Courtesy of Bloomberg
The euro is indeed nothing less than a bomb threatening to blow up the Greek economy, never mind its society and very dignity as a nation.
Exit the euro in 2013 and save your nation, Greece!
It really does say it all.
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Friday, January 4, 2013
IT SAYS IT ALL: Greece and the Blasted Euro
During my images research today for my post on my wishlist for 2013 I came across this quite revealing and quite brilliant photo of graffiti in Athens:
Courtesy of Bloomberg
The euro is indeed nothing less than a bomb threatening to blow up the Greek economy, never mind its society and very dignity as a nation.
Exit the euro in 2013 and save your nation, Greece!
It really does say it all.
Courtesy of Bloomberg
The euro is indeed nothing less than a bomb threatening to blow up the Greek economy, never mind its society and very dignity as a nation.
Exit the euro in 2013 and save your nation, Greece!
It really does say it all.
Friday, June 29, 2012
RANT: Greece, You Get What You Deserve
Did they blow it!
Greece had a chance - a chance to turn their second election this month into a middle finger at Brussels and the proto-capitalist fascist European Central Bank and to restore a bit of their national pride.
After the fiasco that was the first election, there was much hope that the smaller parties would rise and maybe become the dealmakers and dealbreakers that Greece so desperately needed.
The hope that the sell-outs of the traditional large parties like the centre-right New Democracy or play-play 'socialist' PASOK could no longer call the shots and sell Greece furthert down the river with more senseless 'bail-outs' and obscene 'austerity' measures.
Hope that all those mass demonstrations and encoraching despair and impoverishment of the Greek middle class would ferment enough anger to sweep anti-euro parties into power.
But, no, the Greeks screwed up their golden opportunity to really make a difference for themselves and for all of Europe.
So, knowing that their choice was this:
And instead of opting for this:
They instead opted for this:
They could have gone for the leftwing (and fervently anti-euro/ anti-bailout/ anti-austerity/ anti-kowtowing to the likes of Brussels and Merkel) Syriza party, but instead opted for the rightwing (and vehemently pro-euro/ pro-bail-out/ pro-austerity/ masochistic kowtowing to the likes of Brussels and Merkel) NDP.
As socialistrevolution.com put it: "Euro blackmail wins right-wing victory in Greece – what next?"
What next indeed.
And blackmail by the EU, ECB and Frankfurt financiers indeed.
The NDP will no doubt try to form some sort of pathetic 'national unity' coalition with PASOK, or the like, and back Greece will go, whimpering and cap in hand, willing whipping boy to the biggest financial Euro-Dominatrix of them all, Angela Merkel.
After all this time of me supporting the Greeks in their struggle against the decrepit and amoral euro juggernaut, it's time to say enough. After all that the likes of the NDP and PASOK have done to the Greeks, this is what they do when given a golden opportunity to shake up their own political and economic system, not to mention all of Europe?
All in the name of this delusion called 'stability' and this phantasmic 'dream' (really a nightmare) called the euro?
Pish.
I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again :
a people gets the government it deserves.
Do you get my point?
Greece had a chance - a chance to turn their second election this month into a middle finger at Brussels and the proto-capitalist fascist European Central Bank and to restore a bit of their national pride.
After the fiasco that was the first election, there was much hope that the smaller parties would rise and maybe become the dealmakers and dealbreakers that Greece so desperately needed.
The hope that the sell-outs of the traditional large parties like the centre-right New Democracy or play-play 'socialist' PASOK could no longer call the shots and sell Greece furthert down the river with more senseless 'bail-outs' and obscene 'austerity' measures.
Hope that all those mass demonstrations and encoraching despair and impoverishment of the Greek middle class would ferment enough anger to sweep anti-euro parties into power.
But, no, the Greeks screwed up their golden opportunity to really make a difference for themselves and for all of Europe.
So, knowing that their choice was this:
And instead of opting for this:
They instead opted for this:
They could have gone for the leftwing (and fervently anti-euro/ anti-bailout/ anti-austerity/ anti-kowtowing to the likes of Brussels and Merkel) Syriza party, but instead opted for the rightwing (and vehemently pro-euro/ pro-bail-out/ pro-austerity/ masochistic kowtowing to the likes of Brussels and Merkel) NDP.
As socialistrevolution.com put it: "Euro blackmail wins right-wing victory in Greece – what next?"
What next indeed.
And blackmail by the EU, ECB and Frankfurt financiers indeed.
The NDP will no doubt try to form some sort of pathetic 'national unity' coalition with PASOK, or the like, and back Greece will go, whimpering and cap in hand, willing whipping boy to the biggest financial Euro-Dominatrix of them all, Angela Merkel.
After all this time of me supporting the Greeks in their struggle against the decrepit and amoral euro juggernaut, it's time to say enough. After all that the likes of the NDP and PASOK have done to the Greeks, this is what they do when given a golden opportunity to shake up their own political and economic system, not to mention all of Europe?
All in the name of this delusion called 'stability' and this phantasmic 'dream' (really a nightmare) called the euro?
Pish.
I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again :
a people gets the government it deserves.
Do you get my point?
Sunday, May 20, 2012
RANT: EUR Not Serious About Greece
First, this terrific image from The Telegraph for an article about the ongoing euro crisis:
I read a very interesting article online by the The Telegraph, and dated May 10th. The headline itself piqued my interest:
"It's too late for Germany to save the euro"
Oh, for that to indeed be true...
