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Greece: Your Money or Your Life
Greece is at the epicenter of an horrific assault on working people and on their democracy. As a result of corruption at the top of the Greek government and world wide finance capital, that nation is teetering on the brink of insolvency. The rescue cooked up by the same people who created the problem is in fact anything but.
The so-called bail out is a plan to destroy the last vestiges of the welfare state and the expectations of humanity that they can have any hope of being treated fairly in capitalist countries. The European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission have descended like vultures, making it crystal clear where their interests lie.
In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to the Greek parliament, the depth of the assault is in print for all to see. In order to be rescued and receive a 130 billion euro loan, the Greeks have to first sacrifice themselves and their lives. One portion of the MOU sums up the issue succinctly:
The Government will neither propose nor implement measures which may infringe the rules on the free movement of capital. Neither the State nor other public bodies will conclude shareholder agreements with the intention or effect of hindering the free movement of capital or influence the management or control of companies.”
That says it all. Of course pensions and wages have been cut, and thousands of government workers will lose their jobs. Capital is the priority on the agenda, but human beings don’t even make the list. Not only will Greeks have to lose their livelihoods, but they will no longer be protected by government regulations. The MOU clearly states that baby food will no longer be inspected for safety. The baby is indeed being tossed out with the bath water.
The European lords of capital are living out a fantasy life, where there is no longer any doubt about who rules. Their counterparts on this side of the ocean have already set the wheels in motion to dominate the lives of Americans. Unlike the Greeks, Americans have submitted to life with diminishing health benefits, cuts in Medicare and Social Security, and cuts in expenditures at every level of government.
The people of Greece obviously have more class consciousness. They have taken to the streets, leaving no doubt that they are angry and not only with the bankster class but with politicians as well. Their willingness to show righteous indignation allowed them to postpone the day of reckoning, but ultimately they were no match for the power of cold, hard cash.
Americans should be paying close attention to events in Greece. They are omens showing people around the world what lies in store for them when thieves in high places get their way.
The MOU shows in black and white that the aim of the bankers is to demolish the hard won rights of people in the so-called democratic world. Greece’s government has been neutered, relegated to the whims of high finance. Greece may still have a prime minister and a parliament, but they now rule in name only. A military coup could not have driven home the point more clearly.
What does democracy really mean? If Greeks, Americans and other people are left with nothing but the ability to cast a vote, democracy is of very limited value. The sad truth is that citizens of supposedly democratic countries live in dictatorships of, for, and by the rich. If as the MOU states, “We aim to accomplish a fundamental shift of public assets to private sector control” then there is nothing left to do but fight back for our livelihoods and indeed our lives.
Beginning in 2008, Americans got a dose of some of the same medicine. We were told that our economy would implode if we didn’t give our money to bail out the very same banks which created the crisis. Four years and trillions of dollars later, we are still in a recession, unemployment remains high, ordinary people have lost their assets and our president and Congress bicker over how much they can cut government spending and ruin our lives even more.
The Greeks are ahead of the curve. At least they stood up and protested. Hopefully more people around the world will be like them instead of like passive Americans. Hopefully Americans will stop being passive before they end up like people in Greece.
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53 Comments so far
Show AllBrilliant article!
I agree, capitalism is a direct threat to our democracies, what is left of them, and Greece is a proxy for the rest of us - a test case - to see how far they can push us before we revolt.
Manysummits in Calgary
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The events in Greece are indeed an "omen" or a harbinger of what lies ahead for other nations including the US.
As soon as Obama is re-elected in November he will begin implementing additional austerity in the US, focussing on gutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other "domestic programs".
For God's sake. The least you can do is vote 3rd party.
Tuscany - & All:
Maybe it's time we stopped thinking about the "least we can do", and here on Common Dreams talk about what we actually should do. In other words, the right thing - rather than the wrong thing.
How to put it - leave intellectualism to Noam Chomsky and others of his ilk - and seek natural justice.
