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A Bunch Of Criminals

Tyler Durden's picture




 

By Raul Ilargi Meijer of The Automatic Earth

Bunch Of Criminals!

I was going to start out saying Thursday was the saddest day in Europe in 50 years, or something like that, because of the insane and completely nonsensical largesse the ECB permits itself to launch, aimed at once again saving a banking system, but which will not only not help the European people, it will make things even much worse than they already are.

I’ve said many times that the EU in its present form should be dismantled tomorrow morning (even though it’s not the same tomorrow morning anymore), and if Draghi’s $1.1 million x million ‘stimulus’ should make anything clear, it’s that the dismantling gets more urgent by the day.

But calling it the saddest day in Europe in 50 years would show far too little respect for the people who died in former Yugoslavia, and in eastern Ukraine. It’s still a very sad day, though. And I was already thinking about that even before I read Theopi Skarlatos’ article for the BBC; that really made me want to cry.

When you read about female doctors(!) feeling forced to prostitute themselves to feed their children, about the number of miscarriages doubling, and about the overall sense of helplessness and destitution among the Greek population, especially the young, who see no way of even starting to build a family, then I can only say: Brussels is a bunch of criminals. And Draghi’s QE announcement is a criminal act. It’s a good thing the bond-buying doesn’t start until March, and that it’s on a monthly basis: that means it can still be stopped.

I’ll get back to Skarlatos’ story in a minute. First the insanity of the ECB QE itself. The problem with Europe’s economy, what drives it into high unemployment and deflation, is that people are not spending. If QE would really be aimed at reviving the economy, or at battling deflation, it would need to assume that people will start borrowing on a massive scale just because Draghi buys bonds – and soon perhaps even stocks – from bankers. There simply is no logic in that. The stated goals, pro-growth and anti-deflation, are not true. It’s a sleight of hand.

In order to achieve the stated goals, money would have to reach the real economy. As it stands, the best Draghi can do is to ‘hope’ it will. That’s not enough by a mile. This is not about doubts over its effectiveness, that’s baloney, we know it’s not effective when it comes to the stated goals. It will still leave Europe with no growth, and deeper deflation, and now €1.1 trillion deeper in debt. While banks can grow their reserves.

And it’s not as if Draghi doesn’t understand. Draghi is Goldman. And neither is it as if this is the only option. Steve Keen’s modern version of a debt jubilee, in which money is given directly to the people, under the condition that they first use it to pay off debt if they have any, would be much more effective. But it would be far less profitable for the banks, and that’s why it’s not considered. China yesterday announced a third option: they will effectively raise salaries of government workers by 60%.

Not that I’m terribly in favor of that kind of plan; I think any stimulus plan in our time should focus on reorganizing economies in such a way that jobs are created. That must mean moving away from centralization, and the return of production of essentials to communities and societies themselves, instead of emphasizing the ‘benefit’ of hauling goods halfway across the world, or an entire continent. It’s incredibly stupid that for instance most of our furniture and clothing is made in China.

We can produce those things at home, and give people jobs doing it. And China can focus on its domestic market too. And we can swap gadgets and other sheer luxuries, but not food or tables or shirts. Because we need to make those ourselves to keep our people employed.

Back to QE, or Draghi’s big swindle. I think Simon Jenkins at the Guardian had as good a go at it this morning as anyone:

QE For The Eurozone Is A Gigantic Confidence Trick. It Should Fool No One

 

The former BBC economic pundit Stephanie Flanders told the world it was “Santa Claus time”; the ECB has ridden to the rescue. No it has not.

 

Europe’s great and good, partying on the slopes of Davos, are blinded by snow and celebrities. Santa Claus gives presents to people; the ECB gives presents to its banks. It is merely tipping large sums of money into the vaults of precisely the institutions whose crazy lending caused the crash of 2008, and which have been failing Europe’s economy ever since. There is absolutely no requirement on these banks to release this money into private or commercial bank accounts.

 

Given the fear of over-lending that regulators have struck into bank bosses since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the money will simply build up reserves. That is exactly what has happened to quantitative easing in Britain since 2010: there has been no surge in bank lending, except into property investment. Quantitative easing is a gigantic confidence trick.

 

It was promised that it would yield new investment. It has not. It was promised that it would “pump money into the economy”. It has not. It was also feared that printing money would lead to hyper-inflation. It has not, for the simple reason that no one gets to spend the money. It is a bookkeeping transaction between a central bank and a commercial bank. It means nothing as long as banks are told to build up their reserves. Money in circulation matters. The whole of Europe, including Britain, is chronically short of demand, which is why deflation is such a menace.

 

If no one can afford to buy anything, no one will sell anything or invest money in making anything. The chronic imbalance between northern and southern states of the eurozone, previously ameliorated by selective devaluation, has bound poor and rich countries alike in a rictus of cash starvation. Collapsing demand drives down prices and profits; there is nothing for banks to invest in. The Chinese are laughing. Greece and some other Mediterranean economies are facing poverty not seen in half a century.

 

A return to normal growth means they must declare themselves bankrupt, restructure past debts, leave the eurozone and devalue. Don’t bury money in their banks. Bury it in their wallet. The eurozone may still look great from the top of a Swiss mountain; it looks terrible from the foot of the Acropolis.

I also liked ADMISI’s Marc Ostwald’s take right after Draghi did the announcement, courtesy of Tyler Durden:

Risk sharing is very limited, with national central banks taking 80% of the risk on sovereign bond purchases, and rather un-reassuring was Draghi’s comment that “most national central banks have adequate buffers to absorb a negative event” – most being how many.

 

Not good news for Greece, while it and Cyprus will be eligible for purchases of govt under a ‘waiver’ for (bail-out) ‘programme countries’, the ECB already has a very high volume of Greek bonds on it balance sheet from the SMP programme, and given a limit on total holdings for each sovereign issuer, it will not be eligible for purchases until it redeems debt in July and August.

 

It should be added that Italy and Spain and other bail-out countries will implicitly also have a lower available volume of total purchases, until SMP holdings are redeemed.

Draghi is going the save German banks, not weaker eurozone nations. Their banks maybe.

BUT perhaps the key aspect relates to the limits on the 25% limit on purchases of a single issue, which ensures that the ECB adheres to the ECJ’s ruling about the ECB ensuring that is does not interfere with “price formation”. So here’s the key aspect, there are some $12.0 trillion of FX reserves in the world, of which roughly a quarter are held in Euros.

 

Operating on the traditional metric that roughly half of those will be invested in Govt Bills and Bonds, this means that FX reserve managers will have to be involved in the process of establishing prices for whatever is purchased under the Govt bond QE programme. Eminently anything that is sold by central banks will not find its way into the private financial sector, therefore that €60 billion figure may often overstate what is being injected into the market.

 

Last but not least, the expanded programme does not start until March 15, so “Mr Market” now has a very long waiting period to sit on holdings of EUR debt before selling to the ECB, and with plenty of event risk in the world, starting with the Greek election, and an imminent Ukrainian default. Sort this under an uncomfortably long period before the QE ‘party’ gets started.

And in case you’re still wondering whether QE works and/or how effective it is, this graph also comes from Durden:

And that doesn’t even yet include stock markets and bank reserves at the Fed. What is obvious is that the Fed’s QE3 has been a mind-boggling failure for the American people, and a smashing success for the Davos crowd.

What’s wrong in Europe is not just Draghi, it’s the entire EU. If you join into a union with other nations, you can’t let some of them sink into despair, and worse, while others sit pretty. And I know the answer from Brussels will be that what is needed is a stronger and closer union, fiscal, political, but I think that if you already let your fellow union members plunge this deep into misery in the early stages of a union, a country like Greece would be out of its mind if not outright suicidal to sign on to a closer union. Northern Europe survives by sucking the lifeblood out of the South. It’s a really simple story that nobody will tell you.

Let’s return to Theopi Skarlatos for the BBC. This is heart rendering. How can the people of Germany, Holland, France, ever have let it get this far? What could possibly be their excuse? That their media never informed them? You have the most pervasive media in history, and you didn’t know? What are you going to do? Blame the lazy Greeks? Who need to ‘reform’ their societies?

Greece was not nearly this poor before it joined the EU. And we’ve seen above that Draghi’s QE won’t do anything to relieve their misery, nothing at all. If you’re going to spend 1.1 million times a million euros, shouldn’t that go towards doing something for Greece, instead of a group of banks and their shareholders?

Love In A Time Of Crisis In Greece

 

As Greeks prepare to vote in Sunday’s general election, anti-austerity party Syriza is ahead in the polls and campaigning under the slogan, “Hope is on its way”. The average wage has fallen to €600 (£450: $690) a month; half of all young people are unemployed and the economy is barely emerging from six years of recession. But Greeks remain determined to maintain their hold on normality. “We don’t have much else,” they say, “we may as well enjoy our freddo cappuccinos.”

 

But despite the drinking, flirting and dating, since the onset of financial disaster, a fundamental change has taken place in Greek society. Deejay Tommy paints a sad picture of young Greeks waking up every day without a job. “Things have lost a little bit of their romanticism,” he says. “The crisis has forced love to become a secondary priority. There are other things to worry about. I see many women looking for someone who will have money to take them out, who’ll take them on holidays. I see this quite a lot and it saddens me.”