I was never a Telegraph reader when I lived in the UK, and it's certainly not the most liberal of British papers, but I found myself agreeing with much of what this article stated, and it's therefore worth quoting the said article here (with bold or underlined bold added by me for emphasis):
"Greece’s motorcycling Marxist, Alexis Tsipras, makes an unlikely champion, with his commuter leathers and largely unrealistic Left-wing views, but he seems to be about the best of a bad bunch right now. As far as I can see, he’s the only member of the Greek political class who makes any kind of sense, albeit only marginally so and with one rather important deficiency.
I read a very interesting article online by the The Telegraph, and dated May 10th. The headline itself piqued my interest:
"It's too late for Germany to save the euro"
Oh, for that to indeed be true...
I was never a Telegraph reader when I lived in the UK, and it's certainly not the most liberal of British papers, but I found myself agreeing with much of what this article stated, and it's therefore worth quoting the said article here (with bold or underlined bold added by me for emphasis):
"Greece’s motorcycling Marxist, Alexis Tsipras, makes an unlikely champion, with his commuter leathers and largely unrealistic Left-wing views, but he seems to be about the best of a bad bunch right now. As far as I can see, he’s the only member of the Greek political class who makes any kind of sense, albeit only marginally so and with one rather important deficiency.
Rightly, he’s rejected Berlin’s austerity programme as “barbaric” and counter-productive (though, incongruously, he rides to parliament on a German-made BMW), but he’s not yet managed to reconcile himself to the logical corollary of this analysis – that Greece must take back control of its own destiny by leaving the euro. As it is, the economy is condemned only to permanent depression.
Youth unemployment in Greece was yesterday revealed to have overtaken even that of Spain, at an almost unbelievable 53.8 per cent. This for an economy which, if it sticks to the programme, has a further 150,000 public sector jobs still to shed. Those who think that, with the requisite degree of structural reform, the private sector will automatically move in and fill the gap can forget it.
The banking system is insolvent, credit is plummeting , the flight of capital continues unabated and businesses are going bust in record numbers."
It continues: "As long as Greece remains in the euro, there is no plausible path back to growth."
Very valid points indeed.
Time will yet be testamant to just how insane and downright ridiculous this entire Greek euro crisis really was.
And that's not even including Italy and Spain and Ireland and Portugal and Belgium and...
Do you get my point?
It continues: "As long as Greece remains in the euro, there is no plausible path back to growth."
Very valid points indeed.
Time will yet be testamant to just how insane and downright ridiculous this entire Greek euro crisis really was.
And that's not even including Italy and Spain and Ireland and Portugal and Belgium and...
Do you get my point?
Thursday, May 17, 2012
RAVE: The Greeks Say Oxi, No, Nein!
The recent Greek election resulted in a substantial portion of the vote going to parties and candidates that oppose the outrageous and penurous bailout packages that have been imposed on the debt-stricken nation by Brussels (read: Berlin).
So much so that the Greek parties have been deadlocked for days on end in talks on how to set up a coalition or 'unity' government, all to no avail. The Greeks are set to return to the polls again.
And hurrah to that. Even if thus far it has been little more than a squeak of democracy, rather than a roar thereof. A stall is still better than full speed ahead with this bailout madness.
It's not exactly the collapse of the Greek political and econo-casino system that I would have liked to see. An outright coup d'etat/ revolution and exit from the euro is really what Greence desperately needs. But it certainly beats having had the status quo continue with either an outright win by the 'centre-right' NDP or 'centre-left' PASOK parties.
As if there were such a thing as 'leftwing' and 'rightwing' in these days of lily-livered, self-interested and corrupt corporatist 'consensus' politics.
There were huge flappings and rumblings from Frau Donut Merkel in the European capi...ahem, German capital, Berlin. Flappings and warnings and cajolings about how Greece simply cannot renege on its bailout 'obligations' and how Greece leaving the Eurozone would be tantamount to the end of civilization as we know it.
Which is all nonsense, of course. Greece has been hijacked by European and American financial terrorists and their EU lackeys, not to mention Deutschland uber Alles, and all the 'debt' that has been repaid thus far has been to financiers and bankers and other such financial slimebags, and not a centime to the Greek national coffers itself. All this meaning that the 'inevitable' slashing of the Greek welfare state is taking place, leaving its populace ravished with less education, healthcare and pensions. And the Greek voters know that all too well.
So now the Greeks go back to the polls. It is my wish that they deliver the exact same message all over again - loud and clear to the powers-that-be in Athens, Brussels and, most of all, Berlin. Or even worse would be even better.
Muck and mayhem is what Brussels and Berlin deserve for what they have put the Greek people through. Even the collapse of the euro project would do very nicely, thank you very much.
Do you get my point?
Saturday, March 10, 2012
RANT: Greece is Bankrupt for Crying Out Loud!
Today the leading headline from Reuters online read:
There are countless other blogs and websites online that will offer a far more adroit and technical assessment of the Greek crisis, and why bankruptcy is inevitable, and by people with far more nous than I when it comes to economic and financial matters than I.
But even I know that all of this is nothing more than a 'perfect' storm of three dangerous forces:
1. Financial terrorist speculators and bond buyers who continue to make a killing out of this decimation of Greece
2. A European political 'dream' that is being pushed to the nth degree and has become an economic nightmare and,
3. Sadly, the paralysis of the Greek state
Money is being pumped into 'Greece', although next to nothing of it id going to the Greek public coffers or the Greek people. Money is being paid to interest loan sharks and other scheisters circling the bloody waters that is Greece at the moment.
That's what it boils down to - a sick, cynical charade.
"Greece averts immediate default, markets skeptical"
It's seldom that I would say this, but I'm with the markets on this one. Greece should be defaulting, and the markets - carnivorous, predatory, hyper-panicked beasts that they are - are very correct to be "skeptical."
