Europe

We Are All Greeks Now

July 14, 2015 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com Educate! Austerity, Europe, Greece, Poverty, Working Class

By Chris Hedges in Truth Dig - The poor and the working class in the United States know what it is to be Greek. They know underemployment and unemployment. They know life without a pension. They know existence on a few dollars a day. They know gas and electricity being turned off because of unpaid bills. They know the crippling weight of debt. They know being sick and unable to afford medical care. They know the state seizing their meager assets, a process known in the United States as “civil asset forfeiture,” which has permitted American police agencies to confiscate more than $3 billion in cash and property. They know the profound despair and abandonment that come when schools, libraries, neighborhood health clinics, day care services, roads, bridges, public buildings and assistance programs are neglected or closed. They know the financial elites’ hijacking of democratic institutions to impose widespread misery in the name of austerity. They, like the Greeks, know what it is to be abandoned.

How Vote Of Greek Inner Cabinet Led To Capitulation

July 14, 2015 Harry Lambert, www.newstatesman.com Educate! Austerity, Europe, Greece

By Harry Lambert in New Statesman - Varoufakis added: “This country must stop extending and pretending, we must stop taking on new loans pretending that we’ve solved the problem, when we haven’t; when we have made our debt even less sustainable on condition of further austerity that even further shrinks the economy; and shifts the burden further onto the have-nots, creating a humanitarian crisis.” In Varoufakis’s account, the Troika never genuinely negotiated during his five months as finance minister. He argued that Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza government was elected to renegotiate an austerity programme that had clearly failed; over the past five years it has put a quarter of Greeks out of work, and created the worst depression anywhere in the developed world since the 1930s. But he thinks that Greece’s creditors simply led him on.

The Problem Of Greece: A Tragedy And A Lie

July 14, 2015 John Pilger, www.counterpunch.org Educate! Austerity, Europe, Finance and the Economy, Greece

By John Pilger in CounterPunch - An historic betrayal has consumed Greece. Having set aside the mandate of the Greek electorate, the Syriza government has willfully ignored last week’s landslide “No” vote and secretly agreed a raft of repressive, impoverishing measures in return for a “bailout” that means sinister foreign control and a warning to the world. These reportedly include a 50 per cent increase in the cost of healthcare for pensioners, almost 40 per cent of whom live in poverty; deep cuts in public sector wages; the complete privatization of public facilities such as airports and ports; a rise in value added tax to 23 per cent, now applied to the Greek islands where people struggle to eke out a living. There is more to come.

“Guerrilla Warfare Against A Hegemonic Power”

July 12, 2015 Ellen Brown, www.ellenbrown.com Resist! Banking, Europe, European Union (EU), Finance and the Economy, Greece

By Ellen Brown for Web of Debt - Banks create money when they make loans. Greece could restore the liquidity desperately needed by its banks and its economy by nationalizing the banks and issuing digital loans backed by government guarantees to its ailing businesses. Greece could provide an inspiring model of sustainable prosperity for the world. But it is being strangled by a hegemonic power in a financial war that is being waged against us all. As reported in Zerohedge, the Greek government was prepared to pursue three “nuclear options” to protect the deposits of the Greek people: (1) nationalize the banks, (2) launch a parallel currency in the form of electronic California-style IOUs, and (3) use the Greek central bank’s printing press to issue euros.

4 Lessons From Iceland & Greece For Movements Fighting Austerity

July 10, 2015 George Lakey, www.wagingnonviolence.org Strategize! Austerity, Europe, IMF

By George Lakey in Waging Nonviolence - After dining on cod on July 7, European leaders representing the economic elites went back to work figuring out how to run over the Greek majority in Europe’s first democracy. The serving of cod, presumably from Iceland, is ironic considering that it was the Icelanders who six years ago defied European investors — and by doing so saved their economy and bolstered their well-being. Movements for justice around the world have much to learn from keeping in mind both of these national dramas. When Iceland’s 1 percent brought the economy to its historic crisis in 2008, Icelanders could not get any money from their ATMs. It was the worst economic collapse in Europe since World War II.

