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Athenian Democracy vs. Neoliberal Gods
Authored by Pepe Escobar, originally posted at SputnikNews.com,
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras allows the Greek people to decide their own fate via a democratic referendum. That’s enough to send the troika – the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission (EC), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - into a paroxysm of rage. Here, in a nutshell, is everything one needs to know about the EU “dream”.
Tsipras is, of course, right; he had to call a referendum because the troika had delivered “an ultimatum towards Greek democracy and the Greek people.” Indeed, “an ultimatum at odds with the founding principles and values of Europe.”
But why? Because the apparently so sophisticated politico-economic web of European “institutions” – the EC, the Eurogroup, the ECB – had to come up with a serious political decision; and due, essentially, to their nasty mix of greed and incompetence, they were incapable of making it. At least EU citizens now start to get the picture on who their enemy is: the non-transparent “institutions” who supposedly represent them.
The – so far — 240 billion euro bailout of Greece (which featured Greece being used to launder bailouts of French and German banks) has yielded a whole national economy shrinking by over 25%; widespread unemployment; and poverty soaring to unprecedented levels. And for the EU “institutions” – plus the IMF – there was never any Plan B; it was the euro-austerity way – a sort of economic Shock and Awe — or the (desperation) highway. The pretext was to “save the euro”. What makes it even more absurd is that Germany simply couldn’t care less if Greece defaults and a Grexit is inevitable.
And even though the EU operates in practice as a clumsy, reactionary behemoth, the puzzling spectacle remains of otherwise reputable intellectuals, such as Jurgen Habermas, denouncing the Syriza party as “nationalistic” and praising former Goldman Sachs golden boy, ECB president Mario Draghi.
Waiting for Diogenes
The July 5 referendum goes way beyond Greeks responding whether they accept or reject more humongous tax hikes and pension cuts (affecting many that are already below the official poverty line); that’s the sine qua non by the troika — qualified as “barbaric measures” by many a Greek minister — to unblock yet another bailout.
A case can be made that a more pertinent referendum on July 5 would be posing this question: “What is the red line for Greece to remain part of the euro?”
Prime Minister Tsipras and Finance Minister Varoufakis turned upside down insistent rumors that they would accept any humiliation to remain in the eurozone. That only served to radicalize even more the German politico-economic elite – from Iron Lady Merkel to Finance Minister Schauble. Their not so hidden “secret” is that they want Greece out of the euro now.
And that is leading quite a few Greeks — who still believed in the benefits of a supposedly common financial house – to slowly start accepting a Grexit. With their heads held high.
The ECB has not gone totally nuclear – yet, crashing the whole Greek banking sector. But by de facto capping the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) this past weekend, all hell will break loose if millions of Greeks decide to withdraw all their savings early this week, ahead of the referendum.
The Bank of Greece, “as a member of the Eurosystem”, as a communiqué stressed, “will take all measures necessary to ensure financial stability for Greek citizens in these difficult circumstances.” This implies serious limits on bank withdrawals – thus allowing Greece to survive until referendum day.
Still, no one knows what happens after July 5. Grexit remains a distinct possibility. Projecting further, and taking a leaf from Wagner’s Ring, it also seems clear that the euro “institutions” themselves have been adding fuel to the fire that may eventually consume the eurozone – a direct consequence of their zeal to immolate the Greeks just like Brunnhilde.
What Greece – the cradle of Western civilization — has already shown the world should make their citizens proud; nothing like a shot of democracy to make the Gods of Neoliberalism go berserk.
One may be tempted to invoke a post-modern Diogenes, the first homeless philosopher, with a lantern, looking for an honest man (in Brussels? Berlin? Frankfurt?) and never finding one. But instead of meeting the greatest celebrity of the day – Alexander the Great — let’s imagine another encounter as our post-mod Diogenes suns himself in an outdoor court in Athens.
“I am Wolfgang Schauble, the Lord of German finance.”
“I am Diogenes the Cynic.”
“Is there any favor that I may bestow upon you?”
“Yes. Stand out of my light.”
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Welcome to our Potempkin village. Reality is just too unpredictable and "messy."
Why confront real events when one can set up the pins and just bowl?
This is what history has taught our "leaders".
"Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras allows the Greek people to decide their own fate via a democratic referendum. That’s enough to send the troika – the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission (EC), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - into a paroxysm of rage. Here, in a nutshell, is everything one needs to know about the EU “dream”." -- Pepe Escobar
I'm becoming a cynic
AND A SKEPTIC TOO!
DEATH TO THE APOSTATE!
A JIHAD ON YOU!
lol, mixing up languages now
In Ancient Greece if you lost the "argument" (rhetoric) you would be killed.
"Choose your words wisely...
nope, you would be "ostracized" - a fate worst than death since it meant the loss of CITIzenship
(whereby you become ANESTIOS, i.e. without home, without a place to call your POLIS)
... Here, in a nutshell, is everything one needs to know about the EU "dream: it's both unaffordable and unsustainable.
If anyone thinks Greece is going to be fixed by an election that leaves a Greek in charge, FAT CHANCE.
