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Greece At The Crossroads: The Oligarchs Blew It
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
Once one oligarchy falls, it will threaten to topple a long line of oligarch dominoes.
A great many narratives invoking Greece are being tossed around, but only one really encapsulates the unvarnished truth: the Oligarchs blew it. The oligarchs in both Greece and the European Union/ECB had the opportunity a few years ago to trade some of their outsized wealth and political power for stability and sustainable expansion.
Instead, they chose to not just cling to every shred of their outsized wealth and power but to actively increase it. Their greed and hubris has now put their entire system of parasitic wealth extraction at risk of collapse. Their political stranglehold on power has been weakened, and there's no going back: they blew it, and now it's too late. The debt-serfs have finally had enough.
If you enter Greece in the custom search box on this site, six pages of blog entries come up. I have addressed the situation in Greece many times; this summarizes my conclusion:
Greece, Please Do The Right Thing: Default Now (June 1, 2011)
Thankfully, many in Greece have reached the same conclusion, for the same reasons:
The basic problem is that Greece Is a Kleptocracy (June 28, 2011). Greece has shown the world how oligarchies can expand their wealth and power even as their populace slides deeper into poverty. A recent article, Misrule of the Few: How the Oligarchs Ruined Greece, lays out the key dynamics.
Writer Pavlos Eleftheriadis pulls no punches:
"Greece has failed to address (rising wealth/income inequality) because the country’s elites have a vested interest in keeping things as they are. Since the early 1990s, a handful of wealthy families -- an oligarchy in all but name -- has dominated Greek politics. These elites have preserved their positions through control of the media and through old-fashioned favoritism, sharing the spoils of power with the country’s politicians. Greek legislators, in turn, have held on to power by rewarding a small number of professional associations and public-sector unions that support the status quo. Even as European lenders have put the country’s finances under a microscope, this arrangement has held."
The vested interests have obscured the cold reality of rising inequality by focusing obsessively on "growth" as the fix-all to inequality.
But this is exactly backward. As Eleftheriadis observes:
"The fundamental problem facing Greece is not slow economic growth but political inequality. To the benefit of a favored few, cumbersome regulations and dysfunctional institutions remain largely unchanged, even as the country’s infrastructure crumbles, poverty increases, and corruption persists. Greek society also faces new dangers. Overall unemployment stands at 27 percent, and youth unemployment exceeds 50 percent, providing an ideal recruiting ground for extremist groups on both the left and the right. Meanwhile, the oligarchs are still profiting at the expense of the country -- and the rest of Europe."
All the blather about "growth" is just propaganda to misdirect our attention from the real problem: the total domination of governance and finance by a class of vested interests and mega-wealthy cartels/oligarchies.
The solution is straightforward: default on all debt by no longer making interest payments. There is no way Greece can pay back the $240 billion of current debt, and sooner the delusion that this can be renegotiated to preserve the oligarchy is smashed, the better.
As for the big threat of kicking Greece out of the euro currency--since most Greeks are already impoverished, how can they get any poorer? The reality is poor countries prosper by making their goods and services cheaper via currency devaluations, and by paying a healthy rate of interest on capital so capital is attracted and invested productively, as high interest rates make speculative, marginal gambles soberingly risky.
The only people with enough wealth left to worry about a return to a sovereign currency are the wealthy who own the assets and who depend on handouts from the E.U.
As the old saying has it, you can't get blood from a turnip. The impoverished face little downside from leaving the stranglehold of the euro, and only upside from a return to a sovereign currency controlled by the Greeks rather than the E.U. or the European Central Bank (ECB).
The threat of expelling Greece from the euro is hollow. A return to a sovereign currency puts the responsibility for prudent management of government expenditures and debt back in the hands of the Greek people and the leaders they elect. Why is that something terrible?
If the new leadership of Greece pursues policies of fiscal prudence, high interest rates, zero-tolerance for corruption and freeing up the Greek economy to encourage small-scale enterprise, any decline in Greece's sovereign currency will be brief. If they pursue meet the new boss, same as the old boss policies, then the Greek people will remain shackled in poverty.
