Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Syriza as usual has defined the Greek crisis perfectly in an interview with Reuters.
“It’s a pseudo-dilemma, a fabricated myth, that our future in the euro is at risk. It is blackmail by pro-bailout parties, a tool to pressure people to accept measures that bring misery,” he told Reuters in this port city in central Greece.
Of course he in 100% correct in his assertion.
Unfortunately either he does not have a solution or the press simply ignores any statements he makes where he outlines his solution.
Of course the myth of a Euro exit has been used to coerce Greeks. Stating that is is progress, it is more than PASOK and Venizelos have ever said, which counts for a lot.
Okay, but what next? I am not sure what Syriza is proposing as a solution, sure you need to know the problem first but that is not enough on its own. What exactly is Syriza and KKE proposing to sort of the situation?
Given that both parties are socialist/communist you have to assume that centralised control of the economy is the answer. Unfortunately that is exactly what has led Greece to the situation it is in today ie power being centralised and that power leading to corruption.
And this is the ultimate irony of the Greek crisis.
You have the “left” saying that the people are being blackmailed and at the same time you have to assume their answer to the problem is exactly what caused the problem in the first place.
And there is more irony.
At the same time you have the left, in this case PASOK, saying that what is happening is in the interests of the Greek people.
So you have parties on the “left” saying exactly opposite things.
And if that was enough irony and confusion for the electorate, you then have the “right-wing” political parties, namely ND and Samaras agreeing with the KKE/communists and Syriza in saying that the Greek people are being blackmailed.
I mean how can so many people from some many different and identical political philosophies interpret the situation in Greece so differently and in the same way at the same time.
Something clearly is getting lost in translation.
I do not believe it is normal for some many people to have such different interpretations of the same thing.
Perhaps this discourse is exposing something.
The fact that PASOK are the only party on board with the austerity measures should tell people that something is wrong with PASOK.
You have ND and KKE/Syriza all united in their opposition of the suicidal austerity measures. If the “left” and the “right” can agree on this then I think it is safe to say they are probably on to something.
PASOK is sticking out like a sore thumb in its continued support of the “measures”. Makes me think elections should have been held a long time ago.
So if we can agree that the measures the way they have been implemented are suicidal, what is the solution?
I am sure Syriza and the KKE will tell you it is to keep people working for the government and to carry on with things as they were.
This makes absolutely no sense to me. It is obvious that the system of big government has never worked, it lead to bankruptcy.
So who is left? ND and Samaras. Unfortunately he seems to be saying the same thing. That Greece can grow its way out of trouble while still maintaining government staffing levels and by continuing to protect the status of protected industries in Greece.
In fact, you could say the the “right” in ND and Samaras have the same ideas and the KKE and Syriza, and I thought I had finished highlighting the irony of the Greek crisis.
So what can Greeks do? If the political system is not representing their wishes and if the politicial system is clearly not presenting any logical solutions then the Greek people need to take back control.
I am sure Greeks moan about their political system, that it is ineffective, that it is corrupt, that the people work for the politicians and not the other way round.
But the fact of the matter is Greeks have let things get to this stage.
Politicians are supposed to express the wishes of the people. Except the people seem to have no wishes.
Is that true, do Greeks have no wishes?
Is this the reason that the politicians have been able to take over the agenda. Politicians have started telling people what they want because the people have not been telling the politicians what they want.
If the politicians are not receiving any orders from the population is it surprising that the politicians have run wild?
With a population with no ideas, the politicians are free to come up with their own ideas and this is how the situation has ended being completely backwards.
Of course, maybe Greeks have been shouting at the top of their lungs for years as to what they want.
How?
Through alleged tax avoidance. Maybe tax avoidance is the core message from the Greek people to their politicians.
“We don’t want you, we don’t need you, so we are not going to finance you through taxes”
Unfortunately I think the issue of tax avoidance in Greece is a complete an utter myth. Greek government tax revenue as a percentage of GDP is higher than supposed honest taxpayers in Germany and the UK. If tax evasion is such a massive problem in Greece and yet Greeks are still paying more taxes that other European countries that should tell anyone who criticises Greece something.
Either the tax system in Greece is completely crippling and unfair, or the government myth of tax avoidance is simply that, a myth.
I agree that “big government” led to corruption even though in the case of Greece big government isn’t that “big”(actually it’s quite small compared to most european countries). However the size of government is NOT the primary cause of this problem. If that was the case then countries that have a much larger public sector(like scandinavian countries or France or even Germany) would be completely bankrupt long ago.
The left wing proposals are mostly focusing on how to deal with the debt negotiations and how to address the currency question while opposing the bailout agreements and the austerity policies. They’re also very critical of the government giving up the country’s sovereignty to the troika. Some more radical left wing parties are even suggesting that Greece should repudiate its debt like too many countries have done in the past.
I think you are very mistaken in assuming that PASOK’s “socialists” are “left wing” or that ND’s “conservatives” are “right wing”. Truth is that there’s absolutely no difference between them. “Ideology” means absolutely nothing to them they’re just two different gangs taking turns in gang-raping Greece. Also I don’t know where you got the impression that ND is proposing something different than PASOK. They’re proposing exactly the same or rather they’re not proposing anything at all; they’re simply following orders.
Thank you for all of your comments, they are extremely enlightening. I have a feeling the things you are saying are already obvious to a lot of Greeks. I have some catching up to do…..
http://independence4wales.com/2012/samaras-venizelos-good-cop-bad-cop-2-sides-of-the-same-coin
Angry voter is completely wrong. How do you think that Germany has a larger civil service than Greece? 10% of Greeks work in the civil service wherease Germany has only 6% and the best economy in Europe. Greece has no industrial capability and this year tourism will fail by 20% or more together with a recession of 3% or more. Syriza wants to use the Greeks money from banks and stop you from using it yourself as a solution. The answers that syriza suggests will kill development and foreign investments. Yet syriza still has no solution to immagration, pensions and social security in general. Stratoulis changes his retoric and avoid every anwer of how he can abolish the mimonio by saying that the question is a “communications trick” by the other parties but he never gives an answer to the question which “I” as voter want to know.
Hello, yeah Syriza have no solutions that I can see.
From what I see in the English version of Greek media the analysis by polticians and the media themselves is extremely shallow. The question stops at in or out of the Euro, in or out of the Eurozone, will the bail out come, will it not come.
From what I see, there is nothing deeper than this.
For example, I do not read anything about the fundamental issue, which in my opinion is the trade deficit and which is an even bigger issue that the government deficit.
The government deficit can be massively helped out by eliminating the trade deficit. Fixing the gov deficit would help the trade deficit indirectly also.
Basically those 2 things need to be sorted out, and I think Greece could easily make huge improvements to both, unfortunately, the government has locked the doors and thrown away the keys. http://independence4wales.com/2012/greek-crisis-1-simple-reform-that-could-fix-all-of-greeces-problems-immediately