The media have been interested in the Greek finances as if a small state like Greece is holding the key to the global financial stability. Greeks have been characterised by the media as thieves, crooks and charlatans with the German media being extremely inventive on the issue. Personally, I have not met the millions of crooks that part of the German media portrays. However, I do know hard-working families that struggle to make ends meet, the youth which survives with an average wage of 700 Euros and Greek scientists that work and thrive in universities all over the world.
The degrading terms which were used by the German media to describe the Greeks bring back a colonial discourse which is reminiscent of the way European states formerly characterised African tribes. It is sad to see that journalists propagate such discourse even today. The use of such terms for the description of human beings contradicts the values of humanism with which we grew in Europe. In addition, history taught us that when instincts prevail over logic then the outcome may be a dangerous one.
It is also sad to see that 50 years of European integration did very little to erase silly stereotypes. In this respect, the Greeks have been quite ‘mature’ as they never played the card of the ‘bad Nazi’ German as many other countries did. The Greek-German relation is one of close cooperation. Greece and Germany have been hand in hand on many European issues as both want to see a strong integrated Europe. In a globalised world we need to coexist in order to secure our future. This is the case for both small and large states. At times where even powerful Germany is outnumbered by China, it cannot afford to lose a valuable partner like Greece.
I would like to remind all these populist journalists that these insults on Greeks also affect a considerable section of German society: their compatriots of Greek origin who live and thrive in Germany. This type of coverage has also been detrimental to German interests in Greece as the public image of Germany has been severely damaged. I do feel sorry for the personnel of the German Embassy in Athens which has to start its work from scratch.
Regarding the coverage of the crisis what we really seem to lack is good journalism. It would be good if journalists could reflect on various important issues regarding the Greek crisis. First, it is extraordinary how certain European Right-wing politicians ‘discovered’ the situation of the Greek economy just a few months ago while previously they were taking ‘big smile’ pictures next to the former Conservative Greek Prime Minister. President Barroso and the CDU comrades of the former Greek PM knew the situation of the Greek economy but simply left the problem to escalate. In legal terms, the coverage of a crime is a crime on its own. I would really appreciate it if German journalists were also critical of their own leaders who simply hushed up the severity of the Greek situation for the last six years for the sake of micro-political interests. With their silence they supported a government which is responsible for the financial, social and environmental degradation of Greece (the only major headlines that mentioned Greece during the Conservative reign were those of fires which affected half of the Greek territory).
In economic terms, Greece experienced what other states did, that is an increase of deficit which, in percentage points, is similar to that of Spain, Italy Portugal (the so called PIGS) or even that of the UK. However, it was only Greece that became the main target of an unprecedented attack. Why? Speculative pressures brought the country to its knees. The country will now have to borrow money under heavy terms. Money lending institutions are rubbing their hands. Investigative journalists should really find out who is behind this orchestrated attack.
There is also another major misunderstanding. The German media portray the German government as the generous European who throws its money to the poor south. Let’s be serious! EU financial policies are a matter of bargain. South Europeans opened up their markets in exchange of EU Cohesion money. This was a logical and fair compromise that allowed German companies to take over whereas Southern European States got a pay-off in order to redress their backward economies. In the case of Greece, German companies did more than well: they were awarded contracts for the construction of the Athens Airport and many other public utilities. They entered the Greek telecommunications market which has a strong influence in all Balkan markets. They secured huge contracts in arms deals. A clear commitment on collective defence on behalf of the EU would lead to a decrease in Greek defence spending that would do miracles for the country’s finances. Do Europeans dare?
Talking about generosity, Greece has been heavily affected by the WWII German occupation out of which it only got a meagre compensation. The issue of compensation is part of the bilateral agenda but due to the Greek wisdom it never embittered the bilateral relationship neither did it became an obstacle regarding other bilateral issues.