The article commences: "Greece averted the immediate threat of an uncontrolled default on Friday when a
sufficient number of private creditors agreed on a bond swap
deal that will cut the country's public debt and clear the way for a new
bailout.
With euro zone ministers set to approve the 130
billion euro ($172 billion) rescue, French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared
the Greek problem had been settled - just as Germany said that any impression
the crisis was over "would be a big mistake."
The crisis is not over, it is going to continue and continue until one day the ECB, the IMF and the Greek government are going to have to relent and allow Greece to default and to declare bankruptcy.
There are countless other blogs and websites online that will offer a far more adroit and technical assessment of the Greek crisis, and why bankruptcy is inevitable, and by people with far more nous than I when it comes to economic and financial matters than I.
But even I know that all of this is nothing more than a 'perfect' storm of three dangerous forces:
1. Financial terrorist speculators and bond buyers who continue to make a killing out of this decimation of Greece
2. A European political 'dream' that is being pushed to the nth degree and has become an economic nightmare and,
3. Sadly, the paralysis of the Greek state
Money is being pumped into 'Greece', although next to nothing of it id going to the Greek public coffers or the Greek people. Money is being paid to interest loan sharks and other scheisters circling the bloody waters that is Greece at the moment.
Downright laughable is what all of this is, if it weren't so tragic and so disgusting what is being inflicted upon the people of Greece.
That's what it boils down to - a sick, cynical charade.
Do you get my point?
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
RANT: Buy Greek!
As Greece is forced to capitulate YET AGAIN to the Evil Troika that is the IMF, EU and ECB (or some devious variation thereof), so the country plunges even further into the abyss.
The latest 'bailout' of 130-billion euros is nothing of the sort - it's yet another wholesale pillage of public money by banking and financial terrorists under the guises of 'restructuring' and 'austerity measures' for a nation that is, essentially, bankrupt.
The only Greeks who continue to suffer are ordinary Greeks - now made to work longer hours than the Americans or Brits (as if that were a measure of 'productivity'), pay higher taxes than ever, take pay cuts of up to 30%, and still have all their social welfare programs slashed to almost nothing.
No wonder the Greeks are rioting in the streets and Athens looks perpetually bathed in the glow of angry fires.
For all these reasons and more, the only thing I can declare is:
BUY GREEK!!!!!
Whether it's Greek sardines or Greek olives or Greek shoes or Greek anything, we need to buy Greek, Greek, Greek. Hell, I even bought sesame honey sticks the other day just because I saw they were made in Greece! And very nice they were too.
We all need to show our solidarity with the people of Greece. It's the least one can do for an ancient and proud culture that's having it's very democracy and very dignity hacked to pieces as I write this.
Do you get my point?
The latest 'bailout' of 130-billion euros is nothing of the sort - it's yet another wholesale pillage of public money by banking and financial terrorists under the guises of 'restructuring' and 'austerity measures' for a nation that is, essentially, bankrupt.
The only Greeks who continue to suffer are ordinary Greeks - now made to work longer hours than the Americans or Brits (as if that were a measure of 'productivity'), pay higher taxes than ever, take pay cuts of up to 30%, and still have all their social welfare programs slashed to almost nothing.
No wonder the Greeks are rioting in the streets and Athens looks perpetually bathed in the glow of angry fires.
For all these reasons and more, the only thing I can declare is:
BUY GREEK!!!!!
Whether it's Greek sardines or Greek olives or Greek shoes or Greek anything, we need to buy Greek, Greek, Greek. Hell, I even bought sesame honey sticks the other day just because I saw they were made in Greece! And very nice they were too.
We all need to show our solidarity with the people of Greece. It's the least one can do for an ancient and proud culture that's having it's very democracy and very dignity hacked to pieces as I write this.
Do you get my point?
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
RANT: Shame on Greece, Gatekeepers for Israel
A flotilla of activist boats wanting to sail to Gaza in order to break the illegal and amoral Israeli blockade of Gaza remains blocked from doing so in a Greek port.And now, after almost two weeks of being held in limbo by the Greek authorities, this disparate group of about 300 brave activists are starting to disperse.
What else are they to do now that a European country has basically scuppered their chances of setting sail for Gaza?
What I find so obscene about all of this is how it is Greece, of all European countries, that is the one playing gatekeeper and watchdog to that most divisive and racist state of all, Israel.
Greece, for crying out loud!
This is the same Greece that is having its coffers pillaged by the likes of the IMF and ECB.
This is the same Greece that is on the verge of economic collapse, a victim of the sinister foibles of Eurozone politics and economics and the venality of their own leaders.
This is the same Greece who's population is sliding deeper and deeper into debt, recession and long-term poverty.
This is the same Greece who's populace has been striking and demonstrating and rioting in the streets of Athens and inspiring all those of us who want a better, saner economic future.
This is the same hijacked, demoralised, raped Greece.And what do the Greeks see fit to do? Capitulate to archetypal Israeli bullying and perverted European political pressures that leave a flotilla of peace activists stranded in one of their ports.
Yet another Western stooge for the apartheid state that is Israel.
All of this from...Greece.
Greece should be ashamed of itself.
Do you get my point?
Monday, June 20, 2011
RANT: The Rape of Greece
Greece is being raped - again.
Its very sovereignty is hanging on a the merest thread as its own government contemplates selling it right down the line, as the acronymed vultures named EU and IMF hover hungrily.
Greece is on the verge of having to declare bankruptcy. The last round of bailouts simply didn't do the trick after speculators and other financial terrorists targeted the country's fragile economy and 'huge' public debt. There's a surprise. And I bet the IMF is so very surprised that Greece is poised to default on its debt obligations.
