This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Revolt In Athens: Syriza Central Committee Member Says "Leadership Strategy Has Failed Miserably"
Not everybody is ignoring that fact that just days after the new Prime Minister promised the Greek population on prime time TV that the loathed bailout program wouldn't be extended and that Greece would have a fresh start - i.e., the mandate it was elected on - one without austerity, Greece folded on virtually every demand, to the point where the European Commission may itself have drafted the "reform agreement" that the Greek finance minister was said to have created.
One person who may be starting a splinter revolt within Syriza itself is Stathis Kouvelakis, a member of the central committee of the leftist organization, a teacher of political theory at King's College, and the latest to demonstrate that the Syriza facade of cohesive acceptance of the past week's "negotiations", is starting to crumble.
From his post "The Alternative In Greece", translated by Wayne Hall, and appearing first in Jacobinmag.
The strategy of Syriza’s leadership has failed miserably. But it’s not too late to avert total defeat.
Let us begin with what should be indisputable: the Eurogroup agreement that the Greek government was dragged into on Friday amounts to a headlong retreat.
The memorandum regime is to be extended, the loan agreement and the totality of debt recognized, “supervision,” another word for troika rule, is to be continued under another name, and there is now little chance Syriza’s program can be implemented.
Such a thorough failure is not, and cannot be, a matter of chance, or the product of an ill-devised tactical maneuver. It represents the defeat of a specific political line that has underlain the government’s current approach.
Friday’s Agreement
In the spirit of the popular mandate for a break with the memorandum regime and liberation from debt, the Greek side entered negotiations rejecting the extension of the current “program,” agreed to by the Samaras government, along with the €7 billion tranche, with the exception of the €1.9 billion return on Greek bonds to which it was entitled.
Not consenting to any supervisory or assessment procedures, it requested a four-month transitional “bridge program,” without austerity measures, to secure liquidity and implement at least part of its program within balanced budgets. It also asked that lenders recognize the non-viability of the debt and the need for an immediate new round of across-the-board negotiations.
But the final agreement amounts to a point-by-point rejection of all these demands. Furthermore, it entails another set of measures aimed at tying the hands of the government and thwarting any measure that might signify a break with memorandum policies.
In the Eurogroup’s Friday statement, the existing program is referred to as an “arrangement,” but this changes absolutely nothing essential. The “extension” that the Greek side is now requesting (under the “Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement”) is to be enacted “in the framework of the existing arrangement” and aims at “successful completion of the review on the basis of the conditions in the current arrangement.”
It is also clearly stated that
only approval of the conclusion of the review of the extended arrangement by the institutions … will allow for any disbursement of the outstanding tranche of the current EFSF programme and the transfer of the 2014 SMP profits [these are the 1.9 billion of profits out of Greek bonds to which Greece is entitled]. Both are again subject to approval by the Eurogroup.
So Greece will be receiving the tranche it had initially refused, but on the condition of sticking to the commitments of its predecessors.
What we have then is a reaffirmation of the typical German stance of imposing — as a precondition for any agreement and any future disbursement of funding — completion of the “assessment” procedure by the tripartite mechanism (whether this is called “troika” or “institutions”) for supervision of every past and future agreement.
Moreover, to make it abundantly clear that the use of the term “institutions” instead of the term “troika” is window-dressing, the text specifically reaffirms the tripartite composition of the supervisory mechanism, emphasizing that the “institutions” include the ECB (“against this background we recall the independence of the European Central Bank”) and the International Monetary Fund (“we also agreed that the IMF would continue to play its role”).
As regards the debt, the text mentions that “the Greek authorities reiterate their unequivocal commitment to honour their financial obligations to all their creditors fully and timely.” In other words forget any discussion of “haircuts,” “debt reduction,” let alone “writing off of the greater part of the debt,” as is Syriza’s programmatic commitment.
Any future “debt relief” is possible only on the basis of what was proposed in the November 2012 Eurogroup decision, that is to say a reduction in interest rates and a rescheduling, which as is well-known makes little difference to the burden of servicing debt, affecting only payment of interest that is already very low.
But this is not all, because for repayment of debt the Greek side is now fully accepting the same framework of Eurogroup decisions of November 2012, at the time of the three-party government of Antonis Samaras. It included the following commitments: 4.5% primary surpluses from 2016, accelerated privatizations, and the establishment of a special account for servicing the debt — to which the Greek public sector was to transfer all the income from the privatizations, the primary surpluses, and 30% of any excess surpluses.
It was for this reason too that Friday’s text mentioned not only surpluses but also “financing proceeds.” In any case, the heart of the memorandum heist, namely the accomplishment of outrageous primary surpluses and the selling-off of public property for the exclusive purpose of lining lenders’ pockets, remains intact. The sole hint of relaxation of pressure is a vague assurance that “the institutions will, for the 2015 primary surplus target, take the economic circumstances in 2015 into account.”
But it was not enough that the Europeans should reject all the Greek demands. They had, in every way, to bind the Syriza government hand and foot in order to demonstrate in practice that whatever the electoral result and the political profile of the government that might emerge, no reversal of austerity is feasible within the existing European framework. As European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stated, “there can be no democratic choice against the European treaties.”
And the provision for this is to take place in two ways. Firstly, as indicated in the text: “The Greek authorities commit to refrain from any rollback of measures and unilateral changes to the policies and structural reforms that would negatively impact fiscal targets, economic recovery or financial stability, as assessed by the institutions.”
So no dismantling of the memorandum regime either (“rollback of measures”), and no “unilateral changes,” and indeed not only as regards measures with a budgetary cost (such as abolition of taxes, raising of the tax-free threshold, increases in pensions, and “humanitarian” assistance) as had been stated initially, but in a much more wide-ranging sense, including anything that could have a “negative impact” on “economic recovery or financial stability,” always in accordance with the decisive judgment of the “institutions.”
Needless to say this is relevant not only to the reintroduction of a minimum wage and the reestablishment of the labor legislation that has been dismantled these last years, but also to changes in the banking system that might strengthen public control (not a word, of course, about “public property” as outlined in Syriza’s founding declaration).
Moreover, the agreement specifies that
the funds so far available in the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) buffer should be held by European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), free of third party rights for the duration of the MFFA extension. The funds continue to be available for the duration of the MFFA extension and can only be used for bank recapitalisation and resolution costs. They will only be released on request by the ECB/SSM.
This clause shows how it has not escaped the attention of the Europeans that Syriza’s Thessaloniki program stated that “seed money for the public sector and an intermediary body and seed money for the establishment of special purpose banks, amounting to a total in the order of €3 billion, will be provided through the HFSF’s so-called ‘cushion’ of around €11 billion for the banks.”
In other words, goodbye to any thought of using HFSF funds for growth-oriented objectives. Whatever illusions still existed regarding the possibility of using European funds for purposes outside of the straitjacket of those for which they had been earmarked — and even more that they should be placed under the Greek government’s jurisdiction — have thus been dispelled.
Defeat of the “Good Euro” Strategy
Can the Greek side possibly believe that it has achieved something beyond the impressive verbal inventiveness of the text? Theoretically yes, insofar as there are no longer any explicit references to austerity measures, and the “structural changes” mentioned (administrative reforms and a clampdown on tax evasion) do not pertain to this category, a modification which of course needs cross-checking against the list of measures that can be expected to emerge in the coming days.
But given that the target of the outrageous budgetary surpluses has been retained, along with the totality of the troika machinery of supervision and assessment, any notion of relaxation of austerity appears out of touch with reality. New measures, and of course stabilization of the existing “memorandum acquis” are a one-way street as long as the present regime prevails, is renamed, and is perpetuated.
It is clear from the above that in the course of the “negotiations,” with the revolver of the ECB up against its head and resultant panic in the banks, the Greek positions underwent near-total collapse. This helps to explain the verbal innovations (“institutions” instead of “troika,” “current arrangements” instead of “current program,” “Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement” instead of “Memorandum,” etc.). Symbolic consolation or further trickery, depending on how you look at it.
The question that emerges, of course, is how we landed in this quandary. How is it possible that, only a few weeks after the historic result of January 25, we have this countermanding of the popular mandate for the overthrow of the memorandum?