 

Down the road along the shoreline, the Bouzoukia clubs ring with live renditions of popular Greek love songs. Crowds sipping on vodka throw the singers red carnations and sing along to lyrics of heartbreak and pain. “We save up to come once every few months and we look forward to it,” says Katerina Fotopoulou, 30, at a table with her friends. “We don’t have the money to do much any more. We’re always talking about future plans, going on holiday, but no-one ever does anything.” Living at home, Katerina describes herself as an adult forced to live as a teenager, her life put on hold.

 

Compared with other Europeans, Greeks are still fairly traditional. For many young women, it is awkward bringing a boyfriend through the front door to meet the parents. And that poses a problem, considering the high numbers unable to afford a place of their own. “Relationships are complicated these days,” says Katerina. “No-one is even thinking about getting married or having children.”

 

Indeed, Greece’s population is shrinking at an increasing pace according to data released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (Elstat). Since Greece first signed its EU-IMF bailout agreement the number of births has declined rapidly. In 2010 there were 114,766 live births, and by 2013 that number had declined by almost 20,000 (94,134). Obstetrician Leonidas Papadopoulos says miscarriages at the Leto maternity hospital have doubled over the past year. “Maybe it’s down to stress,” he says. “There is no proof, but you can see it in the eyes of the people, there is stress and fear for the future.”

 

He describes how a woman he had been treating with IVF came to him one day crying because she was pregnant. She had lost her job and demanded an abortion. But he felt he could not perform the procedure. “Soon,” says Dr Papadopoulos, “the population will be halved and there won’t be any young people to work and pay for the pensions of the elderly. All the social problems will rise up in front of us.”

 

Some who have children and are struggling to support them have turned to sex work, to put food on the table. Further north, in Larissa, Soula Alevridou, who owns a legal brothel, says the number of married women coming to her looking for work has doubled in the last five years. “They plead and plead but as a legal brothel we cannot employ married women,” she says. “It’s illegal. So eventually they end up as prostitutes on the streets.”

 

A doctor, Georgia, explains how she also works as an escort in the sex industry to support her family. Her private clinic currently treats three patients a week, but the peak summer season in the sex industry enables her to keep up with the rental payments on her family’s home and the healthcare bills for her elderly parents. “I live a double life and only I can know about it,” she says. “I have applied for jobs in medicine abroad and wait every day in hope of a reply.”

 

For journalist Elini Lazarou, having a baby was not something she was prepared to put on hold while waiting for a change in the political or economic climate. “Love in the time of crisis can function as a painkiller, with which someone can forget the problems they’re facing, or as a source from which someone can draw strength, energy and optimism,” she says.

 

On a wall in downtown Athens, a simple message is daubed that reads “Love or nothing”. It strikes a defiant tone amid the blighted lives hidden behind pure economics.

And against that backdrop Brussels and Frankfurt ‘heroically’ decide to prop up the banks with another €1.1 trillion. They should be dragged before judges, but what they do is presently legal (guess who makes the laws). So it’s up to the people of not just Greece in this weekend’s election, but to everyone who lives in the European Union. It’s up to the Dutch and the Germans and the Finns to end this monstrosity.

The troika is creating third world nations within the EU, and you guys are just sitting there watching them do it, and hoping that more money for your banks will mean your own petty little lives will be secure and safe, while Greek doctors are forced to prostitute themselves.

Please Syriza, please Tsipras, win the elections and fight this bunch of criminals. And please all of Europe, get up from your couches and refuse for this to be committed in your name. If not, you’re accomplices, whether anyone calls you on it or not. Shame on you, you’re a disgrace to mankind.

 

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Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:27 | 5699536 Panic Mode
Panic Mode's picture

These Brussel retard politicians do whatever it take to secure their jobs, even that means to screw any European country.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:32 | 5699544 franciscopendergrass
franciscopendergrass's picture

Greece is just an excuse for the banksters to enrich themselves.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:48 | 5699540 franciscopendergrass
franciscopendergrass's picture

Greece has both the problems of a 3rd world nation and develop nation.  Like in most EU countries,  they have regulations up the ying yang, high taxes, and the firing of employees is difficult.  In addition, they offer social programs they cant afford (making changes to those programs will cause riots).  They also have third world issues like debt denominated in a currency not native to its own country (Euros)  They do not have the luxury of printing money as many 3rd world nations do.  As a result they inflate away debt and have some freedom from foreign cental bank controlling them.  Greek debt and currency is controlled by the ECB.  Their economy has mandates from Brussels which Greeks cannot possibly live up to.  This is kinda like the IMF loaning money to 3rd world nations in dollars and asking for dollars in repayment.   The IMF  (which is basically the US) dictates policy and props up puppet govts in thise countries.  I dont advocate deficit spending because im a libertarian but Greece needs to get out of the Euro and handle things their own way.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:35 | 5699550 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.  The bankers, financiers and ultimately the politicians have been getting free money (QE and ZIRP) for six fucking years and have been buying up the world's best assets growing their wealth and power.  They have not  been investing in people and innovation to really improve the economy, even though this was what they said they would do.

But, the serfs around the world still accept their bullshit paper and in the E.Z. the the ECB just said they will given even more money to these fuck.  Does anyone really think that at this point they are going to indict themselves?

Good luck with that.  My advice, start locally, very much make your local representatives aware that you are paying attention.  All economies are really local anyway.  For me the big question is how long before states in America stop sending tax dollars and resources back to D.C.?   Greece hasn't sent shit to Brussels, so in many respects this is not that improbable. 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:42 | 5699672 holdbuysell
holdbuysell's picture

Spot on, LOP.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:49 | 5699698 Eahudimac
Eahudimac's picture

I wish the states would stand up to DC, but that would mean going up against the squid, or whatever you want to call it. The cabal that runs the world has its tentacles in the states too. No one has the balls, or better yet, an effective means to stand up to them. We need an organized revolution, but with the NSA and other government goons watching every keystroke, it would never get off the ground. Detaching yourself as much as possible from the system is probably the best we can do for now. Hell, it is still taboo to talk about the truth of 9/11, despite all of the evidence that it was carried out by these same cabal assholes within the Israeli and US governments. If people are not ready to look at the truth of 9/11, they are not ready to stand up to their oppressors. Short of a miracle, shit is going to have to get a lot worse before it will get better. 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:46 | 5699826 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

Real resources are finite and the Squid cannot control that.  Once the entire planet becomes Mexico City what good will that be to the squid.  Please, change is the only constant, period.  Sure, the squid might try and squeeze the local politico but "laws" that cannot be enforced really don't amount to shit.  All my city and county commisioners as well as all the local law enforcement I know want to live, just like us.  Be patient and persistent, the bought and paid for criminals always end up self-identifying though their support of legislation that cannot be enforced.  Of course things in general will get worse, that's entropy and stupid fucking humans thinking they can grow in numbers indefinitely and exponentially.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:28 | 5700170 rejected
rejected's picture

States lost their sovereignty with the 17th amendment. They lost their ability to fight when the Feds replaced their militia with its standing army reserves and they lost their ability to secede after the uncivil war which replaced a voluntary union with a forced unequal federation with the national government.... supreme.

Today States are nothing more than an arm of the national government. To expect them or their domesticated citizens to do anything is like pissing in the wind.

What we see is what happens when a lazy inept and selfish People stop participating in a government of the People, for the People and by the People.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 14:03 | 5699879 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

LOP, Indeed, these people have carried out a Coup from the top down. They are beyond reality, beyond empathy. In their world, more money and more power are all they care about. To make mankind into serfs and slaves is their only motivation now. We either fight back soon, or they will win it all.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:29 | 5700174 rejected
rejected's picture

+100

You are correct as usual. We are going to have to someday bite the bullet for our civil duty transgressions.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:36 | 5699558 Stained Class
Stained Class's picture

Raul, I share your views, but lamenting that Greece is left out of the ECB's gifting program doesn't make sense, if as you say, money never reaches the people.

The ECB is starving the bloated beast in power there; they are actually helping the citizens of Greece. But as usual, the ECB has no idea of what they are doing. 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:37 | 5699567 LawsofPhysics
LawsofPhysics's picture

Interesting, okay then, which side of the coming civil war do you think the Red Shield will fund then?  Do tell...

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 21:50 | 5700961 Stained Class
Stained Class's picture

I don't think there will be a civil war in Greece. I think they are ahead of the learning curve when it comes to a cash-based economy, through tourism and restaurants etc. Greeks are already starving the bloated beast by not paying taxes and utility bills. I think the people who are going to have a tough time are the people who are on the government's payroll. If the government can't get (moar) money out of the ECB, then why be in the EuroUnion? The decision is being made by Draghi & Merkel, not Greece. Tsipras won't be seen as the baddy here, Bepe Grillo I hope you are taking notes...

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:37 | 5699566 hotrod
hotrod's picture

Hope they win.  The bankers lure of easy money and Euro security led many astray.  Greece should have remained seperate as a vacation tourist area and exporter of olive oil.

