments, including off balance sheet debts. In every case the numbers, including unfunded pension fund liabilities, dwarf the official debt position. Greece is by far the worst because of what Otmar Issing, the German former chief economist of the European Central Bank, described with German tact as “one of the most luxurious pension systems in the world”. Its total net liabilities are 800 per cent of GDP – eight times the official position. For the US , it is 550, the UK 400, Germany 400, France 550, Italy 350 and Spain 250. In other words, the entire western world is insolvent and each country is facing its own day of reckoning – starting, appropriately enough, in Greece, the home of western civilisation.
Who cleans up the mess when bankers play casino capitalism and go broke? Ninety-three per cent of the people of Iceland rejected a proposal requiring them to cover the debt of their oldest and largest bank on 6 March. Covering the debt would have cost Iceland's 317,000 citizens around $17,000 each. Iceland's national referendum was the first (legal) expression of the people's will to decide who pays when the financial elite fail. Greece's (illegal) general strikes were the first truly democratic expression of the people's will. The sharks should take heed. When the oxygen is used up, the water turned into a cesspool, their days are numbered too.
As the working class begins to wake up, it takes a page from its master's book. It must be international. Last week saw a succession of strikes and protests throughout Europe: Lufthansa’s pilots, French air traffic controllers and oil refinery workers, protest rallies in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia against the austerity measures of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party government. Trade unions in the Czech Republic announced that public transport would be halted this week. A one-day general strike of the public sector in Portugal protested measures to cut the deficit to 3 per cent of GDP by 2013. A truly pan-European movement is being born. The Independent's Sean O’Grady predicts such actions “promise to be just the start of the greatest demonstration of public unrest seen on the continent since the revolutionary fervour of 1968.”
The other lesson the workers are learning is that they must throw off their deadwood leadership. The aim of the unions is to regulate social tensions and ensure that they do not pose a threat to big business and the state. British Airways cabin crews were set to strike until their union put strike action "on hold". The German pilots' union, Vereinigung Cockpit, called off the strike at Lufthansa on its first day, as did the General Confederation of Labour in the strike against the oil giant Total in France. In both cases, the unions capitulated without having won any of the workers’ demands.
The most draconian cuts are being imposed by social democratic governments; in particular, the socialists in Greece, Spain and Portugal. In every instance, writes Christ Marsden, "they were elected with the support of the trade union bureaucracies, which have remained their allies as promised reforms have given way to austerity budgets." The general strike in Greece is a sign that the corporate union leadership is being swept into action against the pseudo-socialist government by incensed workers, a portent of what will no doubt come. More communist propaganda, but unfortunately true.
A sad footnote to this is the case of the weakest new members from the ex-socialist bloc. Latvia's 25.5 per cent plunge in GDP over the past two years is already the worst two-year drop on record ever, ahead of the Great Depression, with projections of even greater debt and the need for even great austerity measures, as the government madly continues to pursue the euro will-o'-the-wisp. Yes, the Latvias are indeed corrupt, their post-Soviet elites stole, stripped and sold the shop to Western interests, and then transferred their ill-gotten gains abroad.
But worse yet is the outright theft carried out in broad daylight by Western banks, whose academic friends were hired to write the Latvias' tax codes and who provided easy euro-denominated credit, so when the crunch came, they could move in and take whatever was left. Why invade such countries as Greece or Latvia with armies when you have bankers?
The real significance of the euro is now becoming clear: just as there are no national economies anymore, there is no national solution to the crisis facing workers in Greece, Spain, Portugal or anywhere else. They are forced into a common struggle against global capital. "Workers of the world unite!" never sounded so apt. And a mini-oracle to Goldman, Sachs, Klinz and Issing: Take your next winter holiday in sunny, profligate Greece at your peril.
***
Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ You can reach him at http://ericwalberg.com/
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
The Saker interviews 'anticapitalista' in Greece about the demonstrations this week
Dear friends,
Here is the transcript of an interview via IRC which I made this morning with 'anticapitalista', the author of the article "Days of Rage" which I posted yesterday:
-------
The Saker: Hi again Anticapitalista: - can you update us on what happened this week?
Anticapitalista: Yes. On Monday school students started to occupy their schools and university students had mass meetings to do the same
The Saker: what was the reaction from the state?