Just yesterday a rash of desperate, last minute talks by the EU (read: namely Germany and France, the Big Bloody F***ing Euro Bullies) on another bailout for Greece came to nothing. The big problem? They couldn't get Greece to commit to even more painful cuts to public spending.
Yeah, 'public spending' - that innocuous-sounding phrase that actually means slashed government spending on social welfare, healthcare, education, pensions, supporting arts and culture - you know, all the things that make (or, rather, made) Greece a modern European country. All poised to be slashed yet again - and yet again it is the poor and the middle class of Greece who will take the brunt of all these 'necessary' cuts to public spending.
As if people were having cuts made to their ability to get daily manicures and pedicures and other such luxuries, you know.
'Cuts' made in the name of bailing out scheister banks, propping up a failed experiment that is the euro and kowtowing to financial terrorists like the IMF.
Greece is being raped, pillaged and its very guts ripped out. No wonder the people are in the streets, raging with anger.
This will go down in history as a shameful chapter in European and world financial history. No doubt about that.
Do you get my point?
Its very sovereignty is hanging on a the merest thread as its own government contemplates selling it right down the line, as the acronymed vultures named EU and IMF hover hungrily.
Greece is on the verge of having to declare bankruptcy. The last round of bailouts simply didn't do the trick after speculators and other financial terrorists targeted the country's fragile economy and 'huge' public debt. There's a surprise. And I bet the IMF is so very surprised that Greece is poised to default on its debt obligations.
Just yesterday a rash of desperate, last minute talks by the EU (read: namely Germany and France, the Big Bloody F***ing Euro Bullies) on another bailout for Greece came to nothing. The big problem? They couldn't get Greece to commit to even more painful cuts to public spending.
Yeah, 'public spending' - that innocuous-sounding phrase that actually means slashed government spending on social welfare, healthcare, education, pensions, supporting arts and culture - you know, all the things that make (or, rather, made) Greece a modern European country. All poised to be slashed yet again - and yet again it is the poor and the middle class of Greece who will take the brunt of all these 'necessary' cuts to public spending.
As if people were having cuts made to their ability to get daily manicures and pedicures and other such luxuries, you know.
'Cuts' made in the name of bailing out scheister banks, propping up a failed experiment that is the euro and kowtowing to financial terrorists like the IMF.
Greece is being raped, pillaged and its very guts ripped out. No wonder the people are in the streets, raging with anger.
This will go down in history as a shameful chapter in European and world financial history. No doubt about that.
Do you get my point?
Friday, December 31, 2010
Top 10 Events of 2010
There can never be a definitive list of the ten biggest events of a year, especially one as mad(dening) and as filled with newsmaking events as this year. Nor is this list meant to in any way diminish any of the other big events of the year that are not mentioned. Below are ten of those events that I believed shaped 2010, some of which will resonate for years to come:
- Wikileaks cables: Because they scared the hell out of those that have too much sinister power behind the scenes and too much leverage over our lives. Because we all have a right to know what is going on. Because state secrecy is not absolute, nor should it ever be. Because the too-powerful Establishment needs to be jolted sometimes
- Global warming/ climate change/ deforestation/ biodiversity loss, etc: Because these issues will not go away, nor should they as long as the eco-carnage continues. Because many love to speak 'sustainability' in breathless tones, but don't have a blinking clue of what it actually means. Because we're humans and remain lousy stewards of this planet
- Chilean miners: Because all 33 Chilean miners stuck underground made it up alive after more than 60 days. Because this event made me wish with all my heart that total strangers would be alive and well. Because amongst all the doom and gloom in these scary and sinister times, wonderful miracles still do happen.
- International financial terrorism: Because it showed, time and time again, what blood-sucking scheisters international finance and banking can be. Because it proved just how speculative the world capital economy has become, and how speculators are at war against savers and governments. Because it showed that most top bankers and banks are not geniuses but a bunch of lying, conniving vampires who are sucking nations (and us) dry
- Eurozone crisis, Greece & Ireland: Because it showed us just how dangerous this little thing called 'soverign debt' can actually be when hijacked by international banking terrorism. Because it shows what big bullies the likes of Germany, France and the IMF actually are. Because it shows how uncompromising, unfair (to poorer EU countries) and doomed the Euro project actually is. Because the citizens of Greece and Ireland deserved better
- Iceland - the financial meltdown and volcano: Because Iceland and its citizens had the bravery to be bankrupt rather than be indentured slaves to international financial terrorists. Because Icelandic citizens voted against being hostage to the monstrous risk-taking of a few bankers. Because the Icelandic volcanic ash was the sweetest and most ironic gift that Iceland could send to disrupt one of its chief hostage-takers, the UK
- Ascendancy of China: Because the decline of the American Empire is happening faster than we thought. Because China is definitely on the ascendancy on the world stage, and that's not a good thing either. Because the West has only itself to blame for destroying its own industries and selling itself out like a whore to the cheap labour, cheap (and badly made) products and human rights abuses of China
- Haiti earthquake: Because this was the one nation on Earth that did not deserve, nor cope with, such a devastating natural disaster. Because it showed (along with many other events this year) that Mother Nature can be one blindly vindictive, nasty lady. Because subsequent events proved that Haiti really needs to get its act together, once and for all.
- Gulf of Mexico oil spill: Because this proved, yet again and for the umpteenth time, that our addiction to oil is not sustainable. Because this proved, yet again and for the umpteenth time, that offshore oil drilling is ludicrous in its environmental and social risks. Because this proved, yet again and for the umpteenth time, that multinational oil companies are amongst the biggest lying, greenwashing environmental pillagers on the planet.
