“HEROIC” is also a Greek Word.

“HEROIC” is also a Greek Word.

Democracy came into our language after being invented in Athens 2500 years ago.  The Greeks also gave us “theater,” “politics” and “economics,” – among a great many other words in the arts, sciences and social studies.  The resounding NO vote last Sunday is a good time to remember that “heroic” is also from ancient Greek. Now comes the difficult process of negotiating a better deal with the EU bankers – or a possible exit from the Euro. Breaking news is that Greek Prime Minister Tsiparas, despite the referendum, has made a proposal that agrees to many of the demands for continued austerity. The very word “Europe” is an ancient Greek word -- but “capitulation” is from Latin. . .

 

I think it surprised everybody, including the government. All the polls before the vote suggested that it was very close. So, I think that was a great victory for democracy in Greece. People were under immense psychological pressure from the media, that were threatening them with nightmare scenarios; from workplaces, where many business owners were threatening their workers that if a "no" prevailed, they would lose their jobs; and from the European partners, who basically were saying that a "no" vote would mean exit from the eurozone. So, it’s a very important result. It’s a hopeful development. It will not end the austerity, even if there is an agreement, but it creates a better environment for anti-austerity forces to keep fighting.   More

 

Greek ‘No’ Has Its Roots in Heroic Myths and Real Resistance

In October of 1940, Greece boldly defied an Italian ultimatum, prompting Mussolini to invade from the north. While fighting gallantly, beating the Italians back into Albania, the Greeks were eventually undone by the advance of Nazi troops from Bulgaria. By April of 1941, the Axis occupation was complete…  When thousands of Greeks descended on Syntagma Square to celebrate the vote, many said they were not at all convinced that it would aid their situation. But it was time to fight back. Most schoolchildren here are brought up on stories of resistance, some of which were invoked last week in trying to drum up resistance to European demands, whatever the consequences… Even in recent times, Greece has nurtured a culture of protests. The generation governing Greece today was raised on images of angry students barricading themselves inside the Athens Polytechnic in a bloody demonstration against the military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974.   More

(Right: Greek Poster from 1940 – the newspaper headlines read: “Greeks to Arms! Hostilities Began Today”)

 

Greek society is divided between left and right, between the grandchildren of people who fought in a civil war here in the late 1940s and indeed the Communist resistance movement that defeated the Nazis in 1944. So that goes back a long way…  So, don’t think it’s young v. old. Look, it is left v. right. And it is class…  The richest areas voted 80 percent yes, the poorest areas voted 80 percent no. But the Greek elite got a lesson that the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley taught the English elite in the aftermath of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre in the famous line from his poem: "Ye are many," to the working class—"they are few." You can’t win a referendum with only rich people. So, that’s the issue here.  More

(Left: “The Poor Vote NO”)

 

 

“Sub-Prime” Greece (and Puerto Rico)?

The Financial Attack on Greece: Where Do We Go From Here?

The private sector has long had laws that prevent money-lenders from lending a borrower more funds than the debtor can reasonably be expected to pay back in the normal course of business… This lend-to-foreclose ploy is the very game that the Troika have played with Greece. They lent its government money that the IMF economists explained quite clearly in 2010-11 (and reaffirmed this year just before the Greek referendum) could not be paid. But the ECB then swooped in and said: Sell off your infrastructure, sell your ports, your gas rights in the Aegean, and entire islands, to get the money to pay what the IMF and ECB have paid French, German and other bondholders on your behalf (while saving U.S. investment banks and hedge funds from losing their bets that Greek debts would indeed be paid)… More

 

Germans Forget Postwar History Lesson on Debt Relief in Greece Crisis

Major debt overhangs are only solved after deep write-downs of the debt’s face value. The longer it takes for the debt to be cut, the bigger the necessary write-down will turn out to be.  Nobody should understand this better than the Germans. It’s not just that they benefited from the deal in 1953, which underpinned Germany’s postwar economic miracle. Twenty years earlier, Germany defaulted on its debts from World War I, after undergoing a bout of hyperinflation and economic depression that helped usher Hitler to power… Germany, in fact, understands moral hazard backward. The standard definition refers to lenders; covering their losses will encourage them to make bad loans again. And that is, let us not forget, exactly what Europe’s creditors have done. Their financial assistance to Greece was deployed to pay back German, French and other foreign banks and investors that held Greek debt. It did Greece little if any good.  More

 

AUSTERITY HAS FAILED: Letter From Thomas Piketty and other Economists to Angela MerkelThe never-ending austerity that Europe is force-feeding the Greek people is simply not working. Now Greece has loudly said no more… Together we urge Chancellor Merkel and the Troika to consider a course correction, to avoid further disaster and enable Greece to remain in the eurozone. Right now, the Greek government is being asked to put a gun to its head and pull the trigger. Sadly, the bullet will not only kill off Greece’s future in Europe. The collateral damage will kill the Eurozone as a beacon of hope, democracy and prosperity, and could lead to far-reaching economic consequences across the world.  More

 

KRUGMAN: Greece’s Economy Is What Republicans Want for the U.S.

Consider Greece’s situation at the end of 2009, when its debt crisis burst into the open. At that point Greek government debt was near 130 percent of gross domestic product, which is definitely a big number. But it’s by no means unprecedented. As it happens, Greece’s debt ratio in 2009 was about the same as America’s in 1946, just after the war. And Britain’s debt ratio in 1946 was twice as high. Today, however, Greek debt is over 170 percent of G.D.P. and still rising. Is that because Greece just kept on borrowing? Actually, no — Greek debt is up only 6 percent since 2009, although that’s partly because it received some debt relief in 2012. The main point, however, is that the ratio of debt to G.D.P. is up because G.D.P. is down by more than 20 percent. And why is GDP down? Largely because of the austerity measures Greece’s creditors forced it to impose… So who wants to impose that kind of toxic policy mix on America? The answer is, most of the Republican Party.  More

 

Maybe not much of a practical solution, but a showing or moral support. . .

DPPer Rosemary Keane writes:

Here is info about the 'Greek Bailout Fund' on Indiegogo- do you think some DPP folks might be interested in making a donation or just in knowing about it via the update?  Take a moment to check it out on Indiegogo and also share it with your friends. All the tools are there. Get perks, make a contribution, or simply follow updates. If enough of us get behind it, we can make 'Greek Bailout Fund' happen! The form is set up using Euros but it converts to dollars at the end. The exchange from Euros to dollars means 50 Euros is about $56.00  http://igg.me/p/greek-bailout-fund/emal/800369=