The Greek People Have Been Sacrificed to the Capitalist Gods of Speculation

[marmar]

Published on Thursday, February 16, 2012 by Critical Legal Thinking (Ireland)

The Greek People Have Been Sacrificed to the Capitalist Gods of Speculation
In Europe, capitalism has persuaded the world that capitalism is the world

by William Wall


The behaviour of the EU states towards Greece is inexplicable in the terms in which the EU defines itself. It is, first and foremost, a failure of solidarity.

The "austerity package", as the newspapers like to call it, seeks to impose on Greece terms that no people can accept. Even now the schools are running out of books. There were 40% cuts in the public health budget in 2010 – I can't find the present figure. Greece's EU "partners" are demanding a 32% cut in the minimum wage for those under 25, a 22% cut for the over 25s. Already unemployment for 15-24-year-olds is 48% – it will have risen considerably since then. Overall unemployment has increased to over 20%. The sacking of public sector workers will add to it. The recession predicted to follow the imposition of the package will cause unbearable levels of unemployment at every level.

In addition the "package" demands cuts to pensions and public service pay, wholesale privatisation of state assets – a fire-sale, since the global market is close to rock bottom – and cuts to public services including health, social welfare and education. The whole to be supervised by people other than the Greeks. An entire disciplinary and punishment system.

When we casually use a term like "bailout", it is important to remember that it is not people who are being bailed out, or at least not the Greek people. The bailout will not save a single Greek life. The opposite is the case. What is being "bailed out" is the global financial system, including the banks, hedge funds and pension funds of the other EU member states, and it is the Greek people who are being ordered to pay – in money, time, physical pain, hopelessness and missed educational opportunities. The relatively neutral, even stoic, term "austerity", is a gross insult to the Greek people. This is not austerity; at best it is callousness. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/02/16-5

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[sinkingfeeling]

2. It's a world-wide problem of the people being punished for the sins of

their corporate masters and governments.

[fasttense]

3. Wow, a very well written article

What is currently happening to Greece is the same thing that happened to Germany right before WWII. The 2 differrence are 1. NO WWI to blame and force the people into austerity. 2. Greece has no control over their currency and can't inflate their way out of their problems.

This is not good. This is a very dangerous game these banks are playing.

[99th_Monkey]

4. Greece <=> MegaBankCorpInternational's ginny pig for NWO take-overs

of formerly sovereign nation states.

[Scootaloo]

9. No, that was Indonesia

Possibly even Iran. This is not new.

[99th_Monkey]

10. Not to mention over a dozen banana republics in Latin America going back into 1900s

my point wasn't how "new" it is, or isn't ... but thanks for your 2¢ anyway.

[Scootaloo]

11. Well, "guinea pig" implies "experimentation

At least, it does to me.

[99th_Monkey]

12. Of course

but I didn't mean Greece was the NWO's very first-ever ginny pig, merely one in a long line, sadly.

I guess my point was that this "experimentation" is ongoing, and didn't stop in Iran or wherever.

These callous over-weened bastards are toying with nation states for sport, and it's disgusting
and I don't blame Greek people for being utterly outraged and just saying "no fucking way"

btw - I do get how it could be easily mis-read, so thanks for playing..

[PoliticAverse]

5. So default already. n/t

[Richardo]

6. Maybe if the Greeks paid their goddam taxes they wouldn't be in this mess.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/business/global/european-commission-urges-greece-to-tighten-tax-collection.html

[Flatulo]

7. Italy is up next. Tax evasion is a national passtime. nt

[AdHocSolver]

8. If US corporations and the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes, neither would the US. nt

[Historic NY]

16. Exactly...

NY State would have a mega surplus if they collected all thats owed.


http://www.tax.ny.gov/enforcement/warrants.htm

[fasttense]

13. It is mostly the uber rich Greeks (think Onassis) who hide their money in Swiss accounts

and don't pay their taxes on it. Much like here in the US. Plus they had stopped aggressively pursuing the very wealthy tax cheats and had concentrated merely on the poor and middle class tax cheats. This change in strategy brought in smaller returns when audits and investigations were completed. Much like the bushes did here in the US.

Greece has 165,000 pending tax cases but even the Times reporter who wrote the story at your link thinks they will only get about 6 to 8 billion from those tax cases because their tax law is so confusing and complicated, much like the US. And that 6 to 8 billion will hardly make a dent in what Greece owes. (And on average each of those cases owes about $485 million. Who has tax bills that high? Not the working class that's for sure.)

So, even if Greeks were considerate taxpayers, their government would have still created the mess they are in.

[TBF]

14. A life of hell for the working class in Greece -

?he myths concerning the crisis and the response of the KKE and the class-oriented labour movement.

A life of hell for the working class, for all the people who toil is being prepared by the black front of the coalition government-Troika-plutocracy. Their agreement on the measures which have been announced is only the precursor for infinitely worse measures, which they will bring with their “new agreement” by June 2012.

The new memorandum of impoverishment which was voted on 12.2 includes amongst other the following measures:

Salaries

Reduction of basic salaries by 22% (National General Collective Agreement-NGCA, sectoral and professional agreements).
The basic salary for the newly hired workers will be further reduced by 10%, besides the 22% reduction i.e. a reduction of 32%.
Abolition of sectoral bargaining agreements.
Freezing of wages till 2015.
Full time employment will be converted to part-time employment, upon the decision of the employers.
Automatic wage increases based on seniority are suspended till unemployment falls below 10% , in fact they are abolished.
Collective bargaining agreements will last for maximum three years.
All collective bargaining agreements which apply today will expire one year after the adoption of the new memorandum.
Review of the new NGCA by the end of July in order to align with the basic salary in rival countries (Portugal, Turkey, Central and Southeastern Europe).
Abolition of one-sided recourse to arbitration.

Pensions- social contributions

Reduction of pensions by 300 millions euro annually. The new cuts will affect both basic and auxiliary pensions.
Further cuts in basic pensions of several pension funds which will apply retrospectively from 1/1/2012...

Much more here from the KKE (Communist Party of Greece): http://inter.kke.gr/News/news2012/2012-02-16-metra/

[got root]

15. "States have agreed to see themselves as economies rather than societies." - precisely

[CherylK]

17. K & R