The answer is simple: what collapsed in the last two weeks is a specific strategic option that has underlaid the entire approach of SYRIZA, particularly after 2012: the strategy that excluded “unilateral moves” such as suspension of payments and, even more so, exit from the euro, and argued that:
- On the issue of the debt, a favorable solution for the debtor can be found with the concurrence of the lender, following the model of the London agreements of 1953 for the debts of Germany — ignoring of course the fact that the reasons the Allies behaved generously towards Germany do not in any way apply to the Europeans today vis à vis the Greek debt, and more generally the public debt of the over-indebted states of today’s EU.
- Overthrow of the memoranda, expulsion of the troika, and a different model of economic policy (in other words implementation of the Thessaloniki program) could be implemented irrespective of the outcome of debt negotiations and, above all, without triggering any real reaction from the Europeans, above and beyond the initial threats, which were dismissed as bluffing. Indeed, half of the funding for the Thessaloniki program was envisaged as coming from European resources. In other words, not only would the Europeans not have reacted, but they would have generously funded the opposite policies they had been imposing for the last five years.
- Finally, the “good euro” scenario presupposed the existence of allies of some significance at the level of governments and/or institutions (the reference here is not to the support from social movements or other leftist forces). The governments of France and Italy, the German social democrats, and finally, in a veritable frenzy of fantasy, Mario Draghi himself were from time to time invoked as such potential allies.
All of this came crashing down within the space of a few days. On February 4 the ECB announced the suspension of the main source of liquidity to Greek banks. The outflow that had already started rapidly acquired uncontrollable dimensions, while the Greek authorities, fearing that such a reaction would mark the commencement of the Grexit, didn’t take the slightest “unilateral” measure (such as imposition of capital controls).
The words “writing-off” of debt and even “haircut” were rejected in the most categorical manner possible by lenders who became enraged even hearing them (with the result that they were almost immediately withdrawn from circulation). Instead of their overthrow, it turned out that the only “non-negotiable” element was that of keeping the memoranda and supervision by the troika. Not a single country supported the Greek positions, above and beyond some diplomatic courtesies from those who wanted the Greek government to be able, marginally, to save face.
Fearing the Grexit more than it feared its interlocutors, entirely unprepared in the face of the absolutely predictable contingency of bank destabilization (the system’s classical weapon internationally for almost a century when faced by leftist governments), the Greek side was essentially left without any bargaining tools whatsoever. It found itself with its back to the wall and with only bad options at its disposal. Friday’s defeat was inevitable and marks the end of the strategy of “a positive solution inside the euro,” or to be more accurate “a positive solution at all costs inside the euro.”
How to Avert Total Defeat
Rarely has a strategy been confuted so unequivocally and so rapidly. Syriza’s Manolis Glezos was therefore right to speak of “illusion” and, rising to the occasion, apologize to the people for having contributed to cultivating it. Precisely for the same reason, but conversely, and with the assistance of some of the local media, the government has attempted to represent this devastating outcome as a “negotiating success,” confirming that “Europe is an arena for negotiation,” that it is “leaving behind the Troika and the Memoranda” and other similar assertions.
Afraid to do what Glezos has dared to do — i.e. acknowledge the failure of its entire strategy — the leadership is attempting a cover-up, “passing off meat as fish,” to cite the popular Greek saying.
But to present a defeat as a success is perhaps worse than the defeat itself. On the one hand it turns governmental discourse into cant, into a string of clichés and platitudes that is simply summoned up to legitimate any decision retrospectively, turning black into white; and on the other because it prepares the ground, ineluctably, for the next, more definitive, defeats, because it dissolves the criteria by which success can be distinguished from retreat.
To make the point through recourse to a historical precedent well-known to leftists, if the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, under which Soviet Russia secured peace with Germany, accepting huge territorial losses, had been proclaimed a “victory,” there is no doubt that the October Revolution would have been defeated.
If, therefore, we wish to avert a second, and this time decisive, defeat — which would put an end to the Greek leftist experiment, with incalculable consequences for society and for the Left inside and outside this country — we must look reality in the face and speak the language of honesty. The debate on strategy must finally recommence, without taboos and on the basis of the congress resolutions of Syriza, which for some time now have been turned into innocuous icons.
If Syriza still has a reason for existing as a political subject, a force for the elaboration of emancipatory politics, and for contribution to the struggles of the subordinated classes, it must be a part of this effort to initiate an in-depth analysis of the present situation and the means of overcoming it.
“The truth is revolutionary,” to cite the words of a famous leader who knew what he was talking about. And only the truth is revolutionary, we may now add, with the historical experience we have since acquired.
»
- 48408 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
The offers of resignation from the Greek PM & FM is a starting point.
THE TROIKA had the Military Junta on standby.
Freedom can only come from the barrel of a gun and Alex & Yanis are woefully lacking in the balls department.
So much for the old adage "The pen is mightier than the sword" then.
I guesss we can retire it and put it in the same dustbin of history as we did with "America: Land of the free and home of the brave".
once again:
words mean absolutely nothing - give them no respect
actions mean everything - are the only things that deserve respect
+1
And as such, for the thousandth time, wake me when they go back to the drachma. Under the euro system, they are a pass-through of money from the ECB/IMF to the continent's banks, collecting a little interest on the way from the Greek population themselves (though not much left there...). Until Greece leaves the euro, there is NO solution for the Greek people. Period. The EU is in place to protect their own institutions, and human lives are always secondary to institutional momentum.
Democracy has come a long way since the Greeks invented it ....
Just blow up the banks and parliment for god's sake.
The lesson for We the Americans to gather from Them the Greeks is that a public full of stupid people who refuse to learn anything in spite of the consuming and licking flames of doom is worse than useless, and an anchor to never surface again. They will continue in their unfounded hubris, cowardness, and dumbness to tell you.."..You don't know..." Followed by.."They weren'ta'poss'ta'do'dat...." Followed by .."...uuuhhhhhh.."
Kabuki theatre, smoke and mirrors, I'll give 3:1 this lets Syriza gain 3-4 months to prepare for a Grexit.
The Borg 1, Greece 0
As soon as the doors were closed Banksters Inc. snatched a knot in the young Greeks ass. One he will never forget and he became a lackey boy right then and there.
He now has his mind right and will always see things from "their" perspective. The citizens were screwed from the get go!
So much for that statue of Tspiras in the town square.
Socialism Kills!
I have an idea; Kill the Fucker. And the next fucker. Eventually, you'll elect a guy who "Get's It!"
Did you miss what the Leader of the Free World(tm) had to say about Violent Extremism(tm)? Evidently you did so I will sum it up for you: It is bad for the little people to kill their masters but never wrong, and in fact good, for the masters to kill the little people. There comrade, now you have been re-educated.
Translated, I guess that means Greece needs to introduce Death Controls.
This guy gets it but it takes him a very long time to say the same thing as you:
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_globalelite196.htm
It is a message to all Plutocrats. I guess it is his version of Anger management.
Worked in the U.S. Isn't that how we ended up with Obozo?
Maybe the Greek people need to start their own crusade -without politicians.
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_globalbanking433.htm
Recently, constitutional lawyer Rocco Galati won yet another round of appeals set forth by The Bank of Canada in a case involving two Canadians who filed an action in federal court to restore The Bank of Canada to its original purpose and operations.
This is a very significant story but you probably haven’t heard of it.
Why?
The mainstream media and government have blacked out the story for reasons that appear to stem from fear of how the public will react to realizing they’ve been systematically enslaved for decades.
The filing is intended to,
The truth is, The Bank of Canada used to issue debt free loans to the government, which meant that the nation would go into debt to private banking institutions.
When that changed, private bankers/corporations essentially gained control and ownership of the country.
Media Black OutAs stated by constitutional lawyer Rocco Galati in the video below, sources have indicated to him that the government will often instruct the mainstream media, when it comes to certain stories, as to whether or not they can cover the story or how they should go about covering it.
This means that government can effectively control the media and hide information from the public whenever it likes, unless it trickles through alternative news sources like what you are reading right now.
Apologies, I am tecnologically illiterate and I struggled to download the video.