Anticapitalista: Not a lot really. The government is hoping the anger will subside
The Saker: so the police is not evicting the students or teargassing the demonstrators? is that not interpreted as a sign of weakness in the press?
Anticapitalista: The police are not allowed to enter the University so they cannot evict the students. The police have been teargassing the demonstrations (they actually ran out of tear gas last week and announced they were waiting for more from Germany and Israel)
The Saker: can the cops enter the schools (non-universites)? I understand middle-schools are also involved...
Anticapitalista: The hard-right and the police want the state to be used more, but the government seems to want to 'weather the storm'
Anticapitalista: The cops can enter high schools, but they tend not to. Instead the authoritees encourage 'concerned citizens' to smash up the sit-ins
The Saker: how is the media and, in particular, the TV covering all this and has the "official" (State) Church in Greece reacted to the events?
Anticapitalista: The media is united in condemning the 'riots', but at the same time has talked about the social problems that led to the riots in the first place. The 'society in crisis' type response.
Anticapitalista: The Church is using the same argument. Morals have declined, family values have broken and there is no respect. Typical right-wing stuff really
Anticapitalista: The media only really shows the trouble. It very rarely shows the demonstrations
The Saker: what about the unions? are there still powerful unions in Greece or have they been crushed by the right-wing "consensus" of the Bush era?
Anticapitalista: The unions are still powerful. Last Thursday saw a General Strike against the budget proposals, but it also linked the issue of the police murder. There is a strike tomorrow by teachers (over the murder) and hospital workers (against privatisation).
Anticapitalista: Public sector workers, port workers have also been on strike recently
The Saker: is there a central union (coordinating) committee which can decree a national strike like the "paro national" in Argentina or a "greve generale" in France which really paralyzes the entire nation. Can the unions bring down the government?
Anticapitalista: There are 2 union federations. GSEE which organises the private sector and ADEDY which organises public sector workers. Last week's strike was a joint one. In theory the unions are powerful enough to paralyse the country and bring down the government, but the leadership of the federations are unwilling to do so for political reasons.
The Saker: What kind of reasons?
Anticapitalista: Many of the leaders support the socialist party PASOK and the PASOK 'line' is that the government will fall by its own accord.
Anticapitalista: Those union leaders influenced by the KKE are 'worried' that PASOK will win the election and so there won't be any difference.
The Saker: KKE?
Anticapitalista: The Greek Communist Party.
The Saker: Have there been any demonstrations of support in the rest of Europe this week (as had been the case last week)?
Anticapitalista: I haven't heard of any demonstrations yet, but tomorrow is a day of action against the murder and some groups have called for international solidarity also for Saturday. Many messages of support have come to the Law School in Athens (where the main co-ordination takes place)from all over the world.
The Saker: What is your sense of the potential of these demonstrations? How firm is the resolve of the protesters? Is there any chance at all that these demonstrations might be a spark which could spread to the rest of NATO-occupied Europe?
Anticapitalista: The potential to bring down the government is huge. The protesters, especially students, are determined to make the government pay. The slogans are not just against the police and police violence, but against the government itself, with many demanding the resignation of Karamanlis the Prime Minister and /or calling on the government to resign.
Anticapitalista: We know that events in Greece are being watched carefully all over the world, but especially in Europe, not just from those at the bottom of society, but also from those in power. They are scared that the same may happen in their own countries. The economic crisis and social discontent can easily spill into open defiance. If we win here, it will give a message to others that they can do the same.
The Saker: Last question: Hezbollah is planning a mass demonstration against the Israeli crimes in Gaza. Are the European leftists and students going to support this or are they only busy with their own, comparatively smaller, issues? Is there a sense among students that they are fighting the same USraelien empire as the Resistance is Lebanon, or is the traditional anti-religious bigotry of the left still an obstacle to the understanding of Hezbollah's importance in the world-wide resistance to the Empire?
The Saker: note: Hezbollah is planning the demonstration for this Friday.
Anticapitalista: A week before the 'riots' broke out, there was an All Balkans Peace Conference held in Athens with participants from Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and from Hezbollah! This conference was an initiative set up by the Stop the War Coalition in Greece to build for the anti-NATO demonstrations to take place next April in Strasburg. '60 years of NATO...
Anticapitalista: ...is enough" being the main slogan.