- Ascendancy of alternative media: Because most traditional media has been asleep at the wheel (or worse) for far too long. Because the 'news' is more subjective than ever (wasn't it always?), and the alternative media is doing it so much better. Because the Internet, for all its pitfalls and inherent dangers, remains a powerful tool for necessary change
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
RAVE: The Greeks Who Shout OXI!
OXI, OXI, OXI! NO, NO, NO!
That has been the resounding shout by thousands of Greeks in their protests against massive public spending cuts by the Greek government. A massive rejection to the capitulation by the Greek government to both the IMF and the EU on a crisis that is very little the doing of Greek citizens themselves.
OXI! NO!
I have spent the last few days being shocked and angered by what the Greek people are being put through. But I have also been genuinely impressed by the sheer passion and the visceral outrage of ordinary Greek citizens in their streets. Impressed because less and less one sees this in the world, particularly in the West, and never before in recent history has there been a time when mass protest by citizens has been more necessary and more justified.
I admire the Greek people for their powerful vitriol, as well as for their clearly intelligent political discourse. Slogans on banners and signs show that the Greeks understand perfectly the evil incarnate that is the IMF. The Greeks understand perfectly how unfair and socially devastating the current globalized economic reality is for a European country like Greece. They understand perfectly how economically devastating Wall Street investment bankers and international speculators and other financial terrorists have been to their economy. They understand it all.
And they are totally on to the sell-out and the cop-out that is the Greek government's capitulation to the nefarious IMF (and, also, by the way, the shameful EU).
One of the most interesting and indeed commendable aspects of the general strike that hit Greece today was the fact that the entire private sector came out in support of the strike, even though the majority of the proposed cuts for this highly unpopular deal will be done on the public sector. All Greeks understand what is at stake here, even if it does not directly affect them...for now. That is the spirit of true community, that is the spirit of true nationhood and citizenship.
And I am duly impressed by that. A nation that is so politically savvy and so socio-economically passionate is one that is to admired and respected.
I mean, how can one not respect a people who saw fit to storm the Parthenon yesterday and allow all tourists free entry, so as to deny the state any money that day from the country's most iconic monument! It may have been the actions of the Greek Communists with their own 'anti-capitalist agenda' (whatever the hell that means in this day and age), but it was highly visual and effective drama. Brilliant!
Many Greeks seem ready to keep this fight with their government going. At least that is how it looks for now. May their pressure be unrelenting in their opposition to this IMF deal, a deal that will assuredly a very, very, very bad deal for most Greeks.
I can only wish them the very best of luck. And continued courage and belief in what they are doing.
For now, the Greek protesters in the streets of their country have my utmost respect and admiration. And support.
That has been the resounding shout by thousands of Greeks in their protests against massive public spending cuts by the Greek government. A massive rejection to the capitulation by the Greek government to both the IMF and the EU on a crisis that is very little the doing of Greek citizens themselves.
OXI! NO!
I have spent the last few days being shocked and angered by what the Greek people are being put through. But I have also been genuinely impressed by the sheer passion and the visceral outrage of ordinary Greek citizens in their streets. Impressed because less and less one sees this in the world, particularly in the West, and never before in recent history has there been a time when mass protest by citizens has been more necessary and more justified.
I admire the Greek people for their powerful vitriol, as well as for their clearly intelligent political discourse. Slogans on banners and signs show that the Greeks understand perfectly the evil incarnate that is the IMF. The Greeks understand perfectly how unfair and socially devastating the current globalized economic reality is for a European country like Greece. They understand perfectly how economically devastating Wall Street investment bankers and international speculators and other financial terrorists have been to their economy. They understand it all.
And they are totally on to the sell-out and the cop-out that is the Greek government's capitulation to the nefarious IMF (and, also, by the way, the shameful EU).
One of the most interesting and indeed commendable aspects of the general strike that hit Greece today was the fact that the entire private sector came out in support of the strike, even though the majority of the proposed cuts for this highly unpopular deal will be done on the public sector. All Greeks understand what is at stake here, even if it does not directly affect them...for now. That is the spirit of true community, that is the spirit of true nationhood and citizenship.
And I am duly impressed by that. A nation that is so politically savvy and so socio-economically passionate is one that is to admired and respected.
I mean, how can one not respect a people who saw fit to storm the Parthenon yesterday and allow all tourists free entry, so as to deny the state any money that day from the country's most iconic monument! It may have been the actions of the Greek Communists with their own 'anti-capitalist agenda' (whatever the hell that means in this day and age), but it was highly visual and effective drama. Brilliant!
Many Greeks seem ready to keep this fight with their government going. At least that is how it looks for now. May their pressure be unrelenting in their opposition to this IMF deal, a deal that will assuredly a very, very, very bad deal for most Greeks.
I can only wish them the very best of luck. And continued courage and belief in what they are doing.
For now, the Greek protesters in the streets of their country have my utmost respect and admiration. And support.
RANT: Athens is Burning
Athens is burning. Protesters are going out into the streets of the capital in their thousands to demontsrate their outright anger at the proposed austerity cuts by the Greek government. Petrol bombs have gone off in the Greek capital and three people have died when a petrol bom was thrown inside a bank in the downtown area. How totally tragic.
And who do we to thank for all of this? Three little (ghastly) letters - IMF.