You will have to start over but just leave.  Greece will be happier.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:40 | 5699570 TrulyStupid
TrulyStupid's picture

Great post...the human side of QE or the concentration of wealth in the hands of the most ruthless sociopaths.

Coming next.. Greece defaults,leaves Eurozone, attempts to join Russia/Chinese trade zone, stymied by a fascist coup a la Ukraine.

Victory for the West... serfdom for the Greeks.

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:46 | 5699578 wmbz
wmbz's picture

No politicain is going to seriously "stand up" to a CB. They may take a few swips at them but nothing serious. They would be "dealt" with if they ever got to carried away at bashing banksters. They don't take kindly to folks messing with their scheme.

A trip and fall nail gun accicdent, one step to far off the balcony, mysterious push from a helicopter etc....

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:57 | 5699605 hotrod
hotrod's picture

Then we all need to begin saying NO.  No more borrowing, No more loans.  I will live on what I can make.  Money originators should not have power over your life.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:15 | 5699750 franciscopendergrass
franciscopendergrass's picture

Hotrod.  You are crazy.  You wanna know how i know you are crazy?  

BECAUSE YOU MAKE TOO MUCH SENSE.

Ive got coworkers who are tens of thousand dollars in debt who have failed to make payments on mortgages and yet are able to buy the latest iShit.  WTF.  The banksters have won and it will be left for the responsible, moral person to bail everyone else out.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 18:20 | 5700478 lotsoffun
lotsoffun's picture

chinoslims is correct.  the bums will be allowed to borrow and buy anything for almost forever.  in the between, the people working and trying to save money and be responsible will be whipped brutally and have their saving stolen, to pay for the shit that the bums are using.  when the responsible people are finally broke - the squid will stop, because there will not be anything else left to steal.  then, we will start to kill each other for basic needs.

that's the plan, it's working very well.  in the end, they will own everything.

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 17:48 | 5700377 hotrod
hotrod's picture

The entire loan creation is out of control.  I have too much on a credit card right now and am trying to pay it off.  During My last coversation with Chase they asked if I needed more credit because they noted I was not using the CARD much anymore.  UNREAL.  My  credit limit is $14,000 which is more than enough to have unless you are a big spender.

I have noted the numbers of special interest people who lost homes to foreclosure.  The Colombian or Hispanic immigrant with a cleaning job that cobbled together $20,000 for a down payment on a $400,000 home in New England.  WTF.  There are tons of storys like this.

 

Do you think a College Education for EVERY CHILD, Like a Home for every person is about LOVE or Fairness.  NO it is about  LOANS, the money multi-plier PONZI.  They love pinning $40,000 on the back of every graduate at 6-7% which starts when they are in school.  It is about the LOANS, keeping the PONI Alive.  Subprime for CARS NOW   keep the PONZI Alive.  The world is loaned out,

How much can we LOAN Greece and suck out every ounce of labor off their backs because we get them to buy off on HAVE IT NOW.  It is almost like ENTRAPMENT.  I realize people should be smarter but everyone else does it and I must keep up.  This mentality has been cultivated by the banks.  The question is  HOW BIG A LOAN CAN I AFFORD.  That is crazy.

I have told my kids  NO LOANS.  Figure out a way to SAVE AND PAY.  The DARN LOANS have gotten the entire world in trouble.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:44 | 5699581 Doom and Dust
Doom and Dust's picture

Whining Greek fuckers make me sick. They were a third world country before the euro. They cooked the books to join it, allowed the Squid to front run the manufactured 'euro crisis' and let the Trojan horse of American vulture finance ride into the eurozone. So yeah these failed state morons should leave the euro, or we should kick them out and let the Turks handle their sorry loser asses.

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:56 | 5699602 hotrod
hotrod's picture

I think Goldman Sachs orchestrated their membership

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 18:16 | 5700468 lotsoffun
lotsoffun's picture

i know that goldman sachs orchestrated greek eu membership - and anybody else would if they looked through the press.  goldman is so powerful, they have nothing to hide.  like their former head, jon corzine. 

or in street - 'what you gonna do about it bitch?'

nothing.  nobody can.

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:23 | 5699633 newdamage
newdamage's picture

Nice chap.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:26 | 5699642 Joe A
Joe A's picture

You must be a Northern European and as a Northern European I am repulsed by your comment. Yes, the Greek made a mess of their country but Germany profited enormously from the Euro and from Euros they loaned out to the South. These came back with interest and functioned as an export subsidy. And when it all turned sour in 2009 instead of applying true capitalism, the German banks that were heavely exposed in the South got a bailout. Yes, THEY got a bailout. Only 10% of the 2 'bailouts' of 250 billion euro that Greece received flowed into the Greek society. The rest flowed back to banks in Germany and other countries. Greece needs to pay back these bailout, with interest. On top of that structural adjustment programs and austerity were imposed on them killing SME, putting millions out of a job and killed off pensions and salaries. You see, rogue capitalism (to which the Squid belongs) takes no prisoners. German banks knew of the mess in the South but nevertheless deciced to invest cause they knew they would be bailed out. The EU knew that Greece 'cooked the books' with the help of the Squid but still allowed them in. So who is guilty then?

If you think the Squid and its henchmen won't do the same to Northern Europe then you are very very mistaken. It is happening now because the ECB's QE will bail out banks and not Europeans. It will do nothing to boost growth. Only the growth of banks who will say "thank you and fuck you" and the QE money will not flow into Europe's main street economy.

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:29 | 5699762 darteaus
darteaus's picture

And why were the Greeks borrowing and not lending? They spend too much money! STOP THE SPENDING! 29% of the "workfarce" "works" for the government. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/0426/Greece-starts-firing-civ...

I agree with your comments regarding bank bailouts, but Greece is the easily foreseeable outcome of unbridled increase of government employees, regulations and taxes, i.e. Detroit.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 15:04 | 5700008 Joe A
Joe A's picture

Can't argue with that. Like i said, they made a mess of their country

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:59 | 5699726 Niall Of The Ni...
Niall Of The Nine Hostages's picture

Which Greeks? The Athenian doctors selling their bodies to keep body and soul together? Or the kleptocrats who sold their country to the Germans and are partying in Davos on the proceeds? The tax money rich Greeks refused to pay Athens went a long way towards propping up the Swiss franc.

Trust me, when your nation's parasites are ready to cash out, don't think this won't happen to you or that anybody in a position to do a damn thing to help will give a flying franc what your wife and daughter have to do to keep from starving to death.

 

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 11:55 | 5699604 capltd
capltd's picture

Greece won't leave the EU (or better said, won't be allowed to leave the EU) because if Greece leaves, Putin wins.  Putin threw Greece a bone with a promise of the gas pipeline.  The EU countered with the promise of QE.  The EU doesn't want QE but the promise of QE forced the Swiss out of supporting the euro so it can drop and gave the pro-EU Greeks a reason to stay in the EU.  This is all that matters at this time, that's why the announcement of QE was made but QE implementation was delayed until March.  I don't believe there is any intention of EU QE.  Instead the QE promise will still be a bullet kept in the EU chamber as they have had all along, to be used again and again.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:11 | 5699615 Bangalore Torpedo
Bangalore Torpedo's picture

Syriza is ahead in the polls and campaigning under the slogan, “Hope is on its way”.  Ah yes, now it the time for a little Hope and Change.  Well Greece, we already know how that turns out.  Trusting in yeat another politician will get you nowhere.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:12 | 5699619 Inthemix96
Inthemix96's picture

Thanks to the lies we were all taught as kids, our own futures are much the same as the Greeks.  These supranational swines want us all 'In the same boat', without an oar between us.

That last paragraph hit home Raul, it only reinforces what I say here, that there is no political solution to the unsurmountable problems we face.  Syriza will do nothing, and in your heart of hearts you know this.  UKIP will do nothing my friend, as in my heart of hearts I know such is true.  We are co-opted, we are bought out, we are ruled and nothing bar outright violence will resolve the problems we face.  It pains me writing this, it really does, as one of the most vitriolic posters on ZH, every now and then you have to stand back and just look at the scale of what we have allowed collectively in our names.  Thats why I type what I type, it gains a reaction that nothing else will.

I dont just feel sorry for the Greeks, as the average bloke and woman had no say in just how fucked up this system of the 'Davos Few' would become.  I feel ashamed that we couldnt see this coming, well not all of us obviously.

I can only post this here and give folks heart, that not everyone will sit back and subsume what these monsters want.  Just in the job I do to put bread on the table I know the anger that is felt out there, it is a seething just under the surface anger that anything could ignight.  Not all folk know how this came to be, but most if not all I meet on a day to day basis are seething against the machine, and thanks to the web, people are coming to the same conclusion we all did some time ago.

I'm sorry if I've fucked any of you very good folk off with I've written here, but the anger has to be seen to be heard doesnt it?

And to my Greek friends, you are not alone, the time will come when these fucking parasites on the face of humanity are no more, the child abuse problem in all our countries should eventually see to that, I hope.  ;-)

Anyhow, best of luck my friends.