We of the Western Way, and I think of most, or even all high civilizations, have lost our way.
The right thing to do is to replace the current batch of politicians almost everywhere with men and women of the highest integrity and honor. It is up to each civilization to determine those seen to possess these qualities.
~ Quality ~ Quality ~ Quality ~
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You can swap out the politicians all you like. If the system is left in place, nothing will change.
The current system will not tolerate "men and women of the highest integrity and honor." It silences them, marginalizes them, hunts them down and kills them.
This essay should go viral, it is absolutely that perfectly "right on the money," LOL.
Here in France we support the Greek people ...and fully expect the bankster mafia to come after us next. If Sarko has his way we will all become wage slaves to the same elite masters who are currently orchestrating his "re-election.".
Ditto in the US with Obama's bankster orchestrated re-election.
If last summer's contrived US debt ceiling charade was any indication, US voters will be once again falling for Obama's propaganda and contacting their Congressional representatives in record numbers demanding "austerity" that enriches the 1% at the expense of the 99%..
The MOU is a bald-faced declaration of war upon "we the people" everywhere. It's an attempt to turn a democratic republic into one, gigantic "company town". The same agenda is obviously being pursued in all nations. This is a very old ploy, tried again & again, throughout history. It is always met with a "peasant revolt". Sometimes these revolts succeed, and then it's called a "revolution". These would-be "lords of the realm", these pretenders-to-the-throne of global reign, are at it again. Will they succeed, or will these weasels be slapped down? I happen to think the very paradigm that allows this scenario to play out, over & over again, is itself under-going a change, or shift, and these darker games will no longer have a place to play out, on this planet.The GAME is changing under our very feet.
How will the game change as long as so many of the 99% keep falling for 1%'s propaganda ?
It's very hard to trace out the steps (one would have to be a genuine "seer". I'm not one). In a similar way that people, somehow, decided to switch from hunting/gathering & pastoralism, to settled living. In a similar way to how European culture switched from "belonging to a church" in the dark & middle ages, to "belonging to a nation" in renaissance/enlightenment times. Other, similar, paradigm changes apply. What's the mechanism/agent-of-change? I don't know. Where do thoughts & ideas come from? and what, exactly, causes change-of-mind? Know the REAL answer to that, and you'll have the answer (no facile appeal to evidence will satisfy. Revolutions in the scientific findings really only happen when the "old school" dies out, leaving the "new school" holding the field). Probably what will happen is when the same "formulas for reign & rule" are repeated, the babblers will be met by "guffaws" from the 99ers, instead of nods-of-approval. Something will have changed in the minds of the 99ers. The Zeitgeist will have visited in Its' invisible way.
Well said. It's Gone Global now and the Changes are coming thick and fast. Occupy the Planet. The sooner the USA gov't / military is brought to heel the better, for they are the criminals and terrorists.
I agree that the US gov't, including its' military services must be broken & reined in, and it will happen, one way or another. It is OUR gov't dammit (we, the 99ers). It is OUR instrument for promoting the general welfare, establishing justice, providing for OUR common defense. Its' functionaries have ALLOWED themselves to becomes the willing tools of the REAL criminals & terrorists of the world; the wallstreet & city-of-london "financier mafia". This crime syndicate is a walking, talking, breathing blasphemy, and crime against humanity. They don't have much longer to enjoy the Light. They, like all other things in existence, will PAY for their actions.
"The people of Greece obviously have more class consciousness. They have taken to the streets, leaving no doubt that they are angry and not only with the bankster class but with politicians as well. Their willingness to show righteous indignation allowed them to postpone the day of reckoning, but ultimately they were no match for the power of cold, hard cash."