It is of great relief that people find solutions to the problems that the media establishment cultivates. I am pleasantly surprised by the human relationships that bind people together from these two countries. Strong financial, political and cultural partnerships have been formed. Numerous Greek-German couples have been living happily together overcoming the overexposed stereotypical ‘cultural’ differences. The Greeks love Germany, its history, literature, cinema and culture. Not to mention Otto Rehhagel!
The German-Greek relationship remains a passionate one. And believe me, there is nothing better than a passionate Greek-German love affair!
#1 by Ronald Grünebaum on March 5, 2010 - 11:52 am
The author makes a decent effort to calm the waves, but misses a few points.
The German media he refers to are basically tabloids. No serious publication has engaged in wholsale bashing of Greece. To the contrary: Much space is given to Greeks themselves to explain what is wrong with their country (and, boy, there is a lot wrong – from stray dogs in Athens to not paying for German submarines that have been ordered).
On the other side, it was Greek Government members and Members of Parliament who fell foul of Godwin’s Law.
The author again raises the issue of compensation for Nazi war damage. Isn’t this all a bit late now and doesn’t this look particularly cheap? And why are such demands not addressed at the initial aggressor Italy?
Germans love facts, not emotions. And a fact is that Greece cheated its way into the Euro by faking budget statistics. Another fact is that Germans accepted the Euro in exchange for fiscal discipline by all members. Greece has certainly not shown this kind of discipline and seems hard pressed to do so now.
Germany had to get its act together after 1989 and a lot was asked from many ordinary people. When Germans read that 80.000 dead still collect pensions in Greece and that a good deal of civil servants only shows up once a month to collect a salary, they are rightfully reluctant to hand over their hard-earned Euros. Money, after all, still focuses the mind like nothing else.
And make no mistake: If you would ask Dutch or Finns what they think of the Greek free-spending mentality you will probably hear much harsher words than from Germans.
Last year when the Greek forests were burning, I watched French television. The French pride themselves in their organisation and prowess when it comes to forest fires. The remarks about Greek disorganisation (fire engines running out of petrol in the middle of the fires because someone forgot to fill the tank) and administrative incompetence (still no official land registry, lack of spare parts for waterbombers) were scathing to a degree that I have never heard on German TV! This is how people who do not carry the burden of the Nazi crimes see Greece.
Greeks need to grow up now and rebuilt their society. Looking at what some foreign media write is just an unnecessary distraction.
#2 by Vasilis Margaras on March 5, 2010 - 3:29 pm
Thanks for the comments Roland
The article was not written to justify the economic situation of Greece. It was written to show how a small country is treated by the media and that such discourse is unfair. One cannot characterise people as crooks and thieves. Germans would be as offended as Greeks are if someone would have written similar stories. The Greek government has already taken extremely tough measures which aim at addressing the crisis (an extensive list of new taxes and expenses cuts). They also moved to implementing changes in the public sector which requires urgent restructuring. Lazy public sector officials exist. Still, the hard-working Greeks I meet far outweigh the lazy ones!
I do agree with your comments on the issue of fires and I don’t think you will find a single person in Greece saying that in this case the state acted in an efficient manner. The treatment of burnt forests was characteristic of the way the previous Right-wing government was handling all sorts of situations. They did the same thing with the Greek economy: ‘burnt’ it completely! However, on the issue of statistics: Merkel, Barrosso and the rest of Right wing European leadership never raised the issue seriously with the former government, although they knew things were wrong. Why they never said a word in the past six years?
You also mentioned that the tabloids are responsible for most of the comments and I am sure that they overindulged in this issue. However, I do not think that magazines such as Focus and Spiegel qualify as tabloids.
As for the German submarines that have been ordered, the Greeks did not accept the delivery of them after discovering a number of serious faults. The German would not have accepted faulty goods either (especially when we are talking about millions of Euros). I don’t see why the Greeks should do so. Still, a compromise was found on this issue in the mid 2009.
On the question of German compensations, I think it is never too late for historic justice. However, as I mentioned in my article the item never dominated the bilateral agenda which is a sign of maturity on behalf of the Greeks.
I also mentioned that it is simply not the case that the Germans just hand in cheques with Greeