Posted on 12/22/2014 10:08:31 AM PST by Lorianne
nother war looms in Europe: waged not with guns and tanks, but with financial markets and EU diktats. Austerity-ravaged Greece may well be on the verge of a general election that could bring to power a government unequivocally opposed to austerity. Momentous stuff: that has not happened in the six years of cuts and falling living standards that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
But if the radical leftist party Syriza does indeed triumph in a possible snap poll in the new year, there will undoubtedly be a concerted attempt to choke the experiment at birth. That matters not just for Greece, but for all of us who want a different sort of society and a break from years of austerity.
The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn – which makes other European rightist movements look like fluffy liberals – at one point attracted up to 15% in the polls; though still a menace, its support has thankfully subsided to half that.
But unlike many other European societies – with the notable exceptions of Spain and Ireland – fury and despair with austerity has been channelled into the ranks of the populist left. After years on the fringes of Greek politics, Syriza only became a fully fledged party in 2012, and yet it won Greece’s elections to the European parliament earlier this year. The latest opinion polls give Syriza a substantial lead over the governing centre-right New Democracy party. A radical leftwing government could well assume power for the first time in the EU’s history.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Austerity in the EU = be forced to take bailout “loans” and be ordered to raise taxes by the central government. IOW, push businesses to bankruptcy and people into long-term unemployment, so that the bailout “loans” get spent on welfare and the dole instead, never mind bailing out certain government-approved banks. Ultimate terms of loan: Surrender all fiscal sovereignty to Brussels, as well as so much political sovereignty as to be reduced to a mere province or county.
Sorry: quotation marks should have been on the word “bailout” instead of “loan”, since they are loans and not grants, and the country is ultimately not “bailed out”.
“Austerity-ravaged”
That’s a new one. A perfect buzzword meaning you have to pay for your own stuff.
WHAT DO WE WANT?
AUSTERITY JUSTICE!
WHEN DO WE WANT IT?
WHEN SOMEONE ELSE PAYS FOR IT!
If that were true, then why be strong-armed into taking “bailout” loans and raising taxes, which doesn’t enable anyone to pay for one’s own stuff?
A wise country or area would forget about global anything and strive toward self-sufficiency, with no debt to global interests and no need to buy or sell anything from other countries.
The US was great once. That's when we were self-sufficient and exports were just icing on the cake. When immigrants were people who were allowed to enter the US to fill jobs that US citizens couldn't. When a future for someone who prepared and was a good employee was pretty much assured.
Greece and some of the now-impoverished countries in the EU were doing just fine, with vibrant cultures and economies, until their leaders sold out to the EU masters.
If Greece can break loose from the EU noose, good for them. In the US, if any state can break loose from the feds, go for it!
JMHO
Euros need to relax and enjoy watching the muzzies rape their women and children.....
With the US, it was when the liberals started taking over and implementing their social programs and their tax increases. Does not help having the highest corporate tax rate on the planet, never mind refusing to allow vital industries to expand (e.g. oil refining). The list is far longer than that.
Since Greece seems to be tending to vote far left, they sure will not tend towards leaving the EU empire.
Gimmegimmegimmegimmegimmewepromisetoonlystealasmuchaswecangetawaywithopa!opa!opa!gimmegimmegimmegimmegimme
All true...But this only tells part of the story. For decades, southern europeans literally partied on the Euro and life was very good. Productivity is very low, and investment is almost impossible due to bloated agencies running almost every aspect of business. Established big names seem to do fine as the social overhead prevents smaller players from even entering the market. Social programs are vast and accommodating. They paid for all this by going into debt, all the while believing the "EU" would never let them fail. After 2008, some of the bills came due and so-called austerity was the answer, and what you describe above saves me the typing. Of course, the big weenies are going to push it down onto the people. While acknowledging the cruel truths you identified, I don't see how "anti-austerity" is the answer. There is no money to spend and you are strangled with debt and people don't think you can pay it back and as a result, interest is high. Does it sound like a good time to go on a spending spree? What does this party plan to do? I would love to hear some of their proposals, but I imagine they are running on "justice" with a dash of Hope and Change.
“Anti-austerity” as they define is obviously not the answer.
But the EU is so addicted to the “social market economy” that it’s written into every treaty that binds these countries together—and that means everything is founded on hatred of the “Anglo-Saxon” model of free markets (which US liberals have worked non-stop to tear down). It’d be almost heretical to them to even think of freeing up the markets now.
The euro was actually designed to cause a crisis. The elite politicians were only too happy to help it along.
And that’s correct: the over-wrought leftist sales slogan of “hope and change” will be dusted off once more. All for the worse, of course.
IOW, we’ve in favor of balanced budgets, except in Europe, when we’re in favor of socialists coming to power, the breakup of the EU, and a Russian takeover. Thanks, got it.
Damfool thing in the Balkans ping.
:’)
The European Left's candidate for the European Commission presidency, Alexis Tsipras, Friday called for the immediate release of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams who is been held for questioning in connection with the 1972 murder of Jean McConville. Tsipras called the arrest a "politically inflammatory act against democracy".
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