Two frat boys standing toe-to-toe with the EVIL DEAD ( Troika ) resulted in such a beating ( we vill scribe und senden final draft for you to sign ) , a capitulation , that an immediate AUDIT on the frat boy's accounts must be initiated.
Even my 5 year old puts up a hell of a struggle to stay up late on a school day than these two tossers have shown.
Listen, their opening gambit was to REMAIN UNDER OCCUPATION at ANY COST which tells you Every fucking thing you need to know about these CUNTS.
Dear Mr. Tsipras,
That look on your face means you know that History will view what you have done as an epic failure also.
You had a clear mandate from your people.
You had such a strong opportunity to make things right.
You chose such a horrible path.
You should have gone to the Greek people and laid out for them their economic choices.
Though leaving the Euro would have been hard in the short term you could have pointed out to your people how Iceland successfully handled the Banksters and now are prospering.
By selling out to the Euro Banksters you've thrown any chance of a real sustainable economic recovery for your people out the window.
What have you done that was different from your predecessors?
Nothing.
I'm sad for what you did Tsipras. I'm sad for you and the Greek people.
Sincerely,
One ZH'er.
Echoed by many ZH'ers.
Suffering statists, you mean. ZHers should know better than to believe in mob rule by the mafia.
This is funny. You act as if he had any choice in the matter, when in reality it's the same as always.
"Your money or your life!"
Today means NOTHING! What Greece does in the next 4 months is critical to what happens in June. If they plan a Grexit they could pull it off without collapsing the entire country. That would be my challenge to any Greek who argues against this short term deal. If they squabble amongst themselves then the Troika wins and Greece stays in poverty forever. The main 'victory' for Greece from this is that they learned the Troika will play hardball and not compromise. They need to either accept that or plan their Grexit in June.
It is you who does not see the big picture.
A Grexit would have brought an UNPREPARED European Union to its knees. That event, in turn, may have brought the ENTIRE WORLDWIDE CENTRAL BANKSTER OLIGARCH RIDDEN FINANCIAL PONZI SCHEME FRAUDULENT GARBAGE SYSTEM TO IT'S DESERVED DEATH SOONER, THAN LATER,
The DELAY of that INEVITABLE DEATH only will serve to ensure the GREATEST DESTRUCTION POSSIBLE, much larger than it would be if that DEATH happened today.
THIS, of course, is that which is what NEEDS TO HAPPEN....if ANY OF US are to HAVE A CHANCE FOR ESCAPE FROM THE BONDAGE OF CENTRAL BANKING ENSLAVEMENT, A CHANCE FOR LIBERTY AND FREEDOM.
So where are all you commie/socialist fucks who were jumping for joy at the election of a "new" Greece government that was going to stand up and fight for the common Greeks???
How fucking pathetic is it that you actually thought a newly elected group of self-proclaimed communists would actually get something accomplished?
How fucking patheic is it that the very nation to which Democracy was first born is now controlled by an idealology associated only with murder, misery and corruption?
This is the same bullshit as when all the republicans were giddy about taking control of the Senate. Now what? Obama passes every damn law he does or does not want. The system is broken, BOTH parties are corrupt. It is them vs us.
For fuck sake.
Well, I dunno. Politicians have been gaining power since Roman times by promising free shit to the masses.
"How is it possible?" They ask LOL
What did you think was going to happen...do they honestly believe this NSA spy grid is for nothing other than blackmail? Do they not believe the NWO murders?
They probably do what they do to the rest of them...take em into a back room and show em film of that beautiful open air limo ride Pres. Kennedy was lucky enough to enjoy while in Dallas..
"show em film of that beautiful open air limo ride "--
several years ago, there was a great 1 minute claymation video where a bunch of oil tycoons have a clintonesque figure watch the claymation version of Kennedy getting his claymation head blown off. the lights come on and the head oil man says to Clinton "any questions?" the Clinton character responds: Well... just tell me how I can help you..."
Unfortunatley, the video seems to have been scrubbed out of existence. If any ZH captured it back then or knows where it went, please advise.
No claymation, but that sounds like the late Bill Hicks on Presidential Agendas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Kc6LFSXxU
Yet another shining centrally planned marxist/socialist economic success story of spreading nothing around equally!
In the good old U S of A....we have socialism for the rich and corporations, where the assets of the middle class and working people are liquidated to be given to corporations and the wealthy.
This Corporate-Fascism is surely worse than a democracy that serves the interests of citizens.
Yepper! Only worse ! The good news is that this desperate paracitical manoever usually happens in the final stages (end game) of soveriegn super-power nations. Looks like the final chapter for a once great Republic!
They should have voted for Golden Dawn, the only leaders and men in Greece, rather than these scum bag liberal pukes. That's where they fucked up.
Newsflash: Anytime you have an oportunity to vote for anything "FREE," it is just a ploy to enslave you.
That people are so stupid they keep falling for this is laughable. Its sad, but I still can't help but laugh.
greece can vote for the sky to be pink...doesnt mean it will happen, dumbasses
Who care At this point what does it matter
The fact that key NATO facilities are located in Greece is an integral part to all this, though isn't generally mentioned or written about.
next will be a referendum- grexit or not. the only question that matters. all other venues are cul-de-sacs
These people are paid by the word.
The Marxists shot their wad when they showed up with no ties on and said they weren't go to pay back the loans. They got elected by promising more government spending (getting rid of these "ridiculous" surpluses). And they couldn't deliver. So when they realized that the ECB wasn't going to let them just spend more money, they caved. And then spent the next 4 weeks saving face and trying to blame everything on an uncooperative Europe. Their social democrat buddies is Germany tried to help them by acting as if they were playing hardball. All along, they spent the past three weeks coming up with draft language that would harm everyone on all sides the least. Finally their masters in the US Treasury department came in and said "cool it. Just get a deal done. You've got a bank run going on, remember?"
So in typical euro fashion, they agreed to increase taxes on a flagging economy and that the increase tax revenues from "cracking down on tax evasion" will allow the Greek Marxists to spend more money. That tax revenue will never appear, but it's modeled to happen over the next 3 years.
You got increased taxes, a few hundred million so the Marxists can hire their friends, a faster-paced bank run, and a dying economy. When every working middle class professional/intellectual peaces out of Greece, then you'll finally have the mob rule that democracy always promised.
Anyone know this blog ? I found this a few minutes ago and not sure what to make of it......
http://www.strategic-culture.org/pview/2015/01/29/a-soros-trojan-horse-i...
Many here on ZH called Varoufakis out as a Zionist traveler (my term) inserted as a trojan horse. Looks like they were correct.
That blog post is a good read, as it highlights other Zionist travelers, and where they have been inserted into the empire to watch over Zion's "farms."
The banksters need to repay us.
Wayne MADSEN is a fairly well known conspiracy theorist but on Greece he may have called it right. Varoufakisis may be a trojan horse working for the other side.
That certainly would explain why he rolled over like a pancake.
Wayne is a good read, He may be wrong, but I find him worth reading. Not a shill. Something like Pepe Escobar or someone.
Yes, he like everywriter has a slant. Read a half dozen of his articles to get a sense of how to take him.
Seems like the Greeks' bluff has been called and it's not as easy to walk away from your debts as Syriza claimed. (Unless of course you're a TBTF bank). Now let the feeding frenzy of Greek national assets begin.
It would actually be really easy for Greece to walk away from its debts. The hard part is finding a way to give away all the promised bread and circuses with a [forced] balanced budget...
The things you have to ask for are not yours.
If your 'program', whether voters voted for it or not, invovles things you must ask for, then you must consider the possibility those being asked will tell those doing the asking 'NO'.
Now apply this concept...
...to the candidates in your elections.
...to Labor's demands of management.
...to management's demands of Labor.
...to your application for a car/house/appliance/consumer electronic loan.
...to your application for health coverage (no matter what they said when the passed it, when they provided to make you ask for it they were providing themselves the chance to say, "NO").
...to your application to build on 'your own' property.
...to your application for a license to drive, start a business, practice a profession, have a social security number
...to your application for a birth certificate, or a death certificate
...to your life.