Yes. Some citizens believe we should show righteous indignation here in the U.S., but they are shouted down by those who believe only passive resistance will sway the oligarchs. Those who believe so passionately in nonviolence should be respected, but I absolutely do not respect the actions of nonviolence advocates who believe in filming anarchists and turning them into the FBI. In my opinion, that is a despicable, cowardly act in these days when citizens can be "disappeared" and end up imprisoned for life with no trial. I am also appalled when nationally-recognized writers single out and malign their fellow citizens, just because they disagree with their tactics. No person claim the high road if he, in his zeal for nonviolence, causes another to be compromised in these dangerous times.
On a brighter note, as far as Greece is concerned, the courageous Members of Parliament (MP's) who were kicked out of their parties for voting no on austerity could form a new government, and the people would definitely vote for them. The new government would in no way be obligated to repay those loans the current government agreed to. Also, the Police Union has threatened to issue arrest warrants for EU/IMF officials.
So there is chaos in Greece, but there is a sliver of hope. At the moment, I don't see a sliver of hope in our future. "Courageous politician" is an oxymoron in the U.S., the police are aligned with the oligarchs for now, and nonviolent resistance, accompanied by throwing fellow-citizens to the government wolves, will, in my opinion, probably not thwart what the predatory capitalists have in mind for us.
Americans not only throw their fellow citizens to the wolves, they fall for corporate propaganda to the extent that record numbers of them contacted their electeds last summer demanding austerity that will negatively impact them and their fellow Americans, austerity that will further enrich the 1% at the expense of the 99%..
In greece they had to get the democratically elected prime minister to quit so they could install the goldman sachs/ tri-lateral commission/central bankster as their new leader.
Here we elect the criminals - as we will with either romney, santorum or obama.
The global coup continues unabated.
Do you also think that the working class people in the US are living beyond what they earn and need a painful lesson?
If you do think that, say so openly and then support and defend your position.
Where do you think the money that banks loan comes from?
Looking at that mountain of consumer debt in the United States, I would say Yes, people are living beyond their means. Do they need a painful lesson? Perhaps. Shopping is the national past-time and everyone seems to feel the need to have the latest gadget, the latest fashion. Etc...
IF you don't have the money to buy the iPod, don't put it on your credit card, just don't buy it.
Now that being said, it is also obvious that the working class is under dramatic assault by the moneyed interests and that standards of living are plummeting. Though one could argue that the "American standard of living" is unsustainable in the first place. But the assault on the working class is not about reducing the standard for altruistic purposes, rather, a massive wealth transfer.
It is difficult for me to understand how people arrive at the view you are expressing here. It contradicts all direct experience.
You say that "shopping is the national past-time and everyone seems to feel the need to have the latest gadget, the latest fashion." That only applies to a small segment of the population, although that upscale professional suburban population looms large and seems to represent the entire population, for the simple reason that they control and dominate the national discussion.
The unsustainable lifestyle is being imposed on people, it is not springing up from the people - as the propagandists and marketers would have us believe. Half of the population is struggling to afford necessities. The problem is not wasteful over-consumption, but wasteful over-production, and wasteful over-production is inevitable with capitalism.
Debt has also been imposed on people, it does not originate in some flaw of character or something. It is a scam, a hustle, perpetrated on the many by the few.
With productivity vastly higher than in the past, and so many suffering, how can we possibly believe that working class people are living beyond their means?
Why is it always those with the least, those without power, those who have so little in the first place, who must be given painful lessons?
"Why is it always those with the least, those without power, those who have so little in the first place, who must be given painful lessons?"
I am not speaking of the poor. I am speaking of the so called middle class. I don't know where you live or what your experiences have been (which affect perspective), but from where I sit, I see rampant consumerism and unsustainable levels of debt. Debt for the McMansion, Debt for the car, Credit Card Debt, Store Card Debt... gotta keep up with the Joneses. Now considering that most families are stretched financially, this materialism is possibly waning.
You're also completely missing my point about the "American way of life" being completely unsustainable.
http://www.economywatch.com/economy-business-and-finance-news/a-dozen-alarming-consumer-debt-statistics.21-05.html
None of what you are describing is happening in my neighborhood, nor in most neighborhoods in the country. Most people are struggling to keep their heads above water, not to "keep up with the Joneses."