;-)

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:27 | 5699640 Bangalore Torpedo
Bangalore Torpedo's picture

Bravo I-96.  The same can be stated of the US, but we have a more insidious form of rot that will end in complte catastrophe.  All states have their welfare programs, but here we have the largest welfare program in the history of mankind.  When the camel's back is broken, the US will be consumed by fire.  And as for the thin-skinned whiners on ZH, they can go screw for all I care!  They don't deserve an apology.  Cheers!

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:14 | 5699752 Eahudimac
Eahudimac's picture

Mix, I always look forward to your posts. I 100% agree with you. Here in the US, the trigger would be an attempt at gun confiscation. Civil war would ensue. I don't think they need to go there to achieve their one world government. We are so spied upon that any attempt to organize would end in a 6:00 AM raid by a swat team. I think shit will have to get so bad for the average Joe that death will not seem like a bad option. Then maybe we can get on with what needs to be done. I know, I don't sound like butterflies and rainbows and all of that bullshit, but look at Greece. Where is the outrage? People might not like their situation, but no one is doing anything about it. They need to throw the politicians and bankers out, declare their independence from the EU, and start over, and this time have some common sense principles to manage their society. We all need to do that. But how? Too many people still love their oppressors. Our numbers are still too small.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:14 | 5699620 Bangalore Torpedo
Bangalore Torpedo's picture

"Please Syriza, please Tsipras, win the elections and fight this bunch of criminals."

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss..

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:14 | 5699621 Bangalore Torpedo
Bangalore Torpedo's picture

"Please Syriza, please Tsipras, win the elections and fight this bunch of criminals."

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss..

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:17 | 5699623 reader2010
reader2010's picture

The people in Weimar Germany suffered even more tragically and it was the same Wall Street framed its barbarism in the language of debt. Before Hitler came to power,  more than 30,000 Germans killed themselves each month,  and Berlin had more than 1,000,000 posituites. 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:26 | 5699641 Niall Of The Ni...
Niall Of The Nine Hostages's picture

Citation needed. Berlin only had 4 million people in 1933.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 14:48 | 5699802 reader2010
reader2010's picture

I understand many don't read German and only memorized  that period of history from the victors' narratives. Many dont understand the real cause of WWI and how Wall Street savagely engineered the Collapse of German currency and the associated hyperinflation by massively shorting it. What you see today in Greece is not even one tenth of what people in Weimar Germany had to endure. 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:40 | 5700669 Crisismode
Crisismode's picture

 

 

Excellent call Niall . . .

 

call out the expositors of bullshit

right on the page they spout.

Let them provide the evidence.

 

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 01:36 | 5701414 reader2010
reader2010's picture

Sources:

1. Die braune Platte, "Appell an die Nation".

2. Rudolf Binding, Antwort eines Deutschen an die Welt

3. Fritz Reinhardt, Die Beseitigung der Arbeitslosigkeit im Dritten Reich

4. Ernst Kaden, Des Deutschen Volkes Heldenkampf

5. Georg Franz-Willing, Umsturz 1933

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:18 | 5699626 ThroxxOfVron
ThroxxOfVron's picture

" I think any stimulus plan in our time should focus on reorganizing economies in such a way that jobs are created. That must mean moving away from centralization, and the return of production of essentials to communities and societies themselves, instead of emphasizing the ‘benefit’ of hauling goods halfway across the world, or an entire continent. It’s incredibly stupid that for instance most of our furniture and clothing is made in China. "

International Trade aka Globalization has been the Bankster tool of societal destruction for over 400 years.

Is it any wonder that neo-feudalist economic and neo-medievel reliegeous ideologies are flourishing as long term projects for societal destruction finally reach maturation?

Whole nations of peoples are easily relentlessly punished by one band of economic/military criminals for purported indisciplines or disrespects from another band of economi/military criminals.  Does the average Greek or Russian citizen ultimately bear responsibility for what trans-regional oligarchs and international corporate managers do for their own gain?  Internal devaluations do not impoverish billionaires.  Locking oligarchs out of a payments system does not crush said oligarchs who, unlike the average citizen, have not off-shored wealth and bought up foreign real estate and jets and yachts and bribed foreign officials for sanctuary beyond the miseries they have constructed..

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:21 | 5699630 franciscopendergrass
franciscopendergrass's picture

Ukraine really wants the same problems as Greece as they ally themselves with the US and Europe. Are they that stupid?

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:25 | 5699636 css1971
css1971's picture

Greeks need to take the lesson of Wörgl.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%B6rgl#The_W.C3.B6rgl_Experiment

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:33 | 5699652 Grouchy Marx
Grouchy Marx's picture

Sure, the bankers are criminals, but so are all those Greeks who demanded free lunches and exorbitant pensions, and the politicians who rode to power promising them as much. 

There is only one hope for democracy, and that is to suspend the right to vote from everyone who receives government assistance, and that includes those who work for companies that get government assistance or contracts, and public school teachers, politicians, etc.

As soon as people figure out how to get their hands in the till, and they always will with the way it is structured now, it is only a matter of time until the state collapses.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:23 | 5700159 hendrik1730
hendrik1730's picture

I fully agree and would add other restrictions on the right to vote : an IQ above 120 and a clean criminal record. Otherwise, democracy gets again reduced to the dictatorship of the morons.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:18 | 5700611 Grouchy Marx
Grouchy Marx's picture

And three more: 1) must be a citizen, 2) cannot vote more than once per election, and 3) must not be deceased.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 01:44 | 5701437 hooligan2009
hooligan2009's picture

no representation without taxation...

representation proportional to the taxation paid...including corporations

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:36 | 5699660 Son of Captain Nemo
Son of Captain Nemo's picture

Tyler many thanks

One of your best "weathervane moments" on where we're headed and how out of control these motherfuckers are only because collectively we continue to allow it!

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:43 | 5699670 Batman11
Batman11's picture

Greece, Spain, Portugal, France and Italy do have another option.

The new power base is in the East so:

1) Default

2) Leave the Euro

3) Turn East and trade with people who can't treat you worse than the West has done.

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:48 | 5699693 Niall Of The Ni...
Niall Of The Nine Hostages's picture

It's just possible Marine Le Pen can pull that off---reason being France has nukes and can tell Germany to go to hell these days. 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:44 | 5699678 Niall Of The Ni...
Niall Of The Nine Hostages's picture

[double-post, apologies---N9H]

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 12:43 | 5699679 Niall Of The Ni...
Niall Of The Nine Hostages's picture

Syriza will play ball. The only party serious about standing up for Greece was Golden Dawn, and they were liquidated as soon as it became clear they posed a real threat. Syriza will at most drive a slightly harder bargain, or rather will be Brussels' excuse to throw Athens' bloated standing army a few more coins to keep it on side. No Greek civilian will see a thin dime in tax or debt relief.

You want a Greek government that looks the banksters in the eye and tells them that if they want Greece for a holiday camp they can come fight for it like men? Ask the Serbians how well that worked out. If Athens were bombed to the ground the sheeple in Germany would cheer, thanks to the German MSM whipping up hatred against the lazy thieving Greeks. 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:11 | 5699744 MS7
MS7's picture

I agree that it would take a lot more courage than any of the Greek political parties in Parliament have to stand up to the banksters. There are a few parties too small to enter Parliament (like EPAM) that have that courage. But I think you are very much mistaken about Golden Dawn. Not only are they fascists, they worship German style fascism, and would be the last people to stand up to the Germans. I don't even think they like Greece. They, like most fascists, worhsip the powerful and are for sale to the highest bidder.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:56 | 5699862 JR
JR's picture

How long will it be before the Germans stop being accused of fascism?

Their media and politics are controlled by the bankers and these maligned people are not able to speak for themselves. The concept of the Nazis, a continuous image promoted by the world’s Zionists, is 70 years out of date. And like their current corrupted political system (Merkel was selected like Obama was selected), the German people did not even elect Hitler. So why are they still in this modern age not allowed to be treated as the industrious, honest people that they are?

When is it time to quite using Hitler as the measure of evil when we have Cheney and Netanyahu? If you want to cut out the core of evil, why don’t you look into the identity of the bankers--then and now?

As for Hitler’s “election,” in the second round of the 1932 election (Weimar Republic law provided that a candidate needed to receive an absolute majority of votes), Paul von Hindenburg of the Independent Party and an incumbent, received 53.1% of the vote, or 19,359,983; Hitler of the National Socialist German Workers Party or Nazi Party (NSDAP), 36.7% or 13,418,517, and Ernst Thalmann of the Communist Party, 10.1% or 3,706,759 votes.

Hindenburg played an important role in the coming to power of the Nazis by appointing Hitler under political pressure as Chancellor of Germany in January 1933.

Although Hitler lost the presidential election of 1932, he succeeded Hindenburg as head of state only two years later, when Hindenburg's death brought his term to a premature end in 1934. After the president's death Hitler abolished the office of president entirely to replace it with the new position of Führer und Reichskanzler ("Führer and Reich Chancellor"), and cement his dictatorship.

The German people had no more choice than did the American people in 2008 between Obama and McCain, unless you consider Hillary Clinton a choice, or between Obama and Romney four years later.  Would it now be fair to blame the American people for Obama--and what lies ahead?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_presidential_election,_1932

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:50 | 5700693 Crisismode
Crisismode's picture

 

 

You are speaking truth.