The only way that Tsypras will get out of this is to ditch the Euro immediately . He will have only to explain that it is the only way out of the dranatic situation . It's time to face the truth : You can't have the Euro without a crashing debt . It's better to have the dracma and very little debt .
How much it does it cost to Greece to be in the Euro Zone ? How many tens of billions of euro every year ? Is it worth it ? I don't think so ! Italy pays for the pleasure to be in the Euro zone about 150 billions overy year ! Its' a mad world !
LOUKANIKOS ! LOUKANIKOS ! WE NEED YOU !!
Greece's lifestyle borrowing & debt days are long over! They will get a monetary IV drip at best in order to survive! Expect a mass exodus of citizens from current levels. At some point the remaining electorate will reconsider their irrational/disfunctional socialist ideology.
which god do you serve?
do you put your faith in money?
(don't worry, you'll be fine)
Na!
This is the problem with electing an expert on game theory- you think he's playing hardball for your your team but he's actually playing origami for the opposition.
That picture makes him look like someone watching a blowout basketball game.
(his team lost)
what's the big deal with Greece? Illinois is far worse off and just shelters behind "Federal" debt rather than ECB monetized soverign debt.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150119/BLOGS02/150119831/illino...
Just add back Illinois share of Treasury debt 13m people/300m people times 18 trillion = an additional 800 billion in OFF BALNCE SHEET liabilities for Illinois and you see what a basket case some state finances are and certainly worse than Europe's. Only the UK and Japan are worse than the US of the bankrupt major developed nations.
Greece "only" owes the odd $300bn v that 800 bn plus 162 billion in acknowledged on balance sheet debt for illinois or c. 1 trillion.
http://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-illinois-debt-cloc...
Greece has 11 million people who can't escape, Illinois has 13 million waiting to turn Illinois into Detroit if they get the chance.
makes me laugh how people are now offering other peoples money to lend to bankrupt nation and individual states. wahts the difference between food stamps and "humanitarian aid" to greece?
I guess spending US$6T fighting over sand dunes in Iraq & Afghanistan wasn't such a sharp idea after all?
6T? holy crap..is that before or after recycling back oil and heroin in perpetuity, well until the oil runs out I mean.
Take heart. Illinois has Chicago and there you'll find milions of those wonderful black scientists, doctors and technologists that we see all day and every day on TV. They'll sort things out.
"Greece has 11 million people who can't escape, Illinois has 13 million waiting to turn Illinois into Detroit if they get the chance."
http://benswann.com/real-id-to-launch-in-2016-tsa-will-force-airline-pas...
I.e. internal ("Papers, please?") travel documents/permission.
"I'm sorry Mr. Jones, but you have not been authorized to travel outside of District V, or the Illinois zone for that matter. District VI, and the Texas zone are off limits to you. You will be deported back to the Illinois zone tomorrow. And there is the matter of the $500 fine, and $1,500 service fee."
The banksters need to repay us.
Imagine this.
Ostensibly, the Greek pols, and crats hold most of the cards. Defaulting, their mandate, frees up massive amounts of stolen wealth, taxes, for their enjoyment, while they then slide into bed with Russia and China, who will send billions of TPs, dollars, their way.
Why not? Either they were a trojan horse from the Zionist banksters, and/or ZATO gave them an offer they could not refuse.
I'm going with both.
The banksters need to repay us.
I had a nightmare last night. Dreamt that my guillotine was broken. Woke up in a cold-sweat. Had to go outside to check on it.
Cash talks, bullshit walks.
Keep the t-shirt chain smokers happy in Greece.
And you can steal anything you want.
They prefer to wear 'wife-beaters!'
" Greece folded on virtually every demand, to the point where the European Commission may itself have drafted the "reform agreement" that the Greek finance minister was said to have created"
Most thinking people realized that after a little show of negotiation, the so called new Greek Government would cave on everything, while being given a fake figleaf to hide behind. Lets face it, democracy is dead. You can not simply elect candidates on a given platform and expect that when they take power the platform will be followed.
In the USA, party platforms are fought over at all party levels, and fought over with passion, I know, I once was politically active. But once a party platform was written, the elected candidate could, and did choose to ignore it upon election.
This hold true everywhere now! Ukriane had an election process, but Washington did not like the results, so a coup was arranged. This was done in Iran, and all over South America. Even in Greece itself. So, it works like this. People get to vote, and their candidates ignore the party platforms, or is a candidate DOES follow the party platform, other forces, step in a pull a coup Either way, democracy is dead.
300 Greek MPs were elected, not Tsipras or Varoufakis. js
"How is it possible that, only a few weeks after the historic result of January 25, we have this countermanding of the popular mandate for the overthrow of the memorandum?"
Hmmmm, let me guess. Because every politician everywhere is a sociopath crook looking for power and money? When will folks learn, and stop voting for the status quo?
There is nothing more expensive (or boring) than a socialist!
Perhaps it has been forgotten by commentators that the Greek people voted SYRIZA with one scope: Stop the famine; remain in the Eurozone.
If the previous government had gone into power, pensions would have been reduced again, a raise in VAT would have been implimented, and many more austerity measures would have been applied which had been agreed by the previous government and TROIKA prior to the January 2015 national elections.
No Greek citizen told SYRIZA to stop the famine and leave the Eurozone; should this have been the case, SYRIZA would have applied to exit the Eurozone and under the EU regulations it would have taken 3 years, if at all possible.
What we, as commentators, think SYRIZA should have done leaves the political analysts indifferent.
Their first (fatal) mistake was expecting (hoping) that the government would take care of them! People who want to live off government ALWAYS forget its government that lives off them! All levels everywhere!
Syriza helped convince the people that leaving the eurozone would be a catastrophe. They weren't just obeying the will of the people. They (along with the previous governments) were instrumental in shaping the people's beliefs.
Never a good idea!
'Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither & lose both!' - Benjamin Franklin
Because Greece has no leverage to make a deal. They owe money and promised to meet certain conditions which they no longer want to recognize....yet they need more money from the EU in order to stay solvent. Its all been pretty obvious that this is exactly what would happen. They can't leave the EU because they have no credibility world wide, they are a debtor nation that doesnt want to pay its debts. They need the EU but the EU needs Greece like a whole in the head. Not a good position to be making demands.
Greece needs to repudiate its debt and dump both the Euro and the EU - it needs both like it needs a hole in its head. It needs to screw this "globalism" BS that is nothing but a ploy for multinational criminals to destroy local economies and encourage debt slavery. Greece needs to take back all of the property it has sold to foreigners and strive for autarchy. Sould it do so, It'll find tens of millions of people in the "Eurozone" who will fight for the same thing in their own countries.
Pull the pin, Syriza.
If the blog entry is correct, Syriza has nothing to lose by pulling the Eurozone pin.
Make the Germans realise their €40 billion EFSF debt obligation.
Iceland is the only country who has stood up to be counted in this financial/economic crisis.
...and Hungary
And they did so because the decision was essentially one by the people rather than remote politicians.
Let's see how it sound this:
C/P:
{ In fact the debt increased, the downward economic spiral continued, unemployment multiplied, the depression deepened. 'Austerity' was a class based policy designed by Brussels to enrich overseas bankers and to plunder the Greek public sector. }.
Saludos...
I'm just stunned, I really genuinely thought Varoufakis had a pair. I still find it hard to accept that he hasn't got some plan to snatch as much ECB cash as possible and then do a runner.
for, May be because he is a Human and
not psychopath nor reptilian!.
Can you spot the differences between these two humanoids?!
Saludos...
Alex looks like he's on mushrooms, the real trippy ones i shied away from back in the day as all around me , reality itself was a huge mind fuck worthy of observing in a state of sobriety.
Mr YANIS on the other hand is far more pragmatic and for sure will get his Z/H fix daily or twice daily ( with all the FREE time on his hands awaiting Troika's poison pen docs. for signature ) maybe thrice, i have this message; FUCK-OFF back to being a teacher ( with all the connotations this denotes ) and ready the next generation of serfs for the slaughter.
hopefully WA, closer to the dark lord... he's spooky. Having said that, possibly the dynamic duo can crank out a quick paper back and do a book tour / lecture series with ms. pippa?