"The poor" compromise well over half of the population. The "so called middle class" comprises maybe 10% of the population now.
Seeing the drama and angst of that 10% as being universal, as being the standard for what is typical or important, and projecting it onto the general population is what I am complaining about,
I understand your point about the "American way of life" being completely unsustainable. I disagree with it.
"I understand your point about the "American way of life" being completely unsustainable. I disagree with it."
You disagree that the "American way of life" is unsustainable? Really? Consider the following:
The United States, with less than 5 % of the global population, uses about a quarter of the world’s fossil fuel resources—burning up nearly 25 % of the coal, 26 % of the oil, and 27 % of the world’s natural gas.
As of 2003, the U.S. had more private cars than licensed drivers, and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles were among the best-selling vehicles.
New houses in the U.S. were 38 % bigger in 2002 than in 1975, despite having fewer people per household on average
An estimated 65 % of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, leading to an annual loss of 300,000 lives and at least $117 billion in health care costs in 1999.
In 2002, 61 % of U.S. credit card users carried a monthly balance, averaging $12,000 at 16 % interest. This amounts to about $1,900 a year in finance charges—more than the average per capita income in at least 35 countries (in purchasing power parity).
I disagree that the social conditions are being caused by the personal individual choices of the working class people.
Everything you say in your post is true, however, are those effects or causes? I say they are effects.
The people are just helpless victims?
Victims, yes. Of course. Helpless, no. We have strength in numbers. We have no strength in personal individual choices.
Change the context within which people make individual choices, and all of those choices will quickly change. No amount of individual choices will change the social context, however.
It cannot possibly be the working class people in Greece who spent more than they earned. If that were the case, investors would not have gotten rich while the working class people would not have been left empty handed. Your assertion is a logical impossibility. The investors did much, much better, and the producers did much, much worse. Someone is spending beyond their means, alright, but it ain't the working class population of Greece.
Investors came to Greece because they saw that the Greek people were producing wealth, and they wanted it. If the Greek people were not, then the investors would not have come. even if what you say is true - that the working class in Greece was a bad investment, then still, who should feel the pain when the investments go south?
Before there can be banking, before there can be wealth, there must first be labor. If you make and sell some chairs, let's say, you may deposit those earnings in the bank. The bank then lends that to your neighbor who is making candles, perhaps. if the bank instead takes that money, pays stockholders handsomely, pays their officers extravagant salaries, makes risky investments and loses that money, why should either the chair maker or the candle maker pay for that malfeasance and theft? Why can the chair maker no longer afford candles and the candle maker no longer afford chairs? They both "earned" enough to buy from each other. They are living below their means now, not above their means. Where did that wealth go? We can easily see that there is a class of people making no candles, no chairs or anything else, who are living extravagantly beyond anyone's imagination. and they are the very people who were handling and controlling the money and the economy.
Who "lived beyond their means" in that scenario? Who should pay? Who is the slacker? Who should "feel the pain?"
Since it was the state powers, who were seduced by the banksters selling all those "get rich quick" derivatives & swaps "investments," your concluding statement sounds like a slick and disgusting way to blame The People for what took place without their knowledge or consent. As seen in this statement:
"just very, very painful to go back to living on what you earn."
You are purposely conflating the pain that will be felt here and abroad with the false premise that it was everyday people living beyond their means that "brought it on." Either you're brain-dead and thus inured to the actual causative factors, or you're another person here to spread dis-information.
I'll bet you think Social Security and Medicare ought to be cut, too, along with necesssary government-provided services? Where's your outrage for no muscle around reinstating Glass-Steagall? Or using a Robin Hood tax/Tobin Tax on Wall Street transactions? Or having the IRS go after off-shore tax havens for the very rich? Or cutting back on the military monster? Or leveraging social security tax on incomes over $250,000 (or whatever the cut-off is).