Anticapitalista: The anti-war movement is strong here and there were large demonstrations in support of Hezbollah 2 years ago during the war with Israel. Many young people participated. The issue of Palestine is known too and workers and students regularly demonstrate in solidarity. Anti-imperialism is very powerful here and so is solidarity with those oppressed whether they be Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghans,...
Anticapitalista: ...Kurds in Turkey etc etc
The Saker: Hopefully this Friday will be a day of solidarity and resistance in Europe and in the Middle-East!
Here is the transcript of an interview via IRC which I made this morning with 'anticapitalista', the author of the article "Days of Rage" which I posted yesterday:
-------
The Saker: Hi again Anticapitalista: - can you update us on what happened this week?
Anticapitalista: Yes. On Monday school students started to occupy their schools and university students had mass meetings to do the same
The Saker: what was the reaction from the state?
Anticapitalista: Not a lot really. The government is hoping the anger will subside
The Saker: so the police is not evicting the students or teargassing the demonstrators? is that not interpreted as a sign of weakness in the press?
Anticapitalista: The police are not allowed to enter the University so they cannot evict the students. The police have been teargassing the demonstrations (they actually ran out of tear gas last week and announced they were waiting for more from Germany and Israel)
The Saker: can the cops enter the schools (non-universites)? I understand middle-schools are also involved...
Anticapitalista: The hard-right and the police want the state to be used more, but the government seems to want to 'weather the storm'
Anticapitalista: The cops can enter high schools, but they tend not to. Instead the authoritees encourage 'concerned citizens' to smash up the sit-ins
The Saker: how is the media and, in particular, the TV covering all this and has the "official" (State) Church in Greece reacted to the events?
Anticapitalista: The media is united in condemning the 'riots', but at the same time has talked about the social problems that led to the riots in the first place. The 'society in crisis' type response.
Anticapitalista: The Church is using the same argument. Morals have declined, family values have broken and there is no respect. Typical right-wing stuff really
Anticapitalista: The media only really shows the trouble. It very rarely shows the demonstrations
The Saker: what about the unions? are there still powerful unions in Greece or have they been crushed by the right-wing "consensus" of the Bush era?
Anticapitalista: The unions are still powerful. Last Thursday saw a General Strike against the budget proposals, but it also linked the issue of the police murder. There is a strike tomorrow by teachers (over the murder) and hospital workers (against privatisation).
Anticapitalista: Public sector workers, port workers have also been on strike recently
The Saker: is there a central union (coordinating) committee which can decree a national strike like the "paro national" in Argentina or a "greve generale" in France which really paralyzes the entire nation. Can the unions bring down the government?
Anticapitalista: There are 2 union federations. GSEE which organises the private sector and ADEDY which organises public sector workers. Last week's strike was a joint one. In theory the unions are powerful enough to paralyse the country and bring down the government, but the leadership of the federations are unwilling to do so for political reasons.
The Saker: What kind of reasons?
Anticapitalista: Many of the leaders support the socialist party PASOK and the PASOK 'line' is that the government will fall by its own accord.
Anticapitalista: Those union leaders influenced by the KKE are 'worried' that PASOK will win the election and so there won't be any difference.
The Saker: KKE?
Anticapitalista: The Greek Communist Party.
The Saker: Have there been any demonstrations of support in the rest of Europe this week (as had been the case last week)?
Anticapitalista: I haven't heard of any demonstrations yet, but tomorrow is a day of action against the murder and some groups have called for international solidarity also for Saturday. Many messages of support have come to the Law School in Athens (where the main co-ordination takes place)from all over the world.
The Saker: What is your sense of the potential of these demonstrations? How firm is the resolve of the protesters? Is there any chance at all that these demonstrations might be a spark which could spread to the rest of NATO-occupied Europe?
Anticapitalista: The potential to bring down the government is huge. The protesters, especially students, are determined to make the government pay. The slogans are not just against the police and police violence, but against the government itself, with many demanding the resignation of Karamanlis the Prime Minister and /or calling on the government to resign.
Anticapitalista: We know that events in Greece are being watched carefully all over the world, but especially in Europe, not just from those at the bottom of society, but also from those in power. They are scared that the same may happen in their own countries. The economic crisis and social discontent can easily spill into open defiance. If we win here, it will give a message to others that they can do the same.