There is PAIN whether you suck up to Trokia's balls or whether there is a REVOLUTION. SYRIZA on the current path CANNOT WIN. Actually, imho, unless its a fake head, they are doomed to failure.
Syriza was chosen, funded, protected and pushed by the bankers to push the bankers Zionist agenda, more debt and more immigration, and they will.
There will never be more land or water only more people..
Maximise profits.
I guess if you ass rape someone long enough they start to like it -
Script Greek Kabuki day 42640 2\24\15
Tsapiras: look sad lament "Troica"
9 months from now this Greek govt will be gone, replaced with a new better EU management, a new loan deal, moar debt, and the old officials will be set for life.
The revolution will not be televised because it won't happen. Nowadays it seems people all over the world are in a deep sleep. The only time revolutions happen is when the US starts them by giving guns and cookies to Nazis, Jihadists, or other unsavory types. And those don't end well. In Greece, the politicians will fall in line so as not to lose power. They'll make some excuse, like "Next time we'll do better." The people won't realize for another several months that "European and international institutions" = Troika. Using those charming, tie-less "Leftists" was a check mate against the people by TPTB. Revolution won't come in Greece, but I still have hopes for some other European country to revolt against the EU. I'd prefer to see a real Leftist do it, but Le Pen might be the only one who can get the job done.
Yet the experts say people are not getting enough sleep...go figure.
cause everyone is sleepwalking.
Ignore the Greeks. Waste of time talking to them they'll just "bottle it". Just like the Scots.
'bottle it' . .just like the Scots . . . to their Chagrin.
Consider something...is it possible that this 'surrender' is just a way to buy some time? For weeks and weeks now, everything these guys said and did was all over the news, with deadlines looming...not exactly the best environment in which to plan a new direction.
But, while you are planning, the people still have to eat, and the economy still has to chug along...So, maybe, just maybe, you appear to give in and take the pressure off, while ensuring that your people don't starve in the interim.
With the Greek 'standoff' appearing to have been resolved, the media begins to focus on the next big story, and you can get down to business without the spotlight and the pressure. Maybe you have no intention of actually going along with the agreement, but you take the pressure off while you do what you need to do.
Perhaps the next "Greek crisis" comes along in a few months, and you are in a stronger position...
Kinda like a guy who says, "Yes honey...Whatever you say, honey...", while he saves up enough money to retain a lawyer.
As easy as it is to believe that a bunch of politicians would say one thing to get elected to turn around and do another...
I'm still holding out hope that this is just a step in a larger strategy. Maybe biding a little more time to shore up plans with Russia (a prospect that has been discussed in a few posts here on ZH).
That would be pretty sweet if they played the patsy for 4 months and then do a full 180 in 4 months and side with Russia to give a fully erect middle finger to the EU (and Washington and TBTB who simply cannot afford to have Greece leave the EU).
Greece, show us your checkmate move...!!
That is a possibility, but the problem of such a plan is letting the people know before they kill you. The government officials of Greece got a good taste of the Langley dissident protocol...gitmo-style.
That's a nice possible outcome you paint.
However, the Greek people themselves by a large majority do not wish to leave the EZ which is why Syriza's negotiating position with the Eurogroup was hand-tied. Syriza will find it difficult to do a deal with Russia and exit the EZ without going thru some sort of referenda process and there's no sign of one on the horizon.
Which do the Greek people want more -- to stay in the euro or to be free of the debt and the version of austerity imposed on their country by Germany and the EZ?
If they can't have both, which will they be more upset about come the next election? Which are they more likely to riot in the streets about -- exiting the euro or continued impoverishment enforced by Germany and the EZ?
If Syriza keeps Greece in the EZ but fails to stop the impoverishment, which is a corollary of doing so, Syriza will also be a rump party after the next election.
Very good points.
The only possible unknown I can think of is whether the Greek people believe they can have both (keep Euro but drop austerity) by dumping Syriza soonest and installing New Dawn.
This idea might gather momentum cross if a story goes-around that Syriza have rolled over and/or that Varoufakis is a planted trojan horse: "A Soros Trojan Horse inside the New Greek Government?"
Next revolt chaos in the streets, nato peace keepers, bankers on every corner. Greece first victim of NWO in the bag.
I think Cyprus already received that honor?
This isnt over I think.
one word.... cowards
"Relax, " said the hench-men,
"We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave! "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0G1Ucw5HDg
Meanwhile in Spain, indicted banker tells judge that making him pay for his crimes would create "uncertainty in the markets."
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Making_Me_Pay_For_My_Crimes_Would_Send_%E...
Dontcha just luv watchin' Marxists fighting with Socialists over other peoples $$$! Eventually they go nuclear on eachother! Lol!
What the fuck--was Tsparis just another lieing fuckhead with a big mouth that thought he'd get elected and then take the option of not letting greece implode just to keep his paycheck coming in? Who knows, maybe the twats from the CIA were at the negotiating table alongside their wives and children.
I say the Greece people go Ferguson on their asses.
Truth of the matter is, Greece can decide to default at anytime, even if they still have $$ to pay with.
Best thing Greece can do is take the $$ and default on the first payment . . . just as a "fuck you Europe".
That being said, the govt is bought and paid for by Germany . . . they will always vote for Germany and not Greece.
The nazi parties in Greece will use this as fuel for the fire and the embers of extremism will begin to glow red hot, this outcome is almost guaranteed at this point, only a matter of time now before people lose faith in the voting process completely and just resort to violent solutions.
The people voted vigorously for change, and they get more of the same as always. . .
People in govt have no shame (thats how they get there in the first place).
You tell the people what they want to hear, they vote for you to let off some steam, then a month or two later you continue the past administrations policy while people argue whos fault it was that nothing happened for the better, until . . . next election. . . where they change the face of the administation again and let you decide what color tie your govt wears . . .
Are you talking about Greece or the USA?
You mentioned "Hope and Change".
Its the same dog and pony show no matter where you go. . . banks run the country, not govt.
I would guess the banksters got to them with $Mn promises... Everyone has thier price - Greeks especially I would think.
What is it about "You have a very lovely daughter, Mr Yanoufakis -- It would be such a tragedy to see something happen to her" that's so hard to understand?
Socialism = Death!
Western style Socialism and Capitalism both equal death.
Lemon Socialism:Crony Capitalism::Democrat:Republican
- Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812)
If these guys are not just scamming the EU to "get by" for the next 4 months to give them time to explain to their people why they may have to leave the Euro "remember, they had no mandate to leave" then they are either incompetent fools or far worse.
None of this makes any sense. Probably because we dont know whats really going on.
Like everything else in europe, Rigged from the begining by colonial corruption, they`ve been doing this for a 1000 years.
Friday’s defeat was inevitable and marks the end of the strategy of “a positive solution inside the euro,” or to be more accurate “a positive solution at all costs inside the euro.”
(I have no comment,you tell me what you make of the above in relation to how "things" progress)
Now comes Stathis Kouvelakis who is making waves that the promises to the voters haven't been kept? - Good luck w/your coup.
In the meantime - I'm exhausted waiting for Grexit. Germany/Merkel/IMF just will not let real economics happen so we in the USA are stuck with Yellen who has taken over the man behind the curtain position and won't raise rates......ever. We also have Chase charging customers for depositing money as in your work check and then charging customers for atm use.
I'm just tired of all the manipulations. Where is REAL? I think the Greek people thought they were voting for REAL too. We're all disillusioned.
Greece is trying to provide a situation in which people, between the ages of 50-65, can remain attached to the job market even during (potentially extended) periods of joblessness.
The solution? A Guaranteed Basic Income.
Here's how it works. A basic income is a payment from that state that is granted to individual citizens, without means testing or having a work requirement. To its supporters it is a way of providing a basic standard of living to all citizens in a non-bureaucratic and direct fashion.
While its supporters have tended to be left-wing, it has also received support from the libertarian right who view it as a way of getting around the problem of government's trying to micromanage social outcomes. As Sam Bowman, deputy director of the Adam Smith Institute, wrote last year:
"The ideal welfare system is a basic income, replacing the existing anti-poverty programmes the government carries out (tax credits and most of what the Department for Work and Pensions does besides pensions and child benefit)...Like the current benefits system, this would provide a safety net. But ‘benefits traps’, where people lose as much in benefits as they earn from work, would be eliminated."