The International Mafia Fund has insisted that the multi-billion euro loan it is giving Greece is absolutely contingent on massive public spending cuts by the Greek government. No surprises there at all - this has been the modus operandi sine qua non for this legal Mafiosi financial cartel run out of Washington D.C. for years now. It's blandly referred to as 'structural adjustment' of a national economy. Typical unthreatening econospeak. It's nothing less than the rape, pillage and eventual evisceration of a nation's social welfare systems, social protections and public spending.
Goodbye public health, public education, the protection of workers' and labour rights. Hello privatization, slashed public spending and the whoring of your economy to the sharks that are international investors and banking. That's what you get when you allow the predator, the financial vampire that is the IMF into your country's finances.
Guatemala has been there. Argentina has been there. Countless other countries, nearly all in the developing world, have been there in one way or another since the 1970s. Now it's the turn of Greece.
The poor Greeks. This is what they get for having the corrupt governments they've had for nearly 30 years now. This is what they get for believing in the EU. This is what they get for becoming a member of the eurozone. This is what they get done to their hard-fought social welfare system and labour protections.
Greece has been sold right down the line. By its own governments, by the EU, by the European Central
Bank, by that greatest villain of all, the IMF. And the Greek people know it. Oh boy, do they know it.
There are reports from some Greek citizens that the riots are being 'overblown' by the media and that the protests are largely 'peaceful'. That may have been the case until today and, who knows, may yet be mainly the case...but I do have my doubts. The images on TV, as 'over-manipulated' as they might be by international news stations are nevertheless very disturbing when one remembers that this is a capital city in the EU that one is seeing before one's eyes. And it looks bad enough.
Can anyone really blame ordinary Greek citizens for their outraged anger and need to vent in the streets of their ancient capital?
And so parts of Athens burn. At least for now. I find it tragic to watch on TV. And it makes me so angry.
Just how much worse this crisis will become for Greece only time will tell. Sometimes time does not heal - sometimes time can be downright frightening.
Do you get my point?
Monday, March 29, 2010
RANT: Cuidado Portugal y España, Careful Ireland
My rant for today is essentially three words: Portugal, Ireland, Spain.
It's very simple - if the European Union saw fit to literally throw Greece to the proverbial wolves (i.e. the detestable IMF), then what is stopping it happening to these three countries?
The cartoon here by the brilliant Brazilian Latuff says it all...
The plates to be broken here are those of Portugal, Spain and Italy. However, although Italy was cited as being 'in trouble' a few weeks back, to my understanding it really is Ireland that is the actual 'I' in 'PIGS'...at least for now.
'PIGS' is the frankly disgusting acronym given to these four Eurozone countries, all in apparent trouble with their so-called 'sovereign debt'. Greece was in the worst trouble, hence it being sold down the river last week. But the public coffers in Portugal look pretty bad too, as is the case for Ireland. And Spain, the fourth biggest economy in the Eurozone, is said to be in very bad shape too.
So, will the EU allow three more countries to go the way of Greece? Certainly, Portugal and Ireland look quite expendable, for want of a better word. Portugal never seemed to ride very well on the EU bandwagon (must be that 'Club Med-southern European thing', methinks). But it's quite ironic that Ireland is in the 'PIGS club' given that it was a shining beacon of free market, neo-liberal economics until just recently. Ireland was the place to be in the EU, a true 'success story' it seemed - especially for those in IT, direct marketing, business or anyone with a bit of cash or an entrepreneurial streak.
How the tables have turned. Now Ireland is just another basket case. Hmmmm, yet another strike for neo-liberal Friedmanite economics.
And what of Spain? Can the EU really afford to let a country of that size and importance falter and possibly even be in danger of defaulting on its debt obligations? What then? And what will be of the Euro?
How much longer can this madness go on? Are Germany and France going to snub these countries too? Will the IMF simply become the de facto bank for the Eurozone?
For now, I am very worried for these three countries - not to mention all of the European Union.
I am half-Portuguese, a heritage of which I am proud, and I lived in Lisbon for a few years, a city in which I finished my schooling and which I visited every opportunity I had during my university vacations, it being a city I love and know so well. I do not want to see that beautiful country thrown to the dogs.
When will this European club ever finally come together and be united and there for all its members?
After all, is the second word in the letters 'EU' not union? Where is the union in this band of misfits?
Do you get my point?
It's very simple - if the European Union saw fit to literally throw Greece to the proverbial wolves (i.e. the detestable IMF), then what is stopping it happening to these three countries?
The plates to be broken here are those of Portugal, Spain and Italy. However, although Italy was cited as being 'in trouble' a few weeks back, to my understanding it really is Ireland that is the actual 'I' in 'PIGS'...at least for now.
'PIGS' is the frankly disgusting acronym given to these four Eurozone countries, all in apparent trouble with their so-called 'sovereign debt'. Greece was in the worst trouble, hence it being sold down the river last week. But the public coffers in Portugal look pretty bad too, as is the case for Ireland. And Spain, the fourth biggest economy in the Eurozone, is said to be in very bad shape too.
So, will the EU allow three more countries to go the way of Greece? Certainly, Portugal and Ireland look quite expendable, for want of a better word. Portugal never seemed to ride very well on the EU bandwagon (must be that 'Club Med-southern European thing', methinks). But it's quite ironic that Ireland is in the 'PIGS club' given that it was a shining beacon of free market, neo-liberal economics until just recently. Ireland was the place to be in the EU, a true 'success story' it seemed - especially for those in IT, direct marketing, business or anyone with a bit of cash or an entrepreneurial streak.
How the tables have turned. Now Ireland is just another basket case. Hmmmm, yet another strike for neo-liberal Friedmanite economics.
And what of Spain? Can the EU really afford to let a country of that size and importance falter and possibly even be in danger of defaulting on its debt obligations? What then? And what will be of the Euro?