The Saker: Last question: Hezbollah is planning a mass demonstration against the Israeli crimes in Gaza. Are the European leftists and students going to support this or are they only busy with their own, comparatively smaller, issues? Is there a sense among students that they are fighting the same USraelien empire as the Resistance is Lebanon, or is the traditional anti-religious bigotry of the left still an obstacle to the understanding of Hezbollah's importance in the world-wide resistance to the Empire?
The Saker: note: Hezbollah is planning the demonstration for this Friday.
Anticapitalista: A week before the 'riots' broke out, there was an All Balkans Peace Conference held in Athens with participants from Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and from Hezbollah! This conference was an initiative set up by the Stop the War Coalition in Greece to build for the anti-NATO demonstrations to take place next April in Strasburg. '60 years of NATO...
Anticapitalista: ...is enough" being the main slogan.
Anticapitalista: The anti-war movement is strong here and there were large demonstrations in support of Hezbollah 2 years ago during the war with Israel. Many young people participated. The issue of Palestine is known too and workers and students regularly demonstrate in solidarity. Anti-imperialism is very powerful here and so is solidarity with those oppressed whether they be Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghans,...
Anticapitalista: ...Kurds in Turkey etc etc
The Saker: Hopefully this Friday will be a day of solidarity and resistance in Europe and in the Middle-East!
Days of Rage
by 'Anticapitalista' reporting from Thessaloniki for the Vineyard
The murder of 15 year old schoolboy, Alexis Grigoropoulos by a police special guard on the evening of Saturday, 6 December saw a huge explosion of rage across the whole of Greece leading to 8 days of riots, looting, attacks on police stations, mass demonstrations, student occupations and strikes all over the country with at least 400 people being detained (the vast majority school students) and 70 injured.
This cold-blooded murder of a schoolboy has provoked rage among workers and students already angry at the government's neoliberal economic policies.
Immediate protests broke out as news spread. The police attacked the demonstrators and people smashed up the centre of Athens late on Saturday night.
While much of the international media has focussed on the riots, they have virtually ignored the mass movement sweeping Greece's streets and workplaces. This has successfully targeted anger against the government.
Large demonstrations took place across the country on Sunday calling for the resignation of the interior minister and punishment for the police involved.
There was a mass walkout by school students all over the country on Monday morning. They then protested outside local police stations.
The atmosphere was very similar to that of March 2003 when tens of thousands of young people spontaneously walked out of schools to demonstrate against war in Iraq.
The anger has spread throughout the population. Over 40,000 people joined a demonstration in Athens on Monday evening against the killing, and a similar number in Thessaloniki.
The government had a clear strategy – to use the police to break up demonstrations, leaving people to riot. It shut down colleges and schools in an attempt to stop people coming together to organise.
The police attacked Monday night's demonstration with teargas, and smoke and percussion grenades, forcing people to disperse.
Large groups of young people then engaged in a running battle with the authorities.
The government was hoping that public opinion would harden against the rioters and the situation would calm down. But workers and students have taken the lead in turning up the heat on the government.
There were stoppages in local authorities on Monday as workers attended mass meetings, which voted for resolutions supporting the young people against the police.
The teachers' unions in primary and high schools struck on Tuesday of this week, the day of Alexandros's funeral, so that students could attend the funeral. The lecturers' union called a three-day strike.
Wednesday saw a 24 hour General Strike that linked the issue of workers grievances with that of the murder. More clashes with the police followed.
From Thursday onwards, the 'riots' quietened down and more organised forms of protest came to the fore. Students have occupied University departments and High Schools. There are demonstrations every day, often twice a day.
The anger hasn't subsided. It is simply finding a more organised expression.
Clearly, youth and students are the main force in these protests, and nobody is surprised by this.
Youth unemployment is very high, and the average pay for young workers without qualifications is less than 500 euros a month. Jobs are mundane, with long hours and very insecure and in many cases the bosses don't pay insurance contributions to the state.
University graduates don't fare much better with high unemployment and poor pay and working conditions. University students are under great pressure to 'collect pieces of paper' (qualifications) ranging from at least one foreign language, computer skills etc. This is not free.
For the last 2 years, University students have been at the forefront of the struggle against the government's plans to privatise higher education.
Workers are also angry with the government. The average salary is about 800 euros a month at a time when prices have rocketed. Workers are feeling very insecure, factory closures are commonplace.
This is a very explosive mix for the unpopular government. It has been rocked by a series of scandals – two ministers were forced to resign earlier this year over their roles in land deals between the state and a wealthy monastery.