The concept is to replace the convoluted welfare systems that has been built up incrementally over decades with a simple monthly payment straight into people's accounts. In a country that is suffering from high unemployment and a significant shortfall in domestic demand as a consequence, such a scheme could (in theory) offer a backstop for Greek demand. It would provide individuals with the confidence of a future income and alleviate part of the "humanitarian crisis" currently being suffered in Greece.
As the letter states, one of the key planks of the Syriza-led government's plans to address the humanitarian crisis in the country is to "evaluate the pilot Minimum Guaranteed Income scheme with a view to extending it nationwide".
It wouldn't be the first country to flirt with such an idea. Last year Cyprus passed a new law giving low income families a Guaranteed Minimum Income of €480 a month following its own economic crisis — although the system has been beset by technical problems. Elsewhere, a more ambitious grass-roots movement in Switzerland calling for a 2,500 Swiss francs (£1,700) per month from the state received over 100,000 signatures needed to forced a referendum on the proposal.
It is, at its core, about a redefinition of the conception that was prevalent at the inception of the modern welfare state that the point of welfare payments were to keep people "fit for work". That may have been an appropriate moniker for its time, but modern societies have developed different expectations for the quality of life that its citizens should enjoy.
Just being fit enough to get into work doesn't cut it anymore.
In the case of Greece it looks like such a scheme would initially be targeted at those nearing pension age in order to prevent them from taking early retirement — providing them with an income that they would otherwise draw from the state pension fund.
This may be a small step in terms of what supporters of a basic income hope to achieve, but it could be another important move in bringing the concept into mainstream discussion.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-greek-government-is-calling-for-basic-...
Only death & taxes are guaranteed!
never for a minute believe that syriza capitulated - they will continue chipping away at the austerity measures -e.g. as trader1 points above & with EE funding at that - and at the same time remind their "european partners" through semiofficial channels of the cost of failure (Stathis Kouvelakis: ...Friday’s defeat was inevitable and marks the end of the strategy of “a positive solution inside the euro,” or to be more accurate “a positive solution at all costs inside the euro.”)
Does the state take money from individual citizens to grant to those individual citizens you mention above, or where does the state get its money? How is this idealistic socialism different then the last socialism?
What if Greece started printing Drachma, converted its citizen's paper and electronic Euros to Drachma, and told everyone else (including the Bank of Greece) tuff shit? Isn't this what is going to happen eventually anyway, even it Greece followed the idealistic socialism plan above?
So, let's bring it back to the central issue. Greece borrowed about $245 billion (US dollar equivelent) and now doesn't want to pay it back. Is the figure and assessment correct?
Instead of the money being wasted imagine what Germany could have done with that money. Another glaring example of the benefits of 'welfare.' Its easily extrapolated to other countries and other welfare programs. Welfare money builds nothing.
well let's correct that, Welfare builds resentment.
Welfare builds resentment in those that receive it, because it's never enough. It's never fair. God forbid you try to reduce it or eliminated it, that's a call to war.
Welfare builds resentment in those who are forced to provide it. The "gifts" are stolen at the point of a gun.
The only ones benefiting from welfare are the manipulators. Neither the givers, nor the takers, benefit from welfare. The gangsters stealing the money at gun point, and gifting it to their "hood", are laughing all the way to the vault with the rake. Which soon exceeds the gifting.
Welfare, at some point, devolves into warfare.
This money was created out of thin air. It was not taken from Germany's coffers. Just like another Trillion Euros will be created in the next 16 months.
Germany has benefited greatly enabling the southern countries to spend easy money. Any half intelligent person would have known Greece would never be able to pay this kind of money back. Germany wanted their cake (huge exports) and they want to eat it too. But they want others to pay for it. The EU was a racket from the beginning and it will come to a just end.
From where are you getting this nonsense? Greece (and others) have been net beneficiaries of EU funding for many years whilst Germany (and others) have been net contributors. Rather than give money to Greeks to buy German cars, why not give their own population the money to buy cars? Same goes for roads - at least the roads would be in Germany/UK/France rather than in PIIGS.
Germany (and others) gave up a share of the euro-pie so that Greece (and others) could have a larger slice. The hope was that they would make something of themesleves with this help. That didn't happen, so they needed to borrow money (rather than simply being given it by Germany/UK/France etc). The rest, as they say, is history.
wrong ...
there was no money actually lent.. it was credit... fiat printed bs... nothing.
in return.. they are selling off greece, piece by piece.. to crony bankster mafia...
“there can be no democratic choice against the European treaties.”
That says it all, and means that there is no democratic solution and when the social pressure cooker blows in Greece or Spain there will be a new era of violent revolution like during the decades around 1900. I actually think it has already started. Eventually many more will think that it is time to string up the .1 percenters, bankers, and politicians, and it will start sooner than later.
What about guillotine? Would Louvre rent it?
Lampposts are plentiful and will suffice.
It's like watching God Father III.
How about arrest those fat banksters and oligarchs asses for investigation of treason. May be add some troika thieves for company. No capital flight, no more. And then "talk".
If Syriza guys think that they can convince those animals from Brussels with arguments of reason and humanity , they are morons and fakes themselves. If they did not realized that for full implementation of their own Thessaloniki program they probably have to pay with their own lives and/or thousands of fellow Greeks, they are insane.
There was never any real change in history of civilization not paid for with blood cause gangster are not going away peacefully.
Greek nation should tell Tsipras not to negotiate with terrorists from Barberic terrorist group called EU that beheads nations in white gloves with surgical knife charging victims families for equipment used plus interest calling it friendship.
For sake of humanity this neoliberal barbarism must stop now. Whole world should put tremendous pressure on Tsipras and Veroufakis to drop the boyish menerisms and become men in front of eyes of their nation and of the world or resign and repudiate the agreement. They are finished anyway.
The Greek people are revolting.
But we already knew that.
This doesn't sound any different that Republican promises of smaller goverment and less spending when they are elected into office, only to have them vote with the Democrats.
Either default or shut the fuck up about it. Stay in the Euro and starve
To be precisely clear what is going on here. The "institutions" created "money" out of thin air. They now want to force Greece to sign over public property, impose further hardship, steal a larger portion of pensions, etc, etc.. Other EU members nations are being told they (i.e. German taxpayers) would have to pay this debt if Greece doesn't.
When will the 99.99% of this world figure out the scam?
From where are you getting this nonsense? Greece (and others) have been net beneficiaries of EU funding for many years whilst Germany (and others) have been net contributors. Rather than give money to Greeks to buy German cars, why not give their own population the money to buy cars? Same goes for roads - at least the roads would be in Germany/UK/France rather than in PIIGS.
Germany (and others) gave up a share of the euro-pie so that Greece (and others) could have a larger slice. The hope was that they would make something of themesleves with this help. That didn't happen, so they then needed to borrow money (rather than simply being given it by Germany/UK/France etc). The rest, as they say, is history.
The Greek people are incredibly naieve about this. Thhey wanted a change of programme without exiting the euro. Impossible. To allGreeks out there: If you want a new deal, you will have to leave the euro - that's it - that's the red line.
"Rarely has a strategy been confuted so unequivocally and so rapidly. ..."
Welcome to a world of exponential change,
automactically becoming more OBVIOUS!
I REPEAT my comment on a previous story:
Greek Infighting Begins After Historic Syriza Member Slams Agreement, Apologizes For "Contributing To Illusion" Of ChangeThe biggest gangsters, the banksters, are dominating political economy, through the enforced frauds of legalized counterfeiting of the public "money" supply by privately controlled banks. To the degree that people's lives are controlled by that "money," they are actually being controlled by successful organized crime, surrounded by controlled opposition groups. The global economy is almost totally dominated by systems of legalized lies, backed by legalized violence, which are automatically getting worse, faster, BECAUSE money is measurement backed by murder, BECAUSE the debt controls depend upon the death controls, BUT, the vast majority of people do not want to understand that!