How much longer can this madness go on? Are Germany and France going to snub these countries too? Will the IMF simply become the de facto bank for the Eurozone?
For now, I am very worried for these three countries - not to mention all of the European Union.
I am half-Portuguese, a heritage of which I am proud, and I lived in Lisbon for a few years, a city in which I finished my schooling and which I visited every opportunity I had during my university vacations, it being a city I love and know so well. I do not want to see that beautiful country thrown to the dogs.
When will this European club ever finally come together and be united and there for all its members?
After all, is the second word in the letters 'EU' not union? Where is the union in this band of misfits?
Do you get my point?
Friday, March 26, 2010
RANT: Greece - Sold (Out)
My second rant for today is a follow-up to my first rant. It's all about the Greeks again.
So what happened yesterday at the frantic EU conference in Brussels, of which the Greek financial crisis was top of the agenda?
Well, Greece got sold out of course.
And we have Germany and France in particular to thank for that. The 'deal' for Greece (read: sell-out of Greece) is that there will be a bail-out (of sorts) at the behest of both the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Or rather, very much under the control of the IMF.
Talk about shockingly bad news. Consider this:
1. The IMF is the Satan of international finance. It's that simple. This horrific organization, along with its evil twin, the World Bank, has single-handedly wreaked more havoc on the economies of the world than any other multilateral entity on the planet. The IMF is the 'world arm' of Wall Street and international banking and finance. Have any doubts? Think I'm being overly melodramatic? Then please do take the time to read "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein. And get real.
2. It is de facto guaranteed that an IMF bail-out means that a country must slash all public spending. So, bye bye to spending on education, health, pensions and other social welfare programs for the Greeks.
3. It is de facto guaranteed that an IMF bail-out means that a country must privatize more of its public entities, and that could include for energy, transport and even water. Yeah, and we all know what a huge success privatized electricity is (California and the UK, anyone?), not to mention privatized water (Bolivia, anyone?).
4. It is de facto guaranteed that an IMF bail-out means that a country must 'open' up its economy even more to foreign bankers, foreign creditors, foreign anything-that-can-rip-your-economy-off-in-the-name-of-'free-trade'. Yeah, like that's just what Greece needs right now: to be even more exposed, legs flayed wide open, to the very financial and economic terrorists that destroyed their economy in the first place. For sure.
What surprises me is that the Greek Prime Minister, who at the beginning of this crisis so virulently attacked the global financial sharks for artificially creating the crisis in his country, is now quoted as saying that he sees this 'deal' as a "big step forward". Yes, a big step forward into the abyss for Greece and for the Greek people. When was he taken away by the aliens and a Stepford Prime Minister put in his place?
Did Papandreou really need to kiss Angela's feet quite to that extent?
Look at the talons on those feet. Snicker.
Why do countries always feel so obliged to sell themselves so down the river when they are in a 'crisis'? It's the international relations equivalent of battered wife syndrome - the more battered you are, the more you go back to the aggressors for more. Just ask Argentina, circa the early 2000s.
This deal will definitely mean less sovereignty for Greece as a nation and untold more suffering and hardship for most Greek citizens, very probably for years to come. How can this be ever be a good deal?
And all of this thanks to the pressure of fellow European countries, starting with that Uber-Meister of the EU, Germany, and given greater impetus with that inimitable French je ne sais quoi.
With friends like these, what the hell does Greece need enemies for?
Do you get my point?
So what happened yesterday at the frantic EU conference in Brussels, of which the Greek financial crisis was top of the agenda?
Well, Greece got sold out of course.
And we have Germany and France in particular to thank for that. The 'deal' for Greece (read: sell-out of Greece) is that there will be a bail-out (of sorts) at the behest of both the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Or rather, very much under the control of the IMF.
Talk about shockingly bad news. Consider this:
1. The IMF is the Satan of international finance. It's that simple. This horrific organization, along with its evil twin, the World Bank, has single-handedly wreaked more havoc on the economies of the world than any other multilateral entity on the planet. The IMF is the 'world arm' of Wall Street and international banking and finance. Have any doubts? Think I'm being overly melodramatic? Then please do take the time to read "The Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein. And get real.
2. It is de facto guaranteed that an IMF bail-out means that a country must slash all public spending. So, bye bye to spending on education, health, pensions and other social welfare programs for the Greeks.
3. It is de facto guaranteed that an IMF bail-out means that a country must privatize more of its public entities, and that could include for energy, transport and even water. Yeah, and we all know what a huge success privatized electricity is (California and the UK, anyone?), not to mention privatized water (Bolivia, anyone?).
4. It is de facto guaranteed that an IMF bail-out means that a country must 'open' up its economy even more to foreign bankers, foreign creditors, foreign anything-that-can-rip-your-economy-off-in-the-name-of-'free-trade'. Yeah, like that's just what Greece needs right now: to be even more exposed, legs flayed wide open, to the very financial and economic terrorists that destroyed their economy in the first place. For sure.
What surprises me is that the Greek Prime Minister, who at the beginning of this crisis so virulently attacked the global financial sharks for artificially creating the crisis in his country, is now quoted as saying that he sees this 'deal' as a "big step forward". Yes, a big step forward into the abyss for Greece and for the Greek people. When was he taken away by the aliens and a Stepford Prime Minister put in his place?
Did Papandreou really need to kiss Angela's feet quite to that extent?
Look at the talons on those feet. Snicker.
Why do countries always feel so obliged to sell themselves so down the river when they are in a 'crisis'? It's the international relations equivalent of battered wife syndrome - the more battered you are, the more you go back to the aggressors for more. Just ask Argentina, circa the early 2000s.