Greece: Latest Battleground In Elite’s War On Democracy

July 10, 2015 George Monbiot, www.theguardian.com Educate! Democracy, Europe, Finance and the Economy, Greece

By George Monbiot in The Guardian - Greece may be financially bankrupt, but the troika is politically bankrupt. Those who persecute this nation wield illegitimate, undemocratic powers, powers of the kind now afflicting us all. Consider the International Monetary Fund. The distribution of power here was perfectly stitched up: IMF decisions require an 85% majority, and the US holds 17% of the votes. The IMF is controlled by the rich, and governs the poor on their behalf. It’s now doing to Greece what it has done to one poor nation after another, from Argentina to Zambia. Its structural adjustment programmes have forced scores of elected governments to dismantle public spending, destroying health, education and all the means by which the wretched of the earth might improve their lives.

Are the Koch Brothers Trying To Influence TTIP Negotiations?

July 9, 2015 Kyla Mandel, www.desmog.uk Educate! Europe, Free Trade, Koch, TTP

By Kyla Mandel in DeSmogBlog - The latest release of lobbying data on the European Commission’s Transparency Register has raised concerns that the fossil-fuelled Kochs are trying to influence the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership(TTIP) negotiations. Digging through the data, DeSmog UK found that the European arm of Koch Industry’s legal, lobbying and public affairs branch – known as Koch Companies Public Sector LLC – has spent up to £0.5m lobbying EUpolicymakers on the environment, energy and free trade. And according to the voluntary register, Koch Industries – the largest privately owned energy company in the United States, known for funding climate denial groups – has a particular interest in lobbying on the “EU’s free trade agreement negotiations.”

UK Campaigners Take Inspiration From Greek Vote

July 8, 2015 Matthew Weaver, www.theguardian.com Resist! Austerity, Europe, Greece, Hope, United Kingdom (UK)

By Matthew Weaver in The Guardian - Buoyed by the no vote in the Greek referendum, anti-austerity campaigners across Britain are to stage “Oxi to Osborne” protests on Wednesday against cuts the UK chancellor is expected to announce in his budget. Organisers from the People’s Assembly group said interest in about 40 planned protests had soared since Sunday’s overwhelming no vote to austerity in Greece. The UK protests include a mass “die-in” outside parliament to protest at the impact of welfare cuts. Speakers are expected to include Marina Prentoulis, a British-based Greek academic and member of the radical Greek governing party Syriza, and Labour leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn, who welcomed the Greek vote. Campaigners from Disabled People Against Cuts, who tried to storm parliament last month over the scrapping of the Independent Living Fund are also planning to take part.

Leaders Of Europe’s New Left Rejoice As Greeks Vote ‘No’

July 7, 2015 Charlotte Alfred, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Democracy, Europe, Greece, Hope

By Charlotte Alfred in The Huffington Post - This is the breaking point; everything will either start or end here, they say with their fingers crossed as they circle through the rooms of this seven-story palace located in the aptly named Liberty Square. “We have a responsibility; we feel the pressure of it,” a Syriza official smiles but responds nervously to Anderson’s predictions. However, the atmosphere is positive here at the offices of the new leader of the European left: Tsipras, who is not here but at the Old Royal Palaces, which house the Greek Parliament. Meanwhile, the ballots are closing and the stations are running the latest polls, which were not shown earlier to avoid influencing the vote. Everyone is saying “no” to the troika. Even the Greek polling institutes have come to the same conclusion: They agree that the Greeks are voting “no.”

Patti Smith’s Summer Of Rebellion

July 7, 2015 John Nichols, www.billmoyers.com Educate! Europe, Music, Protest, Wikileaks

By John Nichols in Bill Moyers - Patti Smith has electrified Europe over the past several weeks with a series of concerts that have been as politically bold as they have been musically rich. Touring to mark the 40th anniversary of her first album, Horses, the American rocker’s performances are anything but a nostalgia trip. At 68, Smith remains a vital and provocative artist with a radical message for the 21st century: “We are all being f—ed by corporations, by the military! We are free people, and we want the world and we want it now!” This is protest music. But it is protest with a fierce edge that seamlessly weaves a new politics into a rich legacy of rock-and-roll rebellion. Smith is not preaching to the converted, nor is she mouthing talking points.