We have to remember that the lenders who entrusted capital to marginal borrowers took the risk and therefore have to absorb the losses. In this case, the irresponsible lenders include sovereign nations that acted to protect their own oligarchies.
Why? Once one oligarchy falls, it will threaten to topple a long line of oligarch dominoes.
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"Why? Once one oligarchy falls, it will threaten to topple a long line of oligarch dominoes."
OK, everyone get out and push. On three. One....two....
"...it will threaten to topple a long line of oligarch dominoes."
Oligarchs don't "topple". They simply fly away with their loot to greener pastures, exotic islands, or a certain middle-east sancutary set up just for that purpose.
Bankers just finance both sides to keep it fair. Putin will save the World.
"The Hazard Room".
The oligarchs were in DAVOS at the time. Their Rochefocauld's weren't set to Greek time.
This the beginning of World War III. First, Germany tried to take over the world with military force, but this time they are conquering countries with austerity. Meanwhile, the hedge funds have allied with Germany in their quest to conquer Europe, and speculators continue to hammer the peripheries with an artillery of credit default swaps and short selling of government debt. Stop this madness! Ban speculation and bring back Europe’s social safety nets. NO MORE AUSTERITY!
You might have more success trying to ban sunlight... not that your comments aren't hysterical.
If the Eurosystem cuts Greece off, after defaulting, then Greece should just print its own euros. As many as it needs!
Assuming they don't get to you first, player.
I am Chumbawamba.
heck, they dont want "blood from a turnip", LAND. And the serfs are selling it.
and I thought the armageddin thing required a bad guy from greece...... well well.
greece without the dang greeks, is VERY ideal land for elites, lots of folks have left already, even the damned gypsies left ! Surely this is no accident. Or, as we keep saying in america, =the leaders are SO STUPID ! oh? really? evil yes, blundering? i dont think so.
more beer? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWJo9onU1f8
Greece should join the Russians and tell the IMF, EU, etc., to get lost.
Can't tell if this is a sarcastic comment.
Edit : Nevermind , i just realized who i was replying to.
harb... plus one, i think they missed your point!
putin and his bankers/crime syndicate, ha...
Very few get it. Best part is they think they're not part of the group think.
I've heard the question asked, but so far, I've heard no answer; "Is the RCB a Rothschild/Windsor/Saxe-Coburg outfit, or not?"
That's all we really need to know.
The oligarchs will retaliate. There will be trade sanctions, uprisings, armed factions, murders, and all manner of attacks on the plebians. Expect Balkanization unless the people submit to oligarch rule.
Oligarchs run all sides, they're just squabbling over which plebs they control.
Greece, IMO, should just get with reality... I have a 4 year old son and a 10 year old son... I can't decidew hich is the more appropriate analog.... talk about a stupid, infantile tantrum... I spent more than I had! And Its your fault! (Sounds like those who blame lenders for idiotic borrowing during the mortgage bubble) Fold it up, break it up into lots and sell it off to the highest bidder. Ridiculous to imagine anything else. Whatever happened to contract? and honor? and just fucking dealing with your own shit? Blaming everyone else is a way of being anymore. count me out. And greece, poor, teenage fools, should jump at the chance to get out. At the same time, this teaches Portugal, Spain, Itally that there are consequences to profligacy. bring on the Junks... y'all are so predictable.
Which part of "that which can't be paid won't be paid" do you not understand?
Greece is bankrupt. Wipe the slate clean and let the speculating upper crust take the hit. As the writer of this article makes crystal clear, this is the fault of reckless lending by those who believe they can never lose. It is the fault of a relatively small group of charlatans plundering entire countries....and you are fine with that. You tell the people of Greece to suck it up and sell the country to the very band of barbarians who are at fault. "Everyone else" is not to blame. A very specific and identifiable group is to blame, and I hope they get totally shafted and this thing does spill over to Spain, and Portugal, and Italy, and just maybe, France, too. It would be a great primer for what we need to do in the good old USA. Or perhaps you prefer to call it the "Homeland".