No. Just make it about The People requiring a lesson in learning to live on what they earn... as their jobs are off-shored, as the minimum wage makes NO effort to keep up with all the inflated costs of modern life. As if machinations on the part of powerbrokers isn't the real item that brought all this on!
And even if your "blame the victim" remark was aimed at the citizens of Greece, very similar metrics apply to both nations and the way the 90% are being set up to pay the price for choices profitably made by the 10%.
You're either full of shit, uninformed, or making a right wing libertarian argument. Greece was victimized by the banksters of Wall St. Its 1% lured into loans that exacerbated its debt burden when the bubble popped. This outcome is happening in other regions, as well. Iceland was one that decided to take radical measures to cut off the beast. You WANT to make it about individual choice, or put the focus on individual consumer patterns; and while those are a factor... they are not THE factor, nor the cause behind the collapse of nations' economies that are now falling like Dominoes. And yes; I WAS talking to you.
"Greece was victimized by the banksters of Wall St. Its 1% lured into loans that exacerbated its debt burden when the bubble popped."
Really, I mean really????... How come Greece didn't stop borrowing or try not to lie on their admission application to the EU. Get real. The political class in Greece knew very well what was going on but didn't have the will or the balls to stop it, kicked the can down the road.
"The people" didn't wanna know, they just wanted the good life to continue. well, it's time to pay the piper. A long time ago, in a place that doesn't even exist any more I saw an inscription someone had etched onto a wall: "Everyone wants to dance with the devil, but nobody wants to pay the band".
Find as many excuses as you want, but Greece's goose is cooked. They're gonna have some bad times ahead, whether they go ahead with the EU plan or decide to default. I sure hope everyone takes a good long look and learns from it. Even tho, somehow I doubt it...
Why didn't the government stop borrowing? Because it was a good deal for the politicians, and came at the expense pf the general public - just as is obviously the case here, as well.
The politicians and the bankers made this mess - and profited wildly from it. It is time they pay the piper, and it is time that austerity measures were imposed on them.
It is the bankers and politicians whose "goose is cooked." Count on it.
", and came at the expense pf the general public - just as is obviously the case here, as well"
actually, not. The "general public" profited just as well. Low retirement age, gov mandated salary increases very year, a huge inefficient public sector. It's fun and games as longs as the money keeps flowing. The bad part is when it stops and you gotta deal with the hangover.
Then why is almost everyone doing worse, while productivity has increased? Or would you deny either - or both - of those?
Not sure what you're getting at. Greece spent more money than it was making. Time has come to pay that back. What's with the productivity? They have a national rail rail company losing millions every year, nobody wants to pay taxes... I don't really get your point.
In reality Greece thought they had a certain level of debt to cover - So they developed a plan to pay it off - then Goldman sachs came to them and said 'hey wait theres much more debt - right here off the books'
Suddenly the plan to cover the debt was not enough and Austerity was forced down the greek's throat.
So the problem was a prior admin in greece ran up the debt but Hid it from the public off the books.
Greece got Enroned plain and simple. And the criminals got out before the mess was discovered.
While the banksters tha help hide the debt - goldman sachs - got to name their crony to the prime minister's seat to help hide the bodies.
It was a Financial Coup if there ever was one -
The 'average' citizen of greece didn't run up or hide the debt - nor did they profit from the debt -
"In reality Greece thought they had a certain level of debt to cover - So they developed a plan to pay it off - then Goldman sachs came to them and said 'hey wait theres much more debt - right here off the books'"
Interesting theory. So there's was some kind of shadow gov of Greece that spend like a drunken sailor without anyone knowing it and then simply disappeared? Anything to support it?
Try that thing called 'the google' and stay informed.....
10 second search - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/global/14debt.html?pagewanted=all
And thats the corporate criminals verson of events.....