Why?

We (Collective United States people)

can't handle the truth.

Your honest pleadings fall on deaf ears.

Sorry.

 

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:38 | 5700195 Monty Burns
Monty Burns's picture

'Fascists' and 'Nazis' are pretty meaningless terms used solely to marginalize individuals and parties that prioritize the interests of their own countries.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:25 | 5699768 JR
JR's picture

Northern Europe survives by sucking the lifeblood out of the South. It’s a really simple story that nobody will tell you…. It’s up to the Dutch and the Germans and the Finns to end this monstrosity. The troika is creating third world nations within the EU, and you guys are just sitting there watching them do it, and hoping that more money for your banks will mean your own petty little lives will be secure and safe, while Greek doctors are forced to prostitute themselves.-- Raul Ilargi Meijer

Germany is not a sovereign country. Make that the northern bankers survive “by sucking the blood out of the South.”

The German people aren’t going to seize the Greeks’ tourist islands or the Greeks’ train system, or their water companies being sold off by their banker-indebted government; the bankers are. Germany is not a sovereign country; it is an occupied country without a legitimate constitution. Deutsche Bank is run by Goldman and the tribe. Mario Draghi and the ECB are Frankfort-based.

Article 146 [Duration of validity of the German Constitution]

This Constitution, which is valid for the entire German people following the achievement of the unity and freedom of Germany, ceases to be in force on the day on which a constitution adopted by a free decision of the German people comes into force.

It’s the banker shills who make up Germany’s government.

As for German wages Agence France-Presse wrote about a year ago:

“As many as three million people in Europe’s top economy earn less than six euros ($7.90) per hour, meaning Germany has one of the biggest shares of low wages in Europe.

“’We’ve become a country of low wages,’ sighs charity worker Renate Stark, who everyday confronts the struggle of workers paid too little to make ends meet, despite Germany’s booming economy.

“From pizza deliverers earning an hourly six euros, to young journalists on less than 750 euros a month, the 55-year old social assistant for the Catholic Caritas organization in Berlin can reel off many such examples…

“’Germany is the EU country where the proportion of low-wage jobs is highest behind Hungary and the United Kingdom,’ said the OECD’s German expert, Andreas Kappeler, pointing to a 2010 study.

http://business.inquirer.net/142973/low-wages-the-flip-side-to-germanys-economic-miracle#ixzz3KOiSbKHV

The EU was the bankers’ idea. They built it; they lied about it and they’re trying to protect it with a strong arm tactics. If it were the German people, they would be allowed to vote on if they wanted this Euro Zone. They aren’t allowed because like in the U.S., they have a corrupted political system whereby not only are the politicians owned by the bankers but so are the political parties.

In short, Deutsche Bank is not Germany; it’s Wall Street. Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, is headed by Paul M. L. Achleitner who is a former Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions of Goldman Sachs & Co., New York, and partner of Goldman Sachs Group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Achleitner

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:30 | 5699783 JR
JR's picture

Shorter version: Goldman is in Germany; Goldman is in Greece. Goldman forces the Germans to pay for the bailouts and when it gets to Greece, Goldman is there to receive it.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:29 | 5699777 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

@ fleaDumb123

flea - wingless with mouthparts

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:52 | 5699788 Joebloinvestor
Joebloinvestor's picture

Greece deserves a majority of the credit for the fix is it in.

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/10/greeks-bearing-bonds...

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:58 | 5700708 shovelhead
shovelhead's picture

The Greek politicians borrowed insane amounts of money, not the Greek people.

Same as in every other country.

If they knew about it at all, it was long after the fact.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:50 | 5699846 wharfdaddy
wharfdaddy's picture

Listen to Professor Chossudovsky, he breaks it down real simple, once you really get it...just WHERE the state sponsored terrorism emanates from it all begins to fall into place.Paris-Charlie Hebdo-WHAT REALLY HAPPENED-http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/110324

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 13:58 | 5699865 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

In the same way Central banks look at the lack of any economic recovery and say 'it would have been worse if we did not QE' - the Greeks seem to be recognizing this type of falsehood and are ready to reject the statement that - "it would be even worse now if we had not stayed in the Euro." Staying 'in the Euro' is, in fact, far worse than what could have been.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 14:05 | 5699885 NoWayJose
NoWayJose's picture

If da Krauts are really against this they will take it to court to get a ruling. Otherwise, the written and unwritten interpretation of the QE is actually to benefit German banks from taking losses. Thus the German banks will see this as a chance to unload risky southern EU loans to those national central banks - (even taking gains on when-issued 7% loans that are now less than 2%.) The German banks also off load some of the shared risk to the German central bank, but they don't care about that.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 14:08 | 5699894 besnook
besnook's picture

suck that olive dry!

predatory capitalism at its best. the spawn of a million phds.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 14:09 | 5699898 TMLutas
TMLutas's picture

Every day, there is some bright guy in the EU who comes up with an idea for a business and in doing their due diligence, finds out that in the EU they can't make the business happen. The EU should be engaging in regulatory austerity that allows more of those businesses to start and succeed. 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 14:35 | 5699954 NoTTD
NoTTD's picture

Nice story, but I predict whatever party wins tomorrow will merely rethink its position and go right on taking the EU money.

 

Long wheelbarrows.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 14:38 | 5699955 freedom123
Sat, 01/24/2015 - 14:42 | 5699970 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

Those SaudSodders Gimme the Wahebegebees

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 15:15 | 5700022 bulldung
bulldung's picture

QE=debasement of currency.Poor and middle class suffer the most. Founders and Andrew Jackson had it right. Maybe one day sound government will reappear on earth.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 15:33 | 5700042 Victory_Garden
Victory_Garden's picture

And speaking about criminalistic, BE AWARE this is being used to do harm to EVERYONE that uses Adobe unless you have disabled it.:

http://www.infoworld.com/article/2873352/security/attackers-are-exploiti...

Any other helpful information is welcomed.

 

Extra Credit:

http://www.thedailysheeple.com/this-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-the-...

 

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 15:31 | 5700055 Tapeworm
Tapeworm's picture

"This is heart rendering".

Spelling Nazis insist on "rending".

 It is a good summation of the situation in Euroland.

I do not recall much in the US MSM that criticized QE in such an easily understandable form as does this article.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 15:51 | 5700091 CuttingEdge
CuttingEdge's picture

Mario Draghi is an ex-Goldman Sachs executive.

i.e. He is a thieving conniving cunt (the most accurate definition of anyone of that ilk).

All anyone needs to know, really...

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:45 | 5700679 August
August's picture

>>>All anyone needs to know, really...

Residential address and detailed travel plans would be nice.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 15:52 | 5700093 hendrik1730
hendrik1730's picture

I agree with the point of view of the author - what's happening is a gross crime. But instead of stating that QE should be contested in the EU, it's worth to look into the US of A to start with. You guys are running QE infinity but no jobs are being created, debt bubbles continue to be inflated, 51 million of US citizens are on food stamps, 23% are unemployed ( according to Shadowstats ), young adults cannot start a family and the housing market never recovered - apart from the multi-million mansions. The only beneficiaries are the banksters and the very wealthy. Wake up, muppets, it's a global problem, not a Greek, a EU or any nations' problem.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 16:15 | 5703102 Clowns on Acid
Clowns on Acid's picture

Indeed Hendrik - People use the terms "US", "Europe", etc.., but to the bankers it is just one large portfolio. "Sovereignity" to the bankers is just another name for nothing left to lose.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 15:54 | 5700101 69BIGDOG69
69BIGDOG69's picture

Re: "I think any stimulus plan in our time should focus on reorganizing economies in such a way that jobs are created. That must mean moving away from centralization, and the return of production of essentials to communities and societies themselves."

Here we have a wannabee commissar ready to replace the free market with his dictats.

Re: "instead of emphasizing the ‘benefit’ of hauling goods halfway across the world, or an entire continent. It’s incredibly stupid that for instance most of our furniture and clothing is made in China."

The wannabee commissar knows better than real business people running real businesses in the real world.

Why is it "stupid that for instance most of our furniture and clothing is made in China?"  The wannabee commissar does not say.  The answer, of course, is that it is not stupid.  The reason why it makes sense was given by economist David Ricardo hundreds of years ago: comparative advantage.  The fact that comparative advantage is now perceived to work against American manufacturers and workers (but certainly in favor of American consumers) does not negate its economic reality.

American manufacturers and manufacturing workers enjoyed a unique advantage after WWII that was never before seen in world history.  All of the other manufacturing powers (Japan and the European countries) had had their industrial bases and infrastructure destroyed; the US was the last man standing in the industrial world.  It took decades for the rest of the world to catch up to a US that had gotten fat, dumb, and happy thinking that the dominance it had would endure forever.  Now foreigners play the consumer-goods manufacturing game better than Americans and THAT’S NOT FAIR!  Now we have the howls of indignation because something can be manufactured in China and shipped to the US for less than it can be produced domestically.