OBJECTIVE YOUR HONOR! ARGUMENTATIVE!
(SUSTAINED...
Who cares if Greece is fixed? The whole point is to destroy the EU and the IMF, whatever it takes...
"At least EU citizens now start to get the picture on who their enemy is: the non-transparent “institutions” who supposedly represent them."
Really? They are starting to wake up? I doubt it.
Tsipras had darned well better have a plan for Monday.
Any plan. Because having no plan would be a disaster.
His Finance Minister apparently already has plans to leave should the vote be "yes."
"American Airlines back to Texas" no doubt...
Infinite usury or freedom; that is the choice.
The Truth About Greece: Syriza’s Creatively Ambiguous Referendum @ http://99getsmart.com/the-truth-about-greece-syrizas-creatively-ambiguou...
Very informative.
Surprisingly well-researched, many things in there that I wouldn't expect foreigners to have taken note of.
Fascinating.
Miss Ross, are the authors of this blog Trotskyites?
99GetSmart is my blog and I am an agonista!
Athenian "democracy" was build on the backs of slaves... just sayin.
We have machines in place of slaves. The average Murcan has the equivalent of 200 slaves waiting on them hand and foot. And as long as we have cheap and abundant energy to power our modern "slaves"... oh wait
Aristotle famously advocated and defended slavery, and in some ways pioneered the notion of "superior" and "inferior" peoples, or "races". For all of his contributions to scientific thought across the ages, he would do the history of the world a very great disservice with this.
The Greek Gods will usher Greece into abject poverty, and destruction of Greece. Democracy will automatically find it's corollary in all out anarchy, and chaos/contagion, come Tuesday morning.
Lay some Zeus-type ass kicking on the Troika.
The sun will rise Monday.
To even start discussion we have to state the fact that this whole EU/EURO thing is run by Armani suit gangsters leading by Schauble Capo di tutti Capi who in concert with local Greek thugs have been looting Greece national treasures for decades and this is just current chapter of the playbook of exploitation.
It is disturbing that only few seem to truly want to write epilogue to the disgusting book of human suffering or propose viable alternative.
There were forces in Greece that challenged such corrupted state of affairs but were brutally suppressed by invasion of British Marines in support for pro-Hitler fascist regime embedded in, fused with recalcitrant oligarchic-theocratic Greek state in early 1940-ties. From there it only got worse.
Below there is a quote from my comment from few days ago which attempts to explain apparent puzzling moves by Syriza including motivation for whole this unintelligible referendum.
Again we see demoralizing factor of mere fact of voting in this fake democracy, giving people fake choice that will only divide them and bring nothing by disenfranchisement from politics exactly as the ruling elite wants. In order to harness people's concerns about stability of their future people must stand on principles and sacrifice political expedience. Any compromise is just a betrayal of remaining those who still believe in democratic process.
There is no dancing around the facts or adopting ostrich politics.
If you are true Greek patriot and not a fake Mr. Tsipras, manup. Prove me wrong. Stand up for Greek People and Fight EU mafia bankers.
I'll have you know that the mere fact that he sits in the Prime Minister's office has people going around, in broad daylight, declaring that he needs to be killed.
You can't easily discern the effect SYRIZA is having on Greece politically and socially. A large number of people are foaming, they can't accept that PASOK and New Democrary have been forever screwed up. Samaras didn't dare show his face in NAI rallies (organized by his own party). For the past week, the media have been trying to overthrow the government. This a first, never seen before phenomenon. Blatantly.
Tsipras is Greece's new political god, and his existence alone throws a wrench in the gears of the country's corruption-machine.
What we are dealing with here are gangsters in Athens and Brussels that unleashed 1984 style propaganda against Syriza, that's the fact. And Tsipras if he pushes hard could be killed no doubt about it. But if it stops him or slows him down he should resign immediately for someone what will not be susceptible to threats or extortion attempts. In politics there is only one criterion that matters namely effectiveness in achieving political results. When true change of power is concerned any change is revolutionary and likely ignite violence instigate by weaken power elites. I am for majority Greek people and whoever expresses their will of returning to humanity in social and economic relations.
Sad that the nation responsible for "Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts" has been similarly victimized by the troika cash gift horse and it's deadly, hidden, unpayable debt, and worse, that that nation is still unclear as to what has happened, and is only now beginning to debate what to do about it.
Happy 4th of July celebrating our American Independence (sovereignty gone) and our American democracy (overthrown by fascist government of, for and by multinational corporate monopoly). The only un-American people celebrating our lost democracy today are low life Teabaggers and bankster fascist.
The Greek People are in revolt against central banksters and their criminal weapons of selling debt as wealth, fraud and corruption.
A “no” vote will give them democratic solidarity against criminal debt.
A “yes” vote will bring a Greek revolution.
Bravo!! Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. You are a democratic (government of, for and by the People) statesman of the highest order in Greek civilized tradition; Aristotle would be proud of you for calling for a referendum.
The fate of Greece is the fate of the USA and all other nations under the octopus of central bankster criminal debt, fraud and chaos.