Google goldman sachs helped greece hide debt off book -
I know i originally read about the scam on Zerohedge - zerohedges answer was for greece to say fuck you to the debt and let it default......
The article just says Wall St helped hide the debt from others. The Greek gov knew well they could not afford what they were doing and were just kicking the can down the road, which is also mentioned in your article.
No one disputes that. You are misrepresenting your own argument here for the purpose of deceiving people. Your opposition is to the working class people in Greece, not to the government. No one here is defending or praising the Greek government, are they?
You can change your "colors" and try to blend with the "background" of the discussion in order to more effectively advance your extremely reactionary talking points, but some of us are not deceived and can still "see" you.
Even with the truth offered up to you - you refuse to accept it.....
You are the walking, talking definiton of cognitive dissonanace.
Quit spinnng and lying - and changng the subject, and other trollish behaviors....
Heres the Political party that ran up the hidden debt - the rightwing party of greece http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democracy_(Greece)
You are the one who advanced an "interesting theory" and who made assertions that you have not supported or defended. It is incumbent upon you to support your position.
If your past behavior is any indication, you will not be able to support or defend assertions, nor refute the arguments of those who challenge your assertions and theories. When that becomes clear, you will abandon the discussion, leaving your assertions unsupported and failing to refute the counter-arguments to your assertions and theories.
You will then re-appear on another thread, and once again make the same assertions and advance the same theories, as though they had not been effectively countered countless times. The format of the site allows you to do this. It also allows me to point it out when it happens.
The fact that Greece's natl rail line loses millions every year is common knowledge. The fact that nobody wants to pay taxes there has also been extensively documented. That the Greek gov spent money well above what they can afford is pretty obvious. Anything else?
The facts you present here are irrelevant and do not support your argument. I notice that you have now subtly shifted your argument from blaming the working class people - which you most definitely have been doing, and consistently do on all topics - to blaming the government. "...the Greek gov spent money..." Do you really want us to believe that anyone here is praising or defending the Greek government? The question is - and you must know this - whether or not the working class people should be forced to suffer for the actions by the politicians in cahoots with the wealthy and powerful in northern Europe.
How would austerity measures overcome the problem of tax evasion by the wealthy in Greece?
Since when are public institutions, such as a national rail line, expected to make money?
"The MOU clearly states that baby food will no longer be inspected for safety."
Well not really. The MOU says somethign to the effect of lifting bans on "retailers to sell restricted product categories such as baby food". Apparently in Greece you had to buy baby formula at a pharmacy or other "licensed" retailer. The prices were also higher then in other EU nations just because of the monopoly of some retailers had on baby food.
But hey, don't let facts stop some good fear mongering....
Shock Doctrine plain as can be. And Milton Friedman's to blame.
Great comment. Shock Doctrine indeed. It is heartening to see someone focus on the problem and article at hand. So many comments about so many things. As to the things the President will do, or won't do, the article is about the bankers and their far reaching plans. Good article. The austerity thing is ingrained in so many people's heads, and the Chicago Boys as they were called, and are still, can't see anything any other way. The more they cut, the richer some will get, but seriously doubt the economy in Greece, here or Italy will get better. They need to feed the economy, not starve it.
The story will be told to Kings a thousand years from now, about how a land called the United States produced the best slaves the world had ever seen.
"In order to be rescued"
Hilarious! Das kapitalist mafia to the rescue! Weeee! I guess the people can stand on their own pair of feet, thank you! Can we shred that school curriculum for the bonfire now? Or shall we continue with the ideational criminality?
In the end only two groups will be left standing. The Wealthy / The Top Corp. management and their political and bureaucratic shills in Gov't. Everyone else will STFU and do as they're told or be put in a camp for Capitalist reeducation ( private Jails where you become a slave for hire.) Debtor prisons and indentured servitude is on a rebound as well. The 20th Century never happened folks , welcome back to the 18th pre-the French and American Revolutions.