What's wrong with people in China and elsewhere living better by selling goods to US consumers for less than American producers?  The author does not say, but they better do it without inconveniencing American producers.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:00 | 5700111 gmak
gmak's picture

I feel for the Greek people as indivuals. However, as a collective, they voted in rapacious governments that borrowed from the future to increase the standard of living now. As a collective, they avoided paying taxes yet demanded always more. As a collective the allowed .gov to reach over 40% of the population.

 

Most countries are in similar situations. Greece is not alone. What is happening in Greece is when you steal from the future to party today. The future DOES arrive when the accounts come due. 

 

If one lives beyond one's means using borrowed money, one is living the livestype on borrowed time as well. It is simple math that one's standard of living must decrease to pay back the borrowed money that funded the more lavish lifestype. Thisnk of it as the gmak theory of conservation of standard of living. 

 

We are all responsible for the dire straits that we as individuals will find ourselves in when our global living beyond our means comes home to roost, country by country.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:26 | 5700158 Monty Burns
Monty Burns's picture

Yours is not a popular position on ZH but is nonetheless true.  For decades Greeks voted for whoever offered the most goodies. Nobody paid taxes, the public sector was used as an employment agency for whatever government happened to be in power, welfare was abused to the point where on one island alone every single person was in receipt of a disability pension, many "jobs" offered full pernsionable retirment after less than 20 years "service".

The great Greek public are in the same position as anyone who's woken up the next morning after they've blown all their money on drink and hookers.

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 20:12 | 5700747 Crisismode
Crisismode's picture

 

 

Yeah Monty,

 

But you support the Bankers,

right?

You think the Bankers are the rightful beneficiaries?

Sucking the blood of the EU peoples?

You like that, no?

 

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 04:44 | 5701567 TeraByte
TeraByte's picture

The coin has two sides. One who points to the other party´s share of the guilt does not necessarily make him bankster fan.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 16:27 | 5703147 Monty Burns
Monty Burns's picture

No, Crisis, I do NOT support the banksters.  Give me the rope and I'd cheerfully string every last one of them up.  But nobody forced the Greeks to borrow for a lifestyle they could not afford.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:53 | 5700214 Slowdrip
Slowdrip's picture

Most entertainning break of the day! Sums up this thread perfectly. If not already viewed, a must see! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STCgdoulOw0

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:50 | 5700220 obessoligarch
obessoligarch's picture

we should grateful towards troika,

without theyr divine instructions,we wouldn't have the opportunity to choose 

out of so many desperate greek godesses lately!

http://www.xvideos.com/video10222581/sexy_greek_students_doing_porn_to_s...

 

http://www.xvideos.com/video3245096/anal_with_greek_girl_olga

 

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:50 | 5700225 Zero_Hope
Zero_Hope's picture

The Banksters own the politicians. Money Talks; BS Walks.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:28 | 5700641 dexter_morgan
dexter_morgan's picture

And the ZWO criminals own both.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:53 | 5700233 nixy
nixy's picture

Price of Ferrari Modena forecast to rise.

Price of milk forecast to fall.

Go f******

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 17:00 | 5700246 BullyBearish
BullyBearish's picture

How do the ZAF justify their actions?  As they always have, here stated by the bandit Calvera,

"If God didn't want them sheared, he would not have made them sheep."

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 16:59 | 5700250 GCT
GCT's picture

They are not criminals until we put them before the courts and put them in jail.  People voted for this stuff.  I for one did not but hopefully you catch my drift.  The people of the world are looking at the most massive theft in history and they cheer for it.  Yes most cheer for it.  QE is doing nithing but svrewing us and I know many here know that.  If you point it out even to your family (my wife got it right off) your basically nuts.  Of course my older sister will tell you all about social justice while she sat on section 8, the freebies and is now drawing full disability in California.  But I expected no less from her as all she does is smoke the doobies!!!

Hell even her doobies are paid for by the taxpayers now!  Gotta luv it!

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 17:02 | 5700255 Lolitsa
Lolitsa's picture

The thing that impressed me the most with Draghi's speech is that the speech (reading a fricking printed paper, even) and answers to questions were delivered without even a tinge of remorse. There was such a confidence that you'd think this pastey face could walk on water. I couldn't watch the whole thing. I felt dirty just looking at his AAA Grade steak munching, champagne slurping puss. The Rich Man and the Poor Man, baby. It's comin'.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 17:33 | 5700331 FIAT CON
FIAT CON's picture

I am baffled as to what it's goiging to take to get the world's citizens to wake up.

I am trying to enlighten people around me as to what is happening, and they just don't want to hear it! 

"All I can think about is my own little world" they say. and if you inform them them about how bad things are in Greece they will say "ya but that's Greece".

They want to talk about, jokes, American Idol, football, anything but the real world.

In 2008 when the US banks had the major financial troubles, Canadians through the lies from .gov and the press had stated that the Canadian Banks are safe baecause we had " better lending policies"

 At some point later there was an investigation. and what was found was no safe Canadain Banks. "Study Reveals Secret Bailouts to Canadian Banks", where 5 of Canada's biggest banks had to borrow Billions to stay afloat, in fact 3 of Canada's largest banks had to borrow more money than they were worth to stay afloat. The Canadian people were lied to and when I mention this to some of my friends and collegues that actually read the MSM, and think they are educated in what is going on around them. they deny it and continue with the line " Oh no Canada is safe"

Now with the oil collapse creating havoc in the oil fields of Canada, they still seem to think all is well and "I don't want to know what is going on, all I want is to go to work and save enough money for my next trip".

Most of my friends and collegues have massive debt and don't care. They just think everything is fine. One buddy of mine never wants to hear me speak of what is really goin on, and asks to change the subject. Then he pipes up with a statement of " I can hardly make end's meet". But refuses to learn and understand why, and what is really happening around the world.

The writing is on the wall. All of the west will be forced to drastically lower their living standards. 

They will learn the true meaning of a debt slave ie. one who has massive debt, after the bankers repossess what he thought was his, while he lives in his parents basement.

When will the 100th Monkey effect take hold of these people? My Guess, about 5 seconds after it is too late!

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 17:31 | 5700335 Teknopagan
Teknopagan's picture

The whole article without one mention of Golden Dawn; they are the only true opposition. Syriza is the establishment again. Read the analysis of Golden Dawn New York on their web page

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 17:34 | 5700346 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

The true pain lies ahead for Greece and for everyone else as well.

The only question is whether civilized man will rise to the occasion or will the savage in all of us take over. Because if the savage takes over we will simply see just a different set of masters installed.

Greece will be right to abandon the Euro and to default on her debt but her problem is that her politicians have no real action plan for the day after and that is what I fear.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 08:01 | 5700364 Ghordius
Ghordius's picture

...and you, dear Raul, are a populist demagogue, imho most of your arguments are manipulative and flippant about details and facts. Nice sneaky one, the "spending one trillion" funny also how your neoKeynesian arguments are not taken apart by all the professed Austrian Scholars, here and the helplesst "if you call yoursel a union, then you have to..." bah. Highly unimpressed

----

Argument 1: "I’ve said many times that the EU in its present form should be dismantled tomorrow morning (...), and if Draghi’s $1.1 million x million ‘stimulus’ should make anything clear, it’s that the dismantling gets more urgent by the day. "

it's a non-argument. good for you to be frank about your wish to see the common trading/regulatory zone called EU to be dismantled, but sorry, the eurozone, i.e. the common monetary zone has a different membership and is therefore a different club. each could be dismantled separately, so why are you arguing about the dismantling of the gulf club if you are arguing about the mismanagement of the soccer club? demagogue

---

Argument 2: "When you read about female doctors(!) feeling forced to prostitute themselves to feed their children, about the number of miscarriages doubling, and about the overall sense of helplessness and destitution among the Greek population, especially the young, who see no way of even starting to build a family, then I can only say: Brussels is a bunch of criminals. And Draghi’s QE announcement is a criminal act. It’s a good thing the bond-buying doesn’t start until March, and that it’s on a monthly basis: that means it can still be stopped. "

this one is even worse. helplessness and destitution... Brussels is criminal. no mention about a sustainable Greek budget anywhere. no mention of a sustainable Greek economy everywhere. Yes, Draghi's plan can still be stopped. But you still have not drawn a logical conclusion from Brussels to destitute Greeks. you just jumble sentences of various cries against this or that without any logic. demagogue

---

Argument 3: "First the insanity of the ECB QE itself. The problem with Europe’s economy, what drives it into high unemployment and deflation, is that people are not spending. If QE would really be aimed at reviving the economy, or at battling deflation, it would need to assume that people will start borrowing on a massive scale just because Draghi buys bonds – and soon perhaps even stocks – from bankers. There simply is no logic in that. The stated goals, pro-growth and anti-deflation, are not true. It’s a sleight of hand."

this one is interesting. One that I heard many times in the Anglo-Sphere, but very little in the eurozone. The classic Keynesian or Neo-Keynesian argument that people are not spending. Myself, I prefer a more Austrian School approach. If people are not spending, they are automatically either paying back debt or... the horror! ....saving

no, the ECB move has very little to do with people's decisions, though I see little value in sending the patriotic masses to do their duty and shop 'till they drop, and get heavily in debt as a result

the move has a lot about keeping the EURUSD down. the move is about a currency war among China, Japan, the UK and of course the defender & champ, the US. For all it's faults, the confederation of currencies that is called the EUR is just following the trendsetters. You, Raul, are arguing for a strong EUR (the QE is criminal) while making a Keynesian argument of the governments that should spend more for increased demand and send people to debt for increased shopping. again, you just jumbled the arguments without conclusion, and so escaped the dissonance of them together. demagogue

