argia.eus
INPRIMATU
In Greece, neoliberal politics and democracy itself are played.
  • "Greece cannot blackmail either Germany or Europe," they said from Angela Merkel's party, and many understood that what was happening was precisely the opposite, that Europe threatens the Greek electorate. Greece is playing the first important chapter of a hard game that shakes the whole of Europe in 2015.
Pello Zubiria Kamino @pellozubiria 2015eko urtarrilaren 15
Irudi hau da Dimitris Michalakisek bere blogean eta Vice hedabidean iazko maiatzean ipinitako “Four Years of Austerity in 40 Pictures“ (Lau urteko murrizketak 40 argazkitan) bildumako bat, gordinen artean bigunenetako bat: gazte langabetu bat harresian es
Irudi hau da Dimitris Michalakisek bere blogean eta Vice hedabidean iazko maiatzean ipinitako “Four Years of Austerity in 40 Pictures“ (Lau urteko murrizketak 40 argazkitan) bildumako bat, gordinen artean bigunenetako bat: gazte langabetu bat harresian eserita. Internetez osorik eskuratu daitekeen bildumaren argazkiek beren oineko testu laburrekin eskaintzen dute Greziako jendeei urteotako krisiarekin eta Europak ezarritako murrizketekin gaineratu dieten infernua. Langabezia, erretiroen mozketak, zerga berriak, txirotasuna, klase ertainaren hondoratzea, etxerik gabeen ugaritzea, etorkinen kontrako erasoak, osasun sistemaren hondoratzea, prostituzioa, gaixo psikikoen abandonatzea... 40 argazkik ez dute agortzen, ordea, Troikaren aginduek eragindako miseria guztia. Gutxi zabaldu da azken urteotan Greziako azienden artean ere izurriteak ugaritu direla, albaitari faltagatik.

Antonis Samaras has made every effort to ensure that Greece continues to comply with the orders of the troika. He even tried to buy Members before the last vote he lost on 29 December, but all Greeks have seen it, with the exception of judges who must prosecute corruption offences. Useless.

The problem of Samaras and the right-wing who have been pushing forward the plans of the European establishment in general in Greece is that in this country the ravages that many ingenious economists had predicted long ago have become flesh: If you respond to the crisis that erupted in 2008 with the same recipes as in 1929, you should bring the same sad consequences of the 1930s.

In 2015, Greece blew up thanks to the Memoranda that for almost five years have mutilated and twisted its entire economic and social life. The policies of the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the famous Troika, made up of the International Monetary Fund, have brought Greece to the river.

Statistical data explaining the troika massacre. 17 per cent of the population cannot meet their basic needs. The unemployment rate stands at 27%. More than 250,000 families have been evicted from their homes. The country's deficit has worsened in four years, from 11.1% in 2010 to 12.2% in 2014; external debt has increased from 146% to 175%. The drop in GDP has been 20%.

Derail the health system, make the sick pay more, multiply diseases considered as malaria, such as AIDS deaths, increase suicide rates, even the number of people living without electricity, thousands of sick children... These statistics of cold numbers are reflected in thousands of concrete dramas of thousands of citizens, many of whom are easily narrated by whoever wishes.

The anthropologist Panagiotis Grigoriou summarizes in the blog Greek Crisis that the problem of Samaras is no longer the electorate that votes on the left in the current logic, but the one more concretely located in the right sociology. These gaps in the left and right are not as important as in the past, among the many people affected by the crisis, those in the middle class have also seen that the disaster has been organised and planned at their own will, and that it cannot be turned around in the short term.

“The troika programme – says Grigorium – has seriously injured free small and medium-sized enterprises, house ownership and land – which is the backbone of the mobility strategies that the middle class has to go up in society – to salaries, to pensions and, in the end, to officials, who until now were very close to the historic bipartisanship of the New Democracy and the PASOK. It should be noted that the advocates of the Troika Memorandum have promoted corruption, nepotism and clientelism, seen with aggressive neoliberalism, but this time in a small detail, as heard in Athens: ‘It’s not for everyone.’ Only the favors of the Memorandum are very few and well placed.”

Troika Recipe Test

The neo-liberal exit that the European Union is carrying out under the fervent German authority in the face of the huge crisis of the twenty-first century is becoming more and more critical in 2015. The leaders of the International Monetary Fund have also acknowledged that their formulae based on privatisations and cutbacks have failed... but then no one from the IMF has resigned as a counterpart.

It is not only the Left that questions the theoretical suitability of Greece and Europe in general, many well-integrated institutions and experts in the system criticise the doctrine established by Berlin. But the European establishment behind the troika is not so concerned about the theoretical criticisms of the experts, as is the counter-movements taking place in different countries. That is why he understood that the threats that some have launched from Berlin and Brussels were seeking both in Spain and in France, Italy and even in Ireland to erect a wall at the ends of the left-wing groups that come more strongly with the message of economic policy change.

The year 2015 comes loaded with elections. In Hego Euskal Herria, the municipal and foral institutions, and in any case the Catalans and the Spanish ones, we have suddenly seen Greece setting the agenda of all Europeans. Then more will come across the continent. And in all of them, the influence of Podemos, which has risen on a rocket, has shown that the anti-crisis strategy and the impotence that they have brought with brutal cuts on the population will have a major role to play.

Brussels has set fire to the forces dedicated to preaching against austerity in Greece, which has led to many deaths. That there is no alternative, that they are to pay the debts, that there is an audit of the debts incurred and that whoever dares to give up Merkel's orthodox recipes will go outside the euro, which is to say that they will evict him from Europe.

If they fail to prevent Syriza’s victory with these threats, some experts have advanced – needless to say – that they will attack power with all kinds of obstacles. Just as the IMF has done with the suspension of credits, Greece no longer needs much more to collapse completely overnight.

However, more and more people believe that with Greece, which is Syriza, it is going to have to negotiate the forgiveness of part of the debt. To this end, they have taken the most important step, because the debts that were formerly the largest corporations have now been taken over by the states and by Europe. It is easier to negotiate with public money.

As Pablo Elorduy wrote in Diagonal, “The dispute for social Europe begins in Greece.” A number of French intellectuals have denounced that the European elites have endangered democracy itself in Greece in order to maintain its superiority firmly: “Grèce: Rendons-leur la démocratie! (Enough a troika! In the document “)”: “The European Union, the European authorities, the International Monetary Fund, the stock market rating agencies: it gave up the blackmail, it just shook its nose in the Greek election campaign! Let the people decide!”

Panagiotis Grigoriou is not optimistic about Greece’s ability to cope with this attack: “Fear has become the last weapon European leaders have before the last thing is to falsify election results.”