Caroline Lucas, Green MP, has labelled the situation in Greece as a ‘coup’.
She said:
“The oldest democracy in the world has been subjected to a coup. Over the course of just a few days the Greek Parliament is being forced to rush through emergency legislation to cut pensions, raise taxes and privatise swathes of the economy – without any time for genuine debate. The forces of darkness – the IMF, the Eurozone and the ECB – are subjecting an already deeply impoverished country to further needless cruelty. National sovereignty has, in effect, been suspended.
“A credible solution to Greece’s woes exists: European countries should come together to discuss ways to cancel at least some of the debt. It’s been done before – when Germany’s debts were cancelled after World War Two – and it should be done again.
“These are dark days for anyone who believes in democracy. The will of a nation has been superseded in favour of relentless, economically illiterate and socially destructive austerity. It’s time that politicians here in Britain, no matter where they stand on the economics of the Greek situation, take a stand for the simple right of a nation to manage its own affairs.”
She said:
“The oldest democracy in the world has been subjected to a coup. Over the course of just a few days the Greek Parliament is being forced to rush through emergency legislation to cut pensions, raise taxes and privatise swathes of the economy – without any time for genuine debate. The forces of darkness – the IMF, the Eurozone and the ECB – are subjecting an already deeply impoverished country to further needless cruelty. National sovereignty has, in effect, been suspended.
“A credible solution to Greece’s woes exists: European countries should come together to discuss ways to cancel at least some of the debt. It’s been done before – when Germany’s debts were cancelled after World War Two – and it should be done again.
“These are dark days for anyone who believes in democracy. The will of a nation has been superseded in favour of relentless, economically illiterate and socially destructive austerity. It’s time that politicians here in Britain, no matter where they stand on the economics of the Greek situation, take a stand for the simple right of a nation to manage its own affairs.”
6 comments:
After 5 years of EU and IMF-imposed neo-liberal economics, the Greek electorate invested faith and support in the left. Affronted by the Greeks' impertinence, Merkel and her chums have engineered a defeat of the left. A proud country has been humiliated and the people will be disillusioned with the left. 'Reparations' are being extracted. Noses are being rubbed in it. Youth unemployment is 49%.
Greece has a well-established neo-fascist party with a symbol which looks strangely like a swastika.
Did East German schools teach Merkel nothing about post-WW1 German history?
Mike Hine
It's just a shame that an economy based on widespread nepotism and corruption (well, more than the average) tried to join the Euro, and also wants to stay in it.
It could have chosen to continue nepotism and corruption outside the Euro, and no-one would have been bothered. But it didn't, and therefore has to change.
The 'coup' aspect firmly places what 'the Forces of Darkness' are doing to Greece in the context of Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The rise of disaster capitalism, which is a very instructive analysis.
And regarding youth unemployment, social geographer Danny Dorling points out in an August 2013 New Statesman article that the EU's billionaires have youths' blighted futures on their hands: Generation jobless: The worst youth unemployment crisis in European history should be blamed on its millionaires
At least 26 million unemployed people will be looking for work across Europe this summer, while in Britain, 2,400 bankers are earning over €1m a year - real pounds and euros that should be better spread out.
Let's also not forget that European countries are being asked for a third time in a row to lend huge sums of money to Greece. Some of these countries have their own economic problems but that does not stop them wanting to help. But since this is Greece's third time, surely it isn't unreasonable for those EU countries to expect there to be some trust that Greece will fix sort its debt problems out without having to rely on a flow of bail outs. The situation is terrible for the Greek people, but at the same time why should countries who have had to take similar loans with conditions (such as Ireland and Portugal) be expected to contribute to lending money to Greece without any conditions at all? If Greece could sort out their public spending and collect more taxes they might sort their economy out faster. It is previous Greek governments that have created this situation, the damage is done. If Greece had started fixing its money problems after the first bail out it got, then perhaps the countries being asked to lend money to them would trust them more. Terrible, terrible situation but I don't see how writing off the debt will help Greece in the long run while their people enjoy far more benefits (like great pensions and annual leave) partly paid for by previous loans from the EU.
As the last comment says, if they want to keep their corrupt systems (which have no doubt lost them millions of Euros),and continue to provide generous benefits to their people they can do it outside the EU. They can't have it both ways. It's not anti-democratic, they have a choice.
The common peasant in the streets of Europe has an unsurpassed opportunity to say "I demand a Europe in which everyone has a home, education, health-care and can decently afford to feed and clothe themselves".
Instead it seems we are content to have a go at Greece or to permit our governments to do so on our behalf. Shame on us really.
It's the traditional English class-cringe, isn't it? Plus what Ernie Bevin said about their 'poverty of desire'.
Mike Hine
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