---

Argument 4: "It will still leave Europe with no growth, and deeper deflation, and now €1.1 trillion deeper in debt. While banks can grow their reserves."

this sentence alone damns you to whatever is reserved for shills and populist demagogues. sorry, but it's... disgusting

no growth? the argument for QE is often growth. deeper deflation? the argument for QE is inflation, and so higher prices as now. that debt is existing debt. and bank reserves in the eurozones are taxed. that's the whole point of NIRP. you are not making an argument, you are just jumbling wordbites. and mixing arguments valid in the dollarzone with others that aren't valid, here. shill

---

Argument 5: "What’s wrong in Europe is not just Draghi, it’s the entire EU. If you join into a union with other nations, you can’t let some of them sink into despair, and worse, while others sit pretty. And I know the answer from Brussels will be that what is needed is a stronger and closer union, fiscal, political, but I think that if you already let your fellow union members plunge this deep into misery in the early stages of a union, a country like Greece would be out of its mind if not outright suicidal to sign on to a closer union. Northern Europe survives by sucking the lifeblood out of the South. It’s a really simple story that nobody will tell you. "

this one is a beauty. here you dig into a completely whacked narrative around the word "union". first, again, Draghi is the prez of one club, the EU is a different club. so Greece is joined into a "union" with other nations. because your readership understands "union" as something like the United States or the United Kingdom or the Soviet Union, the European Union must be something like that. I mean... it's logical, isn't it? And so it follows that a fiscal transfer is needed, eh? That we aren't a political union but a trade/regulatory bloc or confederation of sovereigns... bah, silly european details that you don't want to go into, otherwise you can't keep the thing in the air. Interestingly, you even make the argument for Brussels, and more federalization. Or see the "closer union" as a worthy goal that "Brussels ought not to lose"

and then you put on the hate sign. one of the variations of the South sucking out the teat of the North or the North sucking out the blood of the South. and this is where the American audience finds it's pet hates mirrored or, better, projected unto Europe. well, I'm sorry, but it really is a bit more complicated then that. shill

---

Argument 6: "And against that backdrop Brussels and Frankfurt ‘heroically’ decide to prop up the banks with another €1.1 trillion. They should be dragged before judges, but what they do is presently legal (guess who makes the laws). So it’s up to the people of not just Greece in this weekend’s election, but to everyone who lives in the European Union. It’s up to the Dutch and the Germans and the Finns to end this monstrosity."

here you suddently find out that it's not spending, and not new debt but a prop for the banks. which just shows that you use all angles to make an argument, eh? it does not matter that they are conflicting. logic is not welcome. so the criminals should be dragged before the judges, but... hey, it's legal. interesting, eh? cue in the further projection of an AngloSphere's decay of Common Law onto a eurozone that uses a different legal system and tradition.

And then you call for an end of this monstrosity (without making a difference between the clubs, even though you suddently remember Brussels and Frankfurt)... though actually after a long article saying that all europeans should be very lenient and forthcoming and perhaps even help Greece, something that is actually... very pro-european. Meaning that if Greece would for example just leave the eurozone and adopt a New Drachma but stay in the EU, your article would suddently look quite idiotic. Full of very human passion, a cry to help Greece that I do like... but otherwise just a jumble of information and mis-information made to distract, polarize and dumb down the half-informed, pointing at the ECB, and at the EU but not at the national debt of Greece, which you did not mention with even one word

shill

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 17:50 | 5700382 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

Greece cannot wrestle with giant Europe but it can take one shot at its Achilles heal. 

How?

By using its last Euros, its gold reserves (if it has them) and by selling a few assets as well.

And then what?

In a co-ordinated operation it places massive buy orders for silver from which it will mint the nations new currency. The currency the ancient Greeks lived and traded by for centuries.

Not only will its people find themselves with a new currency but also a currency that has value, increasing value and outside the clutches of central banks.

To top it all off this move will cause such a dramatic destabilization in the bankers' world that all hell will break loose. And only hell in the bankers' world can change this world.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 18:02 | 5700418 Bopper09
Bopper09's picture

That's right, fuck you draggy, and fuck every central banker.  Fucking thieves, they don't even try to hide it.

And for his comment, 'has it ever caused inflation before?'.  Fucking idiot, I have a propostion for him, go jump on an old rusty bridge over a canyon, because hey, that bridge has never failed before?  Many times have people used it, and never failed before. 

And this is the kind of answers this guy gives, the head of a money printing machine.  How are the europeans not murdering their leaders.  This reason is as good as any, just slightly behind someone trying to rape a 4 year old girl.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:58 | 5700509 honestann
honestann's picture

Sadly... here is the deal.  The people will not do what it takes to save themselves until... until... until...  what?

Until everyone else stops pretending they will.

That's right.  People will "pick up the pieces and put humpty back together again"... when nobody else is promising to do so.

Yes, this is very sad.  Sickeningly sad.  But as long as "others" keep making promises they cannot fulfill (and have no intention to fulfill), people will sit back, take no responsibility for themselves, and the human predators who caused the destitution... will continue to cause more.

-----

Rise up Greece.  Rise up Cyprus.  Rise up everyone and say... we're done with this.

We're done with fiat.  We're done with debt.  We're done with human predators pretending to be "officials", "authorities", "government".

We don't need you, we don't want you, we won't tolerate you any more.  Leave and don't come back.  We'll pick up the pieces, sweep up the rubble, and make life work.

And now we know, we must do so without any of your techniques, your mechanisms, your fictions.

No fiat.  No debt.  And no authorities.

Leave or die.

-----

Of course, not gonna happen.  But that's what it would take... for Greece or anywhere else to drag themselves up by their bootstraps and become a viable and comfortable place to live again.  Reject the fictions and insanities of the past 50~70 years.  Like credit cards.  Like debt of any kind.  Like fiat, fake, fraud, fiction, fantasy, fractional-reserve debt-notes that poison whatever and whomever they touch.

Yup, not gonna happen.  But it could.  Just realize that, residents of Greece... and everywhere else.  All you need is to eject the predator-class who claim they have been helping you for the past 70 years.  You'll be surprised how well things go, and how quickly, if you just rid yourselves of those who claim you cannot live without them (and also assert they won't let you live without them).  Because they have sucked you dry, and will continue to suck you dry until you rid yourselves of them.

What humans need more than a debt-jubilee is... an authority jubilee, a bankster jubilee, a fiat jubilee.  Get real and you'll get happy and prosperous over time.  Stay enamored with endless lies and fictions and empty promises, and you're doomed.

Nobody can save you but you.

Nobody will save you but you.

But sadly, I guess you won't.

Why not?

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:06 | 5700577 freedom123
freedom123's picture

If you want to understand why Putin regime propoganda channels work on Ukraine, US, EU, etc. demonization - you have to watch this:

http://youtu.be/n8moLsg_eT8?t=5m21s

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 07:36 | 5701654 Gavrikon
Gavrikon's picture

Have you ever considered slashing your wrists as a means of self-improvement?

Durok!

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:08 | 5700582 Ward no. 6
Ward no. 6's picture

here is what my friend had to say about the mess in greece. He lives there. I don't think he will mind that i am sharing this. From our last letter

"The Euro had started out differently it was a good idea and had much going for it as a vision but has become the Economic monopoly of Germany along with England and few other countries subject to them,what they could not accomplish with war they try to do so in the Last years with Economical war and the Waves of imigrants filling our Countries and especially Greece. The companies that evaluate each countrie's loan-banking-economic capacity are owned by the same Families all over the world (Rothchilds mainly)so they manipulate and rate countries all over the world in any manner that serves their interest.

Most countries and especially Germany owes a huge amount of money to Greece from 1945 and onwards Greece never got any compensation for the destruction and Deaths it suffered in the war even though other countries  did get some,they robbed all the Gold from our national Banks and called it a Loan and never returned it,that alone would be around 150+Billions of Euros not including everything else like the theft of 10.000 priceless art and ancient treasures the destruction of infrastructure bridges factories etc !

All the money that suppose to come to Greece has gone to the Bankers and their banks and to close "holes"that corrupt officials and the goverment involved contracters have made and nothing really went to the people,now they ask for more again to support the fluidity of the Banks Hope Europe Realizes the problems here and helps because if not we will be forced to leave the Euro to go back to our national coin or some other new form of Coin."
Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:25 | 5700615 orangegeek
orangegeek's picture

Draghi has no authority for bond buying without Merkel's approval.

 

Merkel will not shoulder German taxpayers with a continental bail out.

 

In short, Draghi is fucked, but then again, many already know this.  Fuck you Mario.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 19:30 | 5700644 freedom123
freedom123's picture

This is what russian speaking Ukranians in Mariupol think of Putin:

http://youtu.be/4SqpX-l_8Fo

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 13:59 | 5701651 Gavrikon
Gavrikon's picture

Perhaps, some think that way.  However, one should also not overlook the great probablitity that you are full of shit.