I am not surprised that the new government of Greece has turned out to be yet another manifestation of controlled opposition, since that is what they always sounded like they were saying. Some relatively peripheral countries, like Greece, are manifesting the basic problems, which are going to effect everyone else eventually. Generally, the vast majority of people have been brainwashed to believe in the banksters' bullshit, which is due to long history of social successes based upon being able to back up lies with violence, which have resulted in the established systems of government enforced financial frauds by privately controlled banks. That fundamentally fraudulent financial accounting system is driving irreconcilable social polarization, and even worse, is driving human beings to behave in ways which are causing irreparable destruction of the natural world.
From any relatively objective view point, the currently established political economy is runaway criminal insanities, because its real structure is due to the persistent and prolonged successful application of the methods of organized crime to the political processes. That has accomplished the supreme achievement of organized crime, which is legalized counterfeiting of the public "money" supply by privately controlled banks, while the vast majority of people are unable to understand that, because they have been conditioned to not want to understand that.
The new Greek government was always based on spouting the same basic sorts of bullshit, because that is what continues to be the most socially successful, because most people want to continue to believe in that kind of bullshit. It is practically impossible to imagine what the magnitude of "corrections" could become regarding the accumulating "errors" of such magnitude that the entire political economy, more and more, for Centuries, at an exponentially accelerating rate, has been controlled by the crazy corruption of organized crime covertly controlling governments, so that almost all surviving and successful politicians became the banksters' puppets, voted for by enough of the masses of muppets, who were misinformed throughout their entire lives by the public school systems and mass media.
The problems due to the funding of the political processes are the nexus focal point, where the maximum leverage exists, so that money controls politics, and then controls the lives of everyone else. To the degree that their lives are controlled by money, people are controlled by triumphant organized crime, which has surrounded itself with controlled opposition groups, that continue to operate within the same frame of reference as the banksters' bullshit social stories.
As soon as one sees that the label of the new Greek government meant coalition of the radical left, it was already obvious that they were still stuck inside of the same paradigms, rather than making real radical changes to the paradigms of the perception of politics. However, given that the vast majority of people believe in the same basic bullshit world view, and want to continue to do so, there is nothing else which can be done from any practical political point of view.
To degree to which civilization is controlled by the crazy corruption of organized crime, being able to operate through bookkeeping which is based on enforced frauds, that monetary system has become like a totally metastasized cancer, or a parasite that is killing its host. Given that it is practically impossible for most people to understand the debt slavery system that there were born into, since they do not want to understand that, there are no ways to prevent the runaway DEBT INSANITIES from being actually resolved in any other ways than provoking DEATH INSANITIES.
The current Greek government may have postponed that a while, but every such postponement actually enables the bacis underlying problems to automatically get worse, faster!
The ONLY theoretically better resolutions to the real problems would require enough people understanding the basic facts that money is measurement backed by murder, and that it must necessarily be. Therefore, no theoretically valid solutions to the debt problems can exist which are not backed by changes in the death controls that back up the debt controls. However, the vast majority of people do not understand that, because they do not want to understand that. Therefore, the only politically practical and possible resolutions to the real problems of runaway debt slavery generating numbers which are debt insanities are for that to continue to automatically get worse and worse, until that provokes much more severe death insanities than have previously happened.
The established systems of enforced frauds will continue to control civilization to behave in more and more criminally insane ways, while nothing can practically be done to prevent that. Eventually, the culminating environmental consequences are going to trump the social consequences. The vast majority of people are collectively behaving in ways which are based on attitudes of evil deliberate ignorance, because that is how they have adapted, for generation after generation, to become socially successful within pyramid systems which were based upon backing up lies with violence.
There are at least two different levels to those runaway political problems. Those are combined to form the existing money/murder systems, where the ruling classes provide their expedient sets of solutions to the chronic political problems inherent in the nature of life. Combined, that is the established systems of organized crime, surrounded by controlled opposition. There is practically no genuine opposition, providing more effective resistance, which could develop some sorts of new combined money/murder systems, because the vast majority of people do not want to understand that, theoretically, there are no realistic resolutions to the chronic political problems which do not include death control systems at their core. Instead, the actual history of the most socially successful death controls done through the maximum possible deceits continues to enable financial affairs to be based on the maximum possible frauds.
The latest events in Greece merely confirm that there is no practical, politically possible ways within the established systems for there to be anything else than controlled opposition against the dominate forms of organized crime. There are no practical, political ways to communicate to enough people enough of the radical truths regarding how and why governments are the biggest form of organized crime, controlled by the best organized gangs of criminals, and that they must necessarily be. Such "radical truths" can NOT be presented by the "Radical Left" because that is still taking place within the WRONG PARADIGM, of the false fundamental dichotomies of "Left versus Right."
Instead of that, we are headed towards the established systems eventually causing their own psychotic breakdowns, in ways that the vast majority of people probably still will not understand, because they will likely continue to not want to understand! Greek citizens are actually members of an organized crime gang, called Greece, which were mostly cajoled and tricked into joining the organized crime gang of the European Union, with its international bankster controlled Euro currency. However, like citizens everywhere else, they have mostly been reduced to being incompetent political idiots, as demonstrated by the ways that the public "money" supply of Greece was NOT controlled by the Greek people, but rather controlled by the international banksters, who continued to take advantage of that power to defraud the Greek people to the breaking point.
Of course, even as the Greek people relatively suddenly, over the course of only about a decade, have gone through the banksters' bubble blowing, so that "normal" life for them was relatively suddenly collapsing, after being undermined by the banksters' enforced frauds, the majority of Greeks still appear not able to understand that, due to the degree to which they still do not want to understand that. Therefore, they elected another cosmetically concealed group to be their new government, which has been revealed to be another form of controlled opposition to the banksters.
I REPEAT: the basics are money is measurement backed by murder. There are no genuine solutions which can work outside of those basic social facts. Of course, the new government of Greece did NOT tell the Greek people that, because the Greek people did NOT want to hear that!
The vast majority of people are continuing to indulge in DUALITIES, or false fundamental dichotomies and impossible ideals, while the real world continues to operate through the UNITARY MECHANISMS of organized crime surrounded by controlled opposition.
There are no good solutions to situations created by Millennia of social successes based upon backing up lies with violence. There are no good solutions to Centuries of political economy controlled by enforced frauds, which deliberately ignored the basic laws of nature, in order that those kinds of enforced frauds could continue to be socially successful. Rather, human society has become terminally sick and insane. There is the MAD Money as Debt system, backed by the MAD Mutual Assured Destruction system, which have developed to become globalized electronic monkey money frauds, backed by the threat of force from apes with atomic bombs.
Given that those are the FACTS, it is practically impossible to exaggerate how MAD civilization has become, due to being almost totally controlled by systems of organized crime, surrounded by controlled opposition groups. The only theoretically sufficient solutions would require enough intellectual scientific revolutions in political science, to change the ways that enough people perceive politics. However, the vast majority of people do not want to do that!
Instead, all of the collective sociopolitical MADNESS is headed towards psychotic breakdowns, as the runaway debt insanities finally provoke much more serious death insanities. The only way that might be mitigated is IF enough people understood how and why money must be measurement backed by murder, and therefore, how and why governments became the biggest form of organized crime, controlled by the best organized gangs of criminals, in order that enough people could become better citizens, to enable a greater use of information and higher consciousness to more realistically resolve the problems, by being more practical on all levels.
A genuinely better government of Greece would have to face those facts, in order to stop merely being a from of controlled opposition. However, that would NOT mean the "Golden Dawn," which looks like another, even worse, form of controlled opposition. Rather, what is necessary is to move past the language of false fundamental dichotomies and the related impossible ideals,¸such as stated by Manolis Glezos, i.e.: "Between the slave and the occupier is the only solution is Freedom."
Any "Grexit" is impossible as a good solution as would be Greece no longer being part of the global economy. Greece is merely one of the leading edges, or waves of the established systems of organized crime surrounded by controlled opposition, operating through backing up deceits with destruction, or by enforcing frauds, developing severe social storms, towards tsunamis, due to the innate contradictions that backing up deceits with destruction does not stop those from still being deceitful, and enforcing frauds does not stop those from still being frauds.
