Grezia. Erresaka (2)

1 Ikus Grezia. Erresaka: https://www.unibertsitatea.net/blogak/heterodoxia/2015/06/24/grezia-erresaka/.

2 Ikus http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=31345 .

Ingelesez: “… One is led to the most obvious, simple and consistent interpretations of that position – that Syriza is a fractured coalition and those currently in positions of authority (Prime Minister etc) are surrender monkeys who have miscalculated dramatically. But that would tell us that they are so acting with such venality towards their people as to be almost an unbelievable narrative. Looking deeper into the plot doesn’t provide anything consistent, just dead ends and speculation. We are close to finding out though.
(…)
… I pointed out that it was a seemingly inconsistent position it was proposing – to oppose austerity yet stay within the Eurozone, which apparently the majority of Greeks prefer (The incommensurate aims of the Greek people).
It was pointed out to me by those in the know that the plan was consistent because they were calling for massive investment injections from the – European Investment Bank.
(…)
…the so-called ‘progressives’ who think it is fine for Greece to remain in the Eurozone, fundamentally misread the Groupthink that binds the Troika together as a ‘Recession Cult’.
When the Greek government got a modest concession renaming the Troika – the “institutions” – apparently that was a success. It is a Recession Cult and should be thought of as such.
(…)
This is a world of mob rule where basic realities are ignored, this most people think are important that bind societies together like jobs and incomes are disregarded as being unimportant, and plain facts are denied or reinterpreted to become inanities.
(…)
The reaction of the Baltics has been interesting. These are nations which have governments that have devastated their prosperity, forced a significant percentage of their skilled and younger workers out to seek livelihoods in other lands, are beset with old national versus Russian rivals and ethnic divisions, who somehow want to suggest that what they have been through should represent the template for all nations – advanced or otherwise.
When a simple spending boost would resolve most of the problems everywhere these idiot Finance Ministers and other officials, who have not been personally scarred at all by the vicious austerity they have imposed on their people, have the audacity to demand that Greeks should drink the Kool-Aid and impoverish themselves like the Baltic common folk have been impoverished. You couldn’t write about it.
Slovakia – poor country it is, has a government who wants to make it poorer just because the top officials can wine and dine in Brussels with the ‘best of them’. Their moral outrage about Greece has been a sight to behold (and read about).
And then we have Finland, not a Baltic but an austerity maven nonetheless. This is a country that is losing its technological edge because of failed corporate visions and government austerity and is not content with that – it wants to join the race to the bottom of its neighbours – who can hit rock bottom the first.
But it is more than that – it is also a contest as to who can create the lowest trough to hit! Idiocy when simple spending stimulus is all that is needed to get things rolling again.
And meanwhile Germany is acting with contempt for all its neighbours. It helped create this mess and yet it thinks it is justified in wallowing in its socio-pathological ‘inflation angst’, as if that was based in reality anyway.
So when Syriza said it was going to oppose austerity – the simple story is that it was going to pursue that option.
(…)
As late as last week, the Greek Prime Minister wrote to Brussels saying he would accept their dirty, blackmailing deal.
Then we get to the referendum. The former Finance Minister called it a “majestic, big YES to a democratic, rational Europe!” and that the victory of the NO vote meant that “dignity was restored to the people of Greece”.
Syriza Member of Parliament Costas Lapavitsas wrote earlier this week (July 7, 2015) in the article – Syriza’s Next Steps – that:
The Greek people’s rejection of austerity in Sunday’s referendum was an enormous victory.
Be reminded that the NO vote was a “rejection of austerity” and if that was translated into positive policy action then one might conclude that the “dignity was restored to the people of Greece”.