Same as Venezuela, people win the election but the oligarchs own the economy, so forget it.
"Oligarchs don't "topple". They simply fly away with their loot to greener pastures, exotic islands, or a certain middle-east sancutary set up just for that purpose."
Precisely why the dollar is so far up.
The banksters need to repay us.
or they end up in prison when they horse they backed doesnt finish
if you were born into Oligarchy, would you throw off the "coronation"? y'all sound jealous more than indignant ...or morally outraged. What, exactly is the way out? All I hear on this site is complaints (mostly whiners) and calls for revolution (ballsy but ill-informed).
The pot simmers before it boils. There will be a flash point.
Beam me up, Captain Kink.
Of all the adjectives you used to describe the flustered folk of ZH, it was "jealous" that I think is the most insulting.
Our complaints against oligarchs, banksters, corrupt politicians, etc... are not based on jealousy, but abhoration (yes, I made that word up because it is perfectly descriptive).
Personally, I do not envy any of these soldiers of satan... I abhor them. Yes... they have ill-gotten riches (as defined by their trading power), but in their pathetic infinitesimally short life-spans, this is indeed NOTHING compared to the eternal damnation which they all will experience.
We are all human, thus imperfect, and we have desires and lusts for material things which only satisfy short-term. However... what differentiates those monsters criticized here on ZH - from decent people... is the complete and total lack of conscience or soul of the former when it comes to empathizing with those who suffer due to their predations to attain their superficial goals. That sounds long-winded, but it rings true.
We are not "jealous". I'm sure most of the prudent and insightful folk who frequent this site are well-prepared for whatever financial calamity looms. Healthy "hatred" is the noun you should have used.
Not even, they just set up a war and use it to grab even more loot and power. Charles is suffering from wishful thinking.
he forgot that the whole fucking shebang is under the control of the best/biggest banker crime syndicate tax payers money can finance run by ruthless muthafuckers...
Whoever controls the money and the media controls everything.
This has been the far reaching aim of the ZWO since MA Rothschild started the global ponzi scheme 300 years ago.
Today we see the result. 80 men have more wealth than half the planet.
No one should expect a good result going forward.
That a few wealthy families have control over the government is true for many nations
especially the U.S.A.
See definition of a Sociopath.
If the new Prime Minister of Greece and Finance Minister intend to hold to their word then they better have some really heavy duty and super professional security team around them 24/7....as even low level oligarchs will get a little twitchy if things start to change
You´re in a delusion. That new Greek government is full of oligarchs. Nothing will change in Greece.
Welcome to Greek Oligarchy 2.0!! New and Improved management under the same ownership!!
What they need is a coalition of radical leftists. That's what they voted for unless you believe all elections are rigged.
You're like the piano player in Eyes Wide Shut, hammering on that same f*king note.
We get it, you're not a socialist nor a Che fanboy, nobody will call you a fag.
You can't change what's true. People say, just because you keep telling me what to do, it isn't gonna make me do it. Right, I'm reminding you over and over again for later, when you get fucked, and your conscience is searching for an excuse as to what happened.
Eyes Wide Shut was a great movie. For a few moments there, I almost wanted to be a guy named Victor Ziegler. In the end, I'm more than satisfied with the other path.
Hollywood is part of the Psy-op for plebs. You won't find any answers, no matter how much you read between the lines.
save you a half of life of research- banker crime syndicate.
maybe oliver stone, but still a waist of time for anything but entertainment; that beckons the next question, really? that is the best you can do?
go take a long fucking walk amoungst nature and let your mind drift...
If you knew how I live my life you wouldn't say that. My mind says all of mans machinations will inevitably return to truth.
i just don't know-sorry if i offended. maybe mans machinations are survival manifested in odd ways, ie vanity.
No worries, I'm never offended. Ego, vanity and fear define how most see the world.