We Must Support Greece’s Fight For Democracy

July 7, 2015 Owen Jones, www.informationclearinghouse.info Educate! Democracy, Europe, Finance and the Economy, Greece

By Owen Jones in Information Clearing House - From the cradle of democracy, a lion has roared. It is difficult to overstate the pressure the Greek people have both endured and defied. A country that has already experienced an austerity-induced economic disaster with few precedents among developed nations in peacetime has suffered a sustained campaign of economic and political warfare. The European Central Bank – which has only recently deigned to publish some of the minutes of its meetings – capped liquidity for Greek banks, driving them to the verge of collapse. There were stringent capital controls, and desperate queues outside banks followed. A country desperate to stay within the euro was told it would be ejected, and with calamitous results.

Landslide Victory For ‘No’ Vote In Greece, Rejects Troika

July 5, 2015 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Austerity, Democracy, Europe, European Union (EU), Greece, Syriza, Troika

By Staff for Popular Resistance. Today, the people of Greece voted in a landslide to refuse to accept the demands of austerity by the troika by a vote of 61.31% to 38.69%. The vote, along with an IMF report critical of the austerity plan, should open a new round of negotiations in the upcoming week. Syriza is now in a slightly stronger bargaining position and the EU now has to decide whether democracy matters. The people of Greece celebrated the vote despite the unclear and difficult paths ahead. There is a lot of confusion and unpredictable paths ahead. The simpliest path is a better deal from the troika with less austerity and restructured or even forgiven Greek debt, but some of the comments by EU and German finance leaders indicate that is unlikely. A more difficult path with lots of unpredictable repersussions is a Greek exit from the EU and the return to the Greek drachma currency. The choices are difficult, let's hope that the vote today is the beginning of a fresh start and much greater fairness and common sense from the troika.

The IMF Defaulted On Greece A Long Time Ago

July 2, 2015 Jerome Roos, www.roarmag.org Educate! Austerity, Debt, Europe, Greece, IMF

By Jerome Roos in RoarMag - Tuesday marked the deadline for Greece to transfer a 1.6 billion euro debt repayment to the IMF. The country’s Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis had already announced that his government could not — and would not — pay. And so, at 6pm Washington-time, 1am locally, Greece officially defaulted on the IMF. The default is an unprecedented event in the history of finance: never before has a developed country fallen into arrears on a loan from the Fund. Unsurprisingly, the international press is already conjuring up unflattering comparisons with notorious failed states like Zimbabwe and Somalia, which are among the few countries to have gone down the same path of utter financial ignominy.

‘No’ With Dignity, Greek Decline Under Troika Dicates

July 1, 2015 Leonidas Oikonomakis, www.roarmag.org Resist! Austerity, Debt, Europe, Greece

By Leonidas Oikonomakis in Roarmag - The then-Prime Minister Giorgakis Papandreou (son of Andreas and grandson of Giorgos) appeared on state television to send his televised message to the Greek people from the harbor of Kastelorizo: “Our ship is sinking,” he said, “and we have to turn to our partners, the IMF and the EU, who will provide us with a safe harbor where we can rebuild it.” As the saying has it: “a ship is safe in harbor — but that’s not what ships are for.” However, this is how Greece’s self-destructive dance with the Troika began. At the time, the country’s public debt was at 120% of GDP, the unemployment rate at 12%, the youth unemployment rate at around 30%, and suicide rates were an unfamiliar concept.

Anti-Bailout Protests As Greece Rows With EU

June 30, 2015 Sky News, www.news.sky.com Resist! Austerity, Europe, Greece

By Sky News - Some 17,000 demonstrators have gathered on the streets of Greece to protest against the latest bailout deal - accusing its international creditors of blackmail. Many support Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras and said they would heed his call to vote against the latest deal in a referendum on Sunday - despite the risks the country might then go crashing out of the eurozone. "The people of Greece have made many sacrifices. What interests me is not the euro but guaranteeing a dignified way of life for the next generations," said Vanguelis Tseres, 50, who has been unemployed since the start of the debt crisis in 2010, in Syntagma square in Athens.

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