No dignity is restored by the act of ticking a box with OXI next to it and cheering in a city square, if the government of your nation then heads to Brussels and agrees to austerity measures that are worse than the ones it rejected no less than 14 odd days before.
That would amount to a capitulation or surrender to the Recession Cult. That would amount to jettisoning the peoples’ interests.
(…)
EU finance ministers, presidents etc came out on script and said if they vote NO then it was equivalent to voting to leave the Eurozone (it should have been) and the “bridges were being burned”. The last comment came from the German SDP leader. His abandonment of any notion of social democracy is a disgrace.
But come Sunday night in Europe, the threats of exit were gone and Brussels was assembling the bullies to resume business as usual.
Those pitiful Greeks had had their day in the sun, god bless them. They played ‘Democracy’, that curious game that really ends up meaning nothing, for a day and now the Eurogroup had to get back down to work. It was a Monday after all and the markets were getting busy to shuffle some more wealth and so the little Greek game had to stop.
(…)
The ECB started the Troika noose tightening by changing collateral rules relating to the on-going ELA, which is keeping the commercial banks in Greece on a drip-feed while the Government is brought to heel. In threatening to bankrupt the Greece financial system, the ECB is acting wildly outside its charter as a central bank who carries a (legistlated) responsibility to maintain financial stability.
The ECB is a political machine in the Eurozone now and that tells us, if nothing else is taken into account, that the monetary system has failed – categorically and irretrievably under the current institutional structure and leadership.
(…)
That “majestic, big YES to a democratic, rational Europe” was just a great con job all the time to save a few political skins and fuck the people. The little game of play ‘Democracy’ for a day.
(…)
The options were clear:
* Maintain the dignity of the Greek people, respect the democratic sentiment (not only in the referendum but also in the January national election outcome, and reject austerity and tell the Eurogroup to jump.
Next day, exit and restore growth; OR
* Surrender like surrender monkeys, scrap the finance minister who the spivs from the north hated, and sell the Greek people down the drain.
Apparently, there had been planning whereby the Bank of Greece would issue vouchers (in euros) to keep the system afloat while the Greeks defaulted on their debts to the ECB (next tranche to be due) and fought it out with the Eurogroup.
That option was rejected as being “too dangerous”.
So now we know what has transpired. The simple and easily interpreted story is contained in the documents that the Greek government has now submitted for approval.
You can read them – HERE.
(…)
The latest Eurostat figures released this week (July 7, 2015) – Government expenditure accounted for 48.1% of GDP in the EU in 2014 – show that of all the European nations, the cuts in Greek public spending have been the largest between 2013 and 2014.
They have cut their general government spending by 10.7 per cent. Only Slovenia is close at 9.9 per cent cuts and it is a basket case to as a result.
Greece’s public spending is at 49.3 per cent of GDP whereas the Euro area average is 49.0 per cent.
Yet the Recession Cult wants more.
It all looks like surrender to me. There is some consistency in this interpretation. They are so scared of leaving the Euro that anything is acceptable – irrespective of what the people of Greece have on two occasions rejected.
(…)
I continue to study the tea leaves to see if I can find any other less obvious interpretations of what has been going on.”

3 Ikus http://www.ekathimerini.com/199284/article/ekathimerini/news/five-syriza-hardliners-say-prefer-drachma-to-austerity,

4 Ikus https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/tsipras-syriza-greece-euro-debt/.

5 Ikus http://www.ekathimerini.com/199326/article/ekathimerini/news/tsipras-wins-parliaments-support-for-proposals-but-also-suffers-losses.

6 Ikus http://www.ekathimerini.com/199327/article/ekathimerini/news/tsipras-says-he-has-strong-mandate-to-seal-agreement-with-creditors,

7 Ikus Orwell-en Newspeak berria: https://www.unibertsitatea.net/blogak/heterodoxia/2015/07/10/orwell-en-newspeak/.

8 Ikus VIDEOMESSAGGIO DEL PROF. ALAIN PARGUEZ AGLI ATTIVISTI MMT ITALIANI: http://www.retemmt.it/economia/item/400-videomessaggio-del-prof-alain-parguez-agli-attivisti-mmt-italiani; halaber, ikus bideoa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TKtNUojb5M.