The entire social pyramid system is based on the biggest bullies' bullshit social stories, running through the basic structure of the dominate natural languages and philosophy of science. Greece is an early warning sign of the basic ways that controlling civilization through being able to back up systems of legalized lies with legalized violence makes that civilization become crazier and crazier ... In that context, it is almost impossible to imagine how a civilization so totally dominated by a long, long history of social successes based upon backing up Huge Lies with Lots of Violence, could correct itself.
Human realities were always systems of organized lies operating robberies. Those have become extremely unbalanced dynamic equilibria due to the degree to which that is collectively misunderstood in the maximum possible backward ways. That kind of civilization is run by the best available professional liars and immaculate hypocrites. In that context, the next Greek government is probably going to continue that trend, because the majority of people will continue to want to believe in the bullshit that enables professional hypocrites to successfully operate.
Some of the people who post comments on Zero Hedge are presuming that more disorganized crime would be better than more organized crime. I think they are mistaken. While the established systems may collapse into chaos due to their own madness, whatever survives through that will make developing some new form of government their first priority, because relatively disorganized crime is worse than relatively organized crime.
Most of the suggestions of various ways to "kill the bankers," or lesser versions of that, are not practically possible, but rather, would actually end up hurting the most vulnerable the most, like the poor young children, etc. ... Those who are spouting that typical, over-simplistic bullshit about changing the death controls, by killing the banksters, without any better conceptualization of the overall artificial selection systems, within the context of natural selection, tend to post stupid comments, which are typical examples of why there is no better opposition, since they are deliberately ignoring their own profound contradictions, when they assert that the "solutions" are to kill the killers, or rob the robbers.
Those kinds of statements are that of another form of controlled opposition, because they are still thinking in basically the same old-fashioned false fundamental dichotomy ways. Therefore, they can propose obviously impossible "ideals" such as that there be no government, which is the same as proposing that there be no organized crime. In fact, there can be nothing but organized crime, and therefore, the only genuine solutions are better organized crime, which would require more people understanding that, rather than collapsing back into various over-simplistic bullshit "solutions."
The events in Greece are examples of the same old dominant organized crime gang, the banksters, being able to control their opposition. Given the degree to which the vast majority of Greeks, as well as the rest of the world's population, do not fully understand what the banksters are doing (because they do not want to), there can not currently be any opposition that does not continue to be controlled by the banksters' bullshit world view, since that dominates the minds of the vast majority of the people.
I hate bankers (and anyone in any form of financial services) as much as most on ZH, but they are not responsible for everything that goes wrong in the world. The Greeks are just an economic disaster case, pure and simple.
I agree but people are suffering from cognitive dissonance, they do not want to accept that they are part of evil system as long as they are propagandized to believe that they benefit from it even at cost to others.
Mothers sending their sons to Iraq to see them coming back as zombies without limbs, suffering PTSD, only to keep their cushy government or corporate job or retirement, is appalling and inhumane. It is what exactly ruling class of Armani suit global gangsters has in mind, corrupting people’s souls to acquiesce and subdue them. For righteous rest there are so-called laws, cheap and effective substitute to violence. For realists with moral backbone they have blunt violence only.
Stalin once said: if you killed your opposition you must recreate it otherwise people will create it for you. The fact is that in our world of propaganda of fake chaos, engineered uncertainty, illusion of free choices everything is strictly controlled and planned by totalitarian global bureaucratic mafia style system fronting by figure-heads of so-called state governments which behave as medieval lords running protection/extortion rackets as national policies. Any little chime of freedom or blink of true independence is being eradicated instantly, as soon as it is realized that it is genuine, unplugged from matrix of lies, and not a stunt awaiting payoff.
It is easy to break a man by threatening those he loves. Plato tells us that in “Republic” describing how in principle the same power system reincarnates into variety of forms depending on ways citizen morals are corrupted by propaganda of power. We are heading for collapse of civilization by design of ruling power, and there is nothing stopping it because horrified people suppress that fact and keep dancing on Titanic hoping for heart attack before water reaches their nose.
Interesting take on system of current political power and alternatives I found at:
https://contrarianopinion.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/regime-change-we-can-...
..it is not too late...
I am convinced, that it is passe, dear Marxists at Syrza.
Greece's problem can be summed up by Margret Thatcher's familiar quote: "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
But Tsipras, like all politicos universally, got elected based on a lie. Namely that, "...the loathed bailout program wouldn't be extended and that Greece would have a fresh start ... one without austerity."
The coffee the dude had to wake up and smell was that the market-enforced austerity of a default would be far worse, initially, than the austerity imposed by the EU banksters. In the long run Greece would be better off taking their medicine from Mr. Market, because a default would relieve them of the carrying charges of the banksters on their backs by relieving them of said banksters.
Either way, austerity will be enforced. The market's way, there will be hell to pay forcing an end to the socialistic nonsense, but there will be hope for recovery. The banksters' way, there will be... Well... I hope they like banksters.
Wow, looks like the pissed-off sockpuppets are back. Looks like the EU put some on the payroll.
One very important factor is missing in the formula: hardworking people who are willin to work hard for the betterment of the county!
Greeks are spolit kids who want to enjoy life while they work as little as possible!
But they don't have much natural resources
Hence keeping them in Euro zone will forver be a burden to the other members. In the first place they did not even qualify to be a memebr of Euro zone! They got in by cheating!
Since they wanted to get into Euro zone so much, there must be some benefits they see in Euro zone, and I don't think they will leave!
It took Greece less then a month to hoodwink itself.
the Sun is hot
water is wet
leadership strategy has failed miserably
Looks like it's time for a Greek "color revolution".
Due to the fraudulent misrepresentations of Greece's financials by Goldman two things should be going on: 1. investigation into Goldman actions which could result in charges against former Greek politicians and 2. Greece needs to declare it's debris odious debt. If Syriza isn't up to it they should get out of the way.
we must look reality in the face and speak the language of honesty
-----
Okay, then. Let's be honest. The only way Greece has a freaking chance is to throw off the EU chains, declare 100% default on debts, exit the EU, and do what you claim was already in your plan, namely "run a balanced budget".
In other words...
YOU MUST TAKE UNILATERAL ACTIONS
Greece is acting like a first grader who thinks he needs permission to go the rest room in order to avoid crapping his pants. This is ABSURD.
If you were prepared to run a budget surplus as part of the agreement with EU, in which much of your income was wasted on debt repayment, then you sure as hell can run a balanced budget after declaring 100% default on debt, and having zero debt payments to make.
These so-called "leaders" seem just as brainwashed as "regular folks" today. Why does everyone think they need to negotiate for permission to run their own lives?
The only solution for Greece, as well as any individual anywhere, is to take responsibility for your own life. Once you do that, it is TRIVIAL and NATURAL to tell anyone who demands anything from you to TAKE A HIKE.
Be free or be slave. There is no middle ground.
For any sane individual, this is an easy choice.
-----
BTW, I get the impression that half or more of the Greek population is more-or-less frozen, waiting for some viable, sensible situation to occur, so they can see their way forward clearly enough to take action (start a business, or whatever).
The ONLY WAY to unleash this energy and production is DECLARE 100% DEFAULT, and DECLARE INDEPENDENCE. Once the Greek people KNOW in no uncertain terms that they are on their own, and will sink or swim based upon their own actions... THEY WILL ACT. And they will move forward. But you must create an absolute prohibition on government debt. Otherwise the predators-that-be, whether Syriza or others, will destroy viability yet again. Not a single politician on the planet at this point in history is willing to voluntarily limit expenses to revenue received. So the choice must be removed.
-----
Of course the only real solution for humans everywhere on the planet is... they must be protected from the consequences of actions taken by the fictional "leaders" of their fictional "governments".
Agreed.
Right now, they may as well drive in with bulldozers, plow over the country and allow the ECB to put high rise hotels all over.
But, not having been at the meeting, you have to wonder what the Greek officials had thrown at them. How much leverage does the ECB have over the day-to-day functions in Greece?
I thought the oil pipeline and offshore gas wells would be enough leverage. Maybe they can try again when the price of oil goes back up.