Criminal activity must be framed as criminal activity and therefore the solution has to be framed in how do we break the criminal stronghold and bring the criminals to Justice for their conspirator criminal activity and repudiating the criminal debt.
We should be examining how to prosecution the central bankster fascist (merger of multinational corporate monopoly with government) criminal cabal and review professors Black, Chossudovsky, Hudson and researchers Gavin Marshall and Nomi Prins research into the criminal cabal activities.
I am a 71 year old student that has been following the maneuvers of the American bankster fascist most of my life. The EU was designed, financed and implemented by the criminal banksters and their shadow government of the Council on Foreign Relations. The banksters CFR activities are well documented over the last 60 odd years in plotting Treason against the USA and implementing the fascist New World Order. Selling debt as wealth is their weapon.
Do gold bugs really believe that the central criminal banksters are going to lose control of the gold market in the USA? Today, the currency is fiat but the BRICS gold backed currency of tomorrow will set a new gold standard. The bankster criminals stole all the USA gold when we went off the Gold Standard. The criminals’ loot, pillage, burn bridges and destroy as they move forward so that there is no way back. When the bankster criminals need gold, Emperor Obama via decree, will confiscate the gold in your teeth.
In my opinion, it will take a violent revolution to bring the fascist bankster criminals to Justice, until then, we are all victims.
All for a referendum, they can pick their own fate. But why did Tsipras not hold this a week ago or two weeks ago? Now it is just absurd to vote on an offer taken off the table when banks are already out of money
No it's absurd that the TROIKA pulled the rug from under their feet. These Filthy Cunts bend rules when they see fit as in the IMF happy to bail out the Fascist Regime of Kiev who are NON EU/NATO but willing to shaft Tsipras and Greece.
Two weeks ago Greece regime was in negotiations. A snap vote will, more or less, keep the big bankster money from corrupting the vote (like they do in the US),
' . . forget about your troubles and your strife . . . just the bare necessities of mother nature's recipes . . . . will come to you, will come to you. '
F that it's not over until the last bullet's fired.
As Mario Drughi say's ' they can pull the key to the printing press from my cold dead hand '.
In a long comment by an alert Greek observer today, he made clear how deep and massive corruption, pervasive in the Greek economy for many decades, is the true cause of any Greek government's inability to balance its budget or meet its international obligations. Trading and speculating in petroleum and products is a very large part of the Greek economy. It is run by mafia-type organizations which pay no taxes. Seeing this, other Greeks oligarchs join in the party, starving the government. This has been the case for decades, under all governments, under Drachma or Euro. It is only possible to correct this situation if a government arises which is willing and able to prosecute this behavior. So it is useless to blame EU fascists, or irresponsible Syriza socialists for the current predicament. These are useless scapegoats while the true thieves fatten.
It will be 'Yes', in the mistaken belief that this "choice" will somehow preserve a preferable status quo.
This would enrage the OXI side and give Tsipras a titanic percentage in the elections that are sure to follow a NAI result. SYRIZA wins either way, not sure about Greece.
A case can be made that a more pertinent referendum on July 5 would be posing this question: “What is the red line for Greece to remain part of the euro?”
I would suggest a more pertinent referendum would be
"Do you want to take on more debts with no HAIRCUT on existing debt and become debt serfs?"
YES -- MEANS YOUR DEBT WHICH AS IT IS AT $300BILLION YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PAY WILL INCREASE FURTHER TO $350 OR $400 BILLION AND THUS MAKE GREEKS SERFS TO GERMANY and UNDER THE YOKEL OF DEBT THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THEIR LIVES - CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN INCLUDED.
NO -- MEANS YOU GET A HAIRCUT ON YOUR EXISTING DEBT OR WRITE IT OFF FULLY. ASK GERMANS TO GO F*** THEMSELVES. JUST THINK OF WORLD WARII TO UNDERSTAND THE KIND OF DAMAGE A GERMAN CAN DO.
Life after a NO is going to be bad but life after a YES is going to be worse -- can you think of anything worse than having to grovel upto your creditors and making your children and grandchildren debt serfs.
It all boils down to a question of haircut on existing debts. Germany and the like do not want this because they have taken the debt on thier books from the banks (bailed out banks) and now if they are punched on thier face they have some explaining to do to the tax-payers. Not that it would be too difficult. After all tax-payers are always ready and bent over.
As far as I am concerned I am willing to undergo anything to get rid of the yokel of debt (that too foisted on the Greeks illegally by the EU and ECB).
"YES -- MEANS YOUR DEBT WHICH AS IT IS AT $300BILLION YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PAY WILL INCREASE FURTHER TO $350 OR $400 BILLION AND THUS MAKE GREEKS SERFS TO GERMANY and UNDER THE YOKEL OF DEBT THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THEIR LIVES - CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN INCLUDED."
If they can't pay the $300 billion, what difference does it make if that debt increases to $400 billion or $400 trillion? It's not going to get paid. Who cares how they vote?
Greeks will vote for anything with a promise of free stuff.
LOL...said the American...