A year ago the government called a snap election as it faced a wave of student occupations against its education plans. It won a small majority and thought this would get it out of its mess.
But now the government is in even worse trouble than before. The police officers responsible for Alexandros's killing have been arrested and the government has said that they will be punished. But their first response was an attempt to cover up the killing.
The police claimed they had been attacked and then fired a warning shot that ricocheted, hitting Alexandros. But there were too many witnesses who have said it was a direct shot. The government had to move against the police in an attempt to calm the anger.
Things are collapsing at the top of society, while people on the ground are in fighting mood.
One thing is certain. This government is finished. The question is when and how will it fall?
The murder of 15 year old schoolboy, Alexis Grigoropoulos by a police special guard on the evening of Saturday, 6 December saw a huge explosion of rage across the whole of Greece leading to 8 days of riots, looting, attacks on police stations, mass demonstrations, student occupations and strikes all over the country with at least 400 people being detained (the vast majority school students) and 70 injured.
This cold-blooded murder of a schoolboy has provoked rage among workers and students already angry at the government's neoliberal economic policies.
Immediate protests broke out as news spread. The police attacked the demonstrators and people smashed up the centre of Athens late on Saturday night.
While much of the international media has focussed on the riots, they have virtually ignored the mass movement sweeping Greece's streets and workplaces. This has successfully targeted anger against the government.
Large demonstrations took place across the country on Sunday calling for the resignation of the interior minister and punishment for the police involved.There was a mass walkout by school students all over the country on Monday morning. They then protested outside local police stations.
The atmosphere was very similar to that of March 2003 when tens of thousands of young people spontaneously walked out of schools to demonstrate against war in Iraq.
The anger has spread throughout the population. Over 40,000 people joined a demonstration in Athens on Monday evening against the killing, and a similar number in Thessaloniki.
The government had a clear strategy – to use the police to break up demonstrations, leaving people to riot. It shut down colleges and schools in an attempt to stop people coming together to organise.
The police attacked Monday night's demonstration with teargas, and smoke and percussion grenades, forcing people to disperse.
Large groups of young people then engaged in a running battle with the authorities.
The government was hoping that public opinion would harden against the rioters and the situation would calm down. But workers and students have taken the lead in turning up the heat on the government.
There were stoppages in local authorities on Monday as workers attended mass meetings, which voted for resolutions supporting the young people against the police.
The teachers' unions in primary and high schools struck on Tuesday of this week, the day of Alexandros's funeral, so that students could attend the funeral. The lecturers' union called a three-day strike.
Wednesday saw a 24 hour General Strike that linked the issue of workers grievances with that of the murder. More clashes with the police followed.
From Thursday onwards, the 'riots' quietened down and more organised forms of protest came to the fore. Students have occupied University departments and High Schools. There are demonstrations every day, often twice a day.
The anger hasn't subsided. It is simply finding a more organised expression.
Clearly, youth and students are the main force in these protests, and nobody is surprised by this.
Youth unemployment is very high, and the average pay for young workers without qualifications is less than 500 euros a month. Jobs are mundane, with long hours and very insecure and in many cases the bosses don't pay insurance contributions to the state.
University graduates don't fare much better with high unemployment and poor pay and working conditions. University students are under great pressure to 'collect pieces of paper' (qualifications) ranging from at least one foreign language, computer skills etc. This is not free.
For the last 2 years, University students have been at the forefront of the struggle against the government's plans to privatise higher education.
Workers are also angry with the government. The average salary is about 800 euros a month at a time when prices have rocketed. Workers are feeling very insecure, factory closures are commonplace.
This is a very explosive mix for the unpopular government. It has been rocked by a series of scandals – two ministers were forced to resign earlier this year over their roles in land deals between the state and a wealthy monastery.
A year ago the government called a snap election as it faced a wave of student occupations against its education plans. It won a small majority and thought this would get it out of its mess.
But now the government is in even worse trouble than before. The police officers responsible for Alexandros's killing have been arrested and the government has said that they will be punished. But their first response was an attempt to cover up the killing.
The police claimed they had been attacked and then fired a warning shot that ricocheted, hitting Alexandros. But there were too many witnesses who have said it was a direct shot. The government had to move against the police in an attempt to calm the anger.
Things are collapsing at the top of society, while people on the ground are in fighting mood.
One thing is certain. This government is finished. The question is when and how will it fall?
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