WTF? Last time I checked the oligarchs (bankers and financiers) were still getting as much free money (QE & ZIRP) that they wanted (in greece or elsewhere). How exactly did they "blow it" again?
Let me see the fucking heads! Then I might believe you.
"Once one oligarchy falls, it will threaten to topple a long line of oligarch dominoes." - bullshit, I don't see the oligarchs, bankers, financiers or their political puppets indicting themselves anytime soon.
All the 'molon labe' suckers are busy making sure nobody takes their guns, while ignoring that everything else they have is being, or has already been taken from them.
Barry will blow any oligarch or crack dealer he can trade cocaine with - it says so in his childrens book
The big danger for the ECB is that once Greece defaults, and it isn't that terrible afterall, how many others will then follow suit? My guess is the whole thing will unravel within the year.
Entirely possible, since the Swiss mortgage bubble looks ready to pop. Any non-Swiss that was sold a Swiss mortgage will want to have their mortgage restructured or default.
kinda where i'm at
it won't be THAT bad (for the general population) ... a few sucky years (already sucky) and then years of clear sailing.
only ones really hurt are the elites.
Let'em Burn
Sorry, but the elites will see you dead before they 'really hurt'.
why don't people understand they are ruthless muthafuckers? ruthless with all the power and money- do you understand that? politly asking you to understand the enemy...
Al, with all due respect, dig up Anastasia and 'splain it to her. Shit happens.
Prosperity will happen for the remaining Greeks after a period of self imposed starvation?
European people have won a decisive battle in Greece, but they must fight harder now to win the war.
Second the motion. And Greece is not the only country that needs to follow this advice.
Sadly I have to agree with Wolferl...
Nature abhors a vacuum, the old oligarchs will be replaced by more.
Problem being we are too "civilized" to tar and feather or hang politicians and bankers who are self-serving at the expense of their community.
The so called "leaders" are so physically and psychologically removed from those they purport to represent that they can do as they please without repercussions.
Cowed and wussified, not civilized.
Another spectacular Socialist success story! Now the Marxists are gonna sort it all out!!!
The critical statement is the return to a sovereign currency and spending/debt in the hands of the Greek people. Unfortunately, Syriza's manifesto is full of socialist promises and giveaways. There is little chance of them controlling spending. If they raise taxes they will never have any industry or businesses or wealthy taxpayers. And that means they will need debt to pay for their freebie handouts. And that means borrowing from Goldman and the Rothschilds. And that means 'repeat cycle'.
Yes, william. The problems of the day will no longer be decided by political speeches and political negotiations, but through iron and blood.
Bastiat was a great mind
Xerxes won after all.
If it fucks the banksterz and the senior bondholders (parasites) good.
Think all the rest of the tax payers who own the bonds in their pension funds!
Why in God's name would any pension fund manager be investing in Greek bonds? The country is bankrupt, and it's been bankrupt for some time. The Greek pensioners are screwed already. Plenty of time for foreigners to get out, if you were dumb and greedy enough to get in and chase the high risk yeild.
Penson fund managers take their orders, just like everyone else. The fiat currency users do the bidding of the fiat currency creators.
Do what Iceland did, hit the reset button and hang 'em high.
Exactly.
Sadly typical of the crap on the internet these days. This author has never been to Greece, never met an oligarch, and doesn't even know the right amount of Greek public debt. Pathetic.
So what is the right amount? You make declarative statements challenging facts without any facts of your own to back them up.
Being an oligarch means never having to say your sorry. Fuck Charles, what makes you think these guys, who own fucking EVERYTHING, are in any way threatened by the dumbed-down, docile, domesticated masses who've been bought off with free shitty food and smartphones?
So, Thomas Piketty is right. And you don't need a French Revolution style decapitation-of-elites-fest to make changes, just fair democratic elections. Btw, NO country in the world is able to "repay" their debts, since capital and government debt is created by central banks with new debt created by retail banks and consumer/business loans, nicely illustrated here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFDe5kUUyT0
it is okay for the oligarchs to suicide people but not okay for the people to suicide oligarchs? fair and democratic elections have consequences. ask the gazans.