This deal will definitely mean less sovereignty for Greece as a nation and untold more suffering and hardship for most Greek citizens, very probably for years to come. How can this be ever be a good deal?
And all of this thanks to the pressure of fellow European countries, starting with that Uber-Meister of the EU, Germany, and given greater impetus with that inimitable French je ne sais quoi.
With friends like these, what the hell does Greece need enemies for?
Do you get my point?
RANT: Greece for Sale
My rant for today has been brewing inside me for days, even weeks. I've touched on this issue in another post, with the Icelandic vote on March 6th being my touchstone for this rant as well (again, hurrah for Iceland for saying NO to the financial and political terrorists!).
In short, it's all about Greece.
It's well-known that Greece is in a huge 'debt crisis'. Meaning that it owes billions of Euros by the end of May, money that it simply does not have. As quoted from James Jubak in the Huffington Post: "Greece needs to refinance about $27 billion in debt that matures in May, according to calculations by Bloomberg. Already investors are demanding a 3.48 percentage point premium over the benchmark German bonds before they'll buy Greek 10-year debt. That premium is four times the average premium of the last five years."
Which means Greece is in deep trouble. Hence the recent attempts by the Greek parliament to introduce austerity measures (read: slash public spending on civil servant salaries and other social benefit-related slashing). These measures have been met with mass strikes and protests in Athens and other Greek cities and towns.
The people of the Hellenic Republic are not pleased. It has been well recorded in various news media that the Greek people feel victimised and angry as a result. And why shouldn't they be bloody upset and bloody angry?
Consider the following:
1. Why did this Greek crisis occur so suddenly? Because it was a carefully orchestrated assassination of the Greek economy, and in particular Greek treasury bonds, by the financial and economic speculators (read: terrorists) from Wall Street and across Europe, especially that poster child for speculative terrorism on the world economy, JP Morgan. Greece was targeted, simple as that. Iceland, anyone?
2. Why must the Greek government be so ridiculed by other countries for its large public spending bill? As if countries like Germany, France and the UK don't have huge public spending bills themselves. Isn't the UK currently sitting with the biggest ratio of public (sovereign) debt to GDP in all of the EU? And why should the Greek people should be accused, as if they were petulant little brats, of wanting nothing more than decent health care, education for all and their pensions paid out after all their years of work and service? How totally unreasonable of the Greeks to expect the very same of their government that the French, the Germans and the other hypocrites in Europe expect of their governments.
3. Why shouldn't Germany and the rest of the Eurozone bail out Greece? Why not? What is the purpose of having a monetary zone like the Eurozone, one which was supposed to be for the benefit of all Europeans, and which was to unite all of Europe, when stronger partners are not willing to assist a partner in trouble? With friends like this, who the bloody hell needs enemies?
4. And, speaking of Herr Deutschland, Germany is the richest EU country with the biggest national surplus, largely thanks to the power of the Euro over the past decade. Why must Greece be made to pay for the fact that Germany is holding elections later this year, and that German voters may hold helping out Greece against that Grosse Deutsche Hausfrau, aka Angela Merkel? Why must Greece pay for the fact that Germany's reunification cost so much money? You Germans went all mushy and wanted to unify, that's your bloody problem. Now you're a member of a monetary zone that has been of most benefit to your economy, and you think you have the right to be damn stingy to help out a fellow European country in need?
5. And, by the way, Germany, don't you think it's time that you gave Greece back all those billions of dollars of gold bullion that your Nazi ancestors plundered from Greece during World War 2? I think that's overdue, you ungrateful and patronising prigs.
6. And if I see one more television footage of some pasty-faced, ugly German in some grey German city crinkling up their little Teutonic nose at the suggestion of helping out Greece, I'll scream! Or I'll get on a bloody flight (not on Lufthansa, by the way), land in Germany and just start slapping faces left and right! But let the German economy be in as much trouble as that of Greece, and that German begging bowl would be casting a huge shadow over all of Europe, no questions about it. You hypocrites.
7. I need to say it here: this Greek crisis has really brought out the ever-simmering contempt which many Northern Europeans have for their Southern European neighbours. It's there - always just below that very thin patina of northern European 'respect' for their fellow Europeans to the south. One can literally sense it when northern Europeans, smug and patronizing to the hilt, are asked their opinions on TV news and shows about the crisis. It's palpable.
Comments are made about the 'Club Med country' crisis, thereby reducing Greece, Spain and Portugal to nothing more than what many northern Europeans believe them to be - that is, nothing more than holiday destinations where the weather is better and the locals a darn sight cuter and more fun.
I wonder how Ireland feels, being that it's in the same crappy sovereign debt position, yet hardly a sunny Club Med destination...?
Endless commentaries are made about the 'recklessness' of how these countries have governed their finances, always with that undertone that southerners are somehow less 'restrained', less 'responsible'. Even the acronym 'PIGS' (which stands for Portugal Ireland Greece Spain) says it all. Italy is now out of that spotlight, even if only for now. The main subtext is simple: the southerners just can't get it right, even if one of those countries (Ireland) is not a so-called 'Club Med economy'.
As if the likes of the UK have done any better. It makes me bristle with anger, given my southern European ancestry.
Which is why I so appreciated this cartoon from the UK's Independent newspaper lampooning the musical 'Grease'. Says it all.
And the poor Greeks are now at the mercy of their northern partners. I pity them for that. Greece and citizens of Greece deserved better than to be held responsible for the devious and destructive machinations of the global financial system that saw fit to wreak havoc on their economy.
Do you get my point?
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