Now, my wife's friend from high school who lives there is not that pleased with Putin either.  She wants to know why the hell he doesn't get in there yesterday and start wiping the streets with the Ukrainian "army."

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 21:03 | 5700895 Anca1
Anca1's picture

Fantastic article.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 21:15 | 5700910 Baby Eating Dingo22
Sat, 01/24/2015 - 21:50 | 5700970 dexter_morgan
dexter_morgan's picture

A Nest of Criminals, or A Brood of Criminals as in vipers or scorpions would be more appropriate than 'bunch'.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 22:27 | 5701060 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 a bUNCH OF cHEERLEADERS

   Those theologians aren't looking out for your best interests.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 22:29 | 5701068 AmarUtu
AmarUtu's picture

When all the political solutions have been exhausted and fail, then what? Revolution, thats what.. Tick Tock Bitchez...

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 22:35 | 5701090 thebigunit
thebigunit's picture

I don't think the problem is "banks" or "banksters".

The problem is  centralization.

The centralization that created the EU threw together (real) money based capitalist economies with fiat money based tribalist forager economies.

The two types of economies CANNOT exist in an institution (EU) that links their values and cultures.

Capitalist economies are founded on the notion of "wealth creation", which fundamentally requires protection of wealth and wealth creation processes.

Tribalist forager economies are founded on the notion of "fairness", and the distibution of loot or booty or "takings" that are aquired through "foraging" on the "commons" or "tribal lands".

Bringing a forager (i.e. non-capitalist, "socialist" culture) into  the wealth storehouse that is capitalist northern Europe is just a recipe for  political, economic, and ultimately armed  conflict and the death of northern Europe by parasitism.

The EU is unworkable.

If the EU is NOT disbanded, northern Europe dies and the remaining parts collapse into barbarous, forager primitivism, i.e. another "Age of Darkness".

If the EU IS dispanded, the non-capitalist, "socialist" countries spiral into barbarous, forager primitivism by themselves, but nothern European civilization has a chance of surviving.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 23:07 | 5701150 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 Why exactly, is it that you took 2 years and 44 weeks to make your proclamation?

 Are you Robo Traders father? I think you used Zero Hedge as an "trading tool to " HEDGE" against.

 I don't care. You're scurrying for funds to cover you're "uneducated" margin calls next week.

 Trading is a gift that some people have. Trading has been abused/defiled. Trading was NEVER meant to be in the hands of bankers.

  I'll enjoy your comments later this year.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 12:58 | 5702260 thebigunit
thebigunit's picture

Why exactly, is it that you took 2 years and 44 weeks to make your proclamation?

Because I'm a slow learner, that's why.

In 2 years and 45 weeks, I'll be even smarter.

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 22:53 | 5701127 Heavy
Heavy's picture

Maybe more money will make rich people happy?

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 12:58 | 5702264 thebigunit
thebigunit's picture

Yes. It will.

What's your point?

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 02:56 | 5705192 Heavy
Heavy's picture

Maybe it won't...

(One of those long-term/short-term deals)

Sat, 01/24/2015 - 23:09 | 5701152 WTFUD
WTFUD's picture

STEP 1. Write a Book(s) with a theme that the MEEK shall inherit the earth.
STEP 2. Divide & Conquer.
STEP 3. Train a standing army/force to quash dissent.
STEP 4. Purchase strategic Government Officials.
STEP 5. Steal everything that isn't nailed down.
STEP 6. Rehypothecate everything you've stolen to the power n cubed and stick it on the public purse.
STEP 7. SKIP TOWN before the Plebes smell the coffee, err shit.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 01:47 | 5701441 22winmag
22winmag's picture

8. Elysium?

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 00:01 | 5701267 Soul Glow
Soul Glow's picture
Argentine prosecutor shot point blank in forehead: official

http://news.yahoo.com/colleague-slain-prosecutor-barred-leaving-argentin...

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 01:12 | 5701400 VWAndy
VWAndy's picture

Something to think about.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 15:45 | 5702991 VWAndy
VWAndy's picture

Thier rules. Thier game. We will not win playing thier game.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 01:46 | 5701440 22winmag
22winmag's picture

What was the previous "saddest day in Europe" 50 years ago?

 

The bombing of Dresden?

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 02:27 | 5701474 supermaxedout
supermaxedout's picture

There is no other way than QE simply because there is a great liquidity shortage in the system. The US needs the liquidity to finance its ever growing debts.  There is now only QE left to come up with the amounts needed.The Fed and the ECB have to provide it.

Lets say a tranche of German or French or,,, debt matures but the creditor demands payment and is not willing to roll over the debt. For several reasons: 

1) there is no more interest involved or even negative interest. 2 years German bunds do cost the creditor 0.3 %.    5 year Bunds pay 0.0 % interest. So who is going to lend Germany money in the future - nobody except the Bundesbank.  The QE program is going to bring all interest on sovereign debt within the Eurozone down to zero % interest and the only lenders are the National Banks which are financed by the ECB. The National Banks have to pledge their gold to the ECB in exchange for the new printed Euros.

2) This is good news in principle because over time the governments do not have to pay interest anymore or very little compared to now and their debts are not anymore owned by foreign banks but by their National Banks.

This is the beginning of the end of the present financial system. The prerequisite is that the governments do not pile anymore debt on the old debt, or pay back old debt with new debt except with new debt towards their own National Bank, which is like left pocket and right pocket and is interest free right now.

Euroland has agreed to stop making new debts, the so called credit brake.

Euroland has started to get rid of a huge part of its souvereign debt burden.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 07:30 | 5701646 Gavrikon
Gavrikon's picture

I had a page on a Russian social media site to make contact with Russian guitar builders which was apparently hacked and sold to a russian marriage website.  Now, I get regular inquiries from women who are mostly in the Ukrainian war zones.  Not much of an ego booster to think that they are willing to marry (or whatever) ANYBODY (even me) to escape.  

But lately, there have been quite a few women writing from (wait for it) Greece.  Things must be pretty bad.

Mrs. Gavrikon was not amused, BTW.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 08:12 | 5701679 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Brussels is a bunch of criminals.

London is a bunch of crimminals

Washington D.C. and Tokyo too

Arrest the globalists. End the NWO.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 08:20 | 5701685 NubianSundance
NubianSundance's picture

At least there are still plenty of job opportunities on Mars, as this story from the Mail today suggests :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2925341/Life-Mars-New-NASA-photo-shows-workman-fixing-space-Rover-Red-Planet-conspiracy-theorists-claim.html

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 09:54 | 5701775 Panic Mode
Panic Mode's picture

Yeah, "A Bunch of Cxxx"

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 11:56 | 5702009 Mac Avelli
Mac Avelli's picture

I sympathize with all the suffering in Greece and hope the election is a huge victory for Syriza and a first step to changing away from the banker status quo that is making life so hard for all the 99% of us.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 12:36 | 5702124 Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer's picture

This is the way its supposed to work: There is a partnership between banks, business, and government.

During economic downturns,

  • Government lowers taxes (to stimulate business to borrow low interest, printed money)
  • The bank lowers interest rates and prints money.

During economic upturns, 

  • Government increases taxes (to pay back the money the bank printed)
  • The bank raises interest rates and stops printing money. 

This does not work, because the partnership between banks, business, and government is broken!

During economic upturns, 

  • Some factions of government refuse to increase taxes.
  • Business will not pay the taxes the government wants - instead it pays its executives the money the bank printed.
  • Business will not invest the money investors gives it, but only takes it in profits for itself.

During economic downturns,

  • Some factions of government refuse to lower taxes.
  • Business will not invest the money the bank printed - instead it pays the government to give its executives tax breaks.
  • Business will not invest the money the government gives it, but only takes it as welfare for itself.

It would appear that Business and Government are alcoholics, where an addiction to the consumption of money or the mental illness and compulsive behavior results from money dependency.

The Bank is in an enabling relationship, one that makes it easier for business and government, the ones with the addiction, to continue in their destructive lifestyle.

In most cases, enablers are well-intentioned and believe that their actions are beneficial to the alcoholics.

 

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 16:19 | 5703114 gdpetti
gdpetti's picture

And the job of these 'useful idiots' is to setup the gameplan of 'pulling out the rug', and it seems they are hallowing out the system rather well... just as planned.

Hope has nothing to do with it except in controlling the masses... a little 'hope' goes a long way, just look at the Obama campaign... the USofA has been pretty much all 'friends of the CIA" since after the hit on the K's, and when MLK spoke against the war, ie the system, then his days were numbered with a very low digit as well, but then he did see it coming and told the crowd that though he'd seen the mountain top, he didn't think he'd make it with them... and he was right. With Mr. J in charge of the puppet show, assassination was just another way of saying 'goodbye' and all the J-man had to do was follow orders of his 'advisors'... the usual suspects... who allowed him to think big of himself as long as he did what was expected of him... same as this DAVOS crowd... all expendable in the end.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 15:49 | 5702999 Ted Baker
Ted Baker's picture

Tyler

Mario is doing his job my Dear!!

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!