Using this idiocy of an article as a validation of Piketty is stupid squared.
The idea "that the oligarchs blew it," is to ignore exactly what oligarchs do and how they do it.
If one starts with a false premise, the so-called ramifications are moot. For CHS and Piketty.
The second half of the 21st century will be chanting. "Its not my debt".
It makes me wonder if you are so idiots in zerohedge thinking that SYRIZA is the salvation.
You are for a nasty surprise you fools, I'm telling ya!
Maybe now they can finish that stupid building on top of the hill...they have been working on it for centuries
we guillotined some people...
If Obama's taught us anything it's to BEWARE most the person who claims to represent "the people". While I am truly enjoying the spectacle of the Greek people "voting wrong", we'll have to wait and see if their choice has any great impact on the direction of things to come. The oligarchs will kill their golden goose eventually. There is no way to control 7 billion people once they're all starving and angry. But there is likely to be complete chaos drawn out over years and years before we see any real changes to the economic system.
OK, folks, let's get a clue here.
Replace Greece ( or Spain, Italy, most of France
and Germany, and most of the UK ) with "Main Street"
now replace Franfurt and "The City" with "Wall Street"
and replace ECB with "the FED"
... now you understand, in American terms, what's
really going on in the EU! That's right there
sparky, WS gets the bailouts, MS gets the shaft
with their own money, and the CBs run the circus.
Now you got it!
Blue Print for America!
Unfortunately, on these terms, Greece is to the U.S. as the common cold is to cardiac arrest.
Greece, IMO, should just get with reality... I have a 4 year old son and a 10 year old son... I can't decidew hich is the more appropriate analog.... talk about a stupid, infantile tantrum... I spent more than I had! And Its your fault! (Sounds like those who blame lenders for idiotic borrowing during the mortgage bubble) Fold it up, break it up into lots and sell it off to the highest bidder. Ridiculous to imagine anything else. Whatever happened to contract? and honor? and just fucking dealing with your own shit? Blaming everyone else is a way of being anymore. count me out. And greece, poor, teenage fools, should jump at the chance to get out. At the same time, this teaches Portugal, Spain, Itally that there are consequences to profligacy. bring on the Junks... y'all are so predictable.
Your position makes perfect sense. Which probably explains why so few people agree with it.
How many of you monday morning quarterbacks realized that money is debt before your kids were grown?
How many realized the nature of the Ponzi they were born into?
How many were taught that this system is designed to fail, that this was openly discussed by its creators, who ultimately decided it didn't matter 'cause they'd all be dead?
Lemme guess, none?
Why the double post? You posted the same thing near the beginning of the thread.
You emotionally invested? Nervous? Trolling?
The new finance minister is a member of the kleptrocacy. The idea that the government, which plunders the people for taxes and borrows in their children's name is going to demolish the kleptocracy, is too ridiculous to even consider.
Look - I know that the entire Greek Cabinet is currently Walking the Walk, but everyone so far as bailed or pulled back at the last second when real reforms and default became options - even Iceland.
So you will all have to pardon me if I am immensely cynical and skeptical.
Until I see the smoldering hole from a Grexit after it has occurred, this is a non-event.
So many have teased Austrians for a decade or more, it's time for action and consequences and nothing else.
Do or do not, there is no try.
A key sign is that Greek abandons sanctions to Russia and begins exporting farm product to Russia. If that doesn't happen, I wouldn't expect much else.
Not so fast. This could and did happen and is in effect today.
http://www.barefootsworld.net/usfraud.html
Any moronic nation who joined the EMU is a sucker. That being said, it behooves Greece to leave the EMU asap and don't ever look back! The EMU was set up to do exactly what was done to Greece, et al. Get out now, while you still can. I saw this runaway train coming the moment that the EMU came into being!
There is one way that Germany and the others can get most of their fiat Money back. Sue Goldman Sucks. Was it not them who cooked the books so that they can join the EU? If they should loose the Court case the Fed will be standing by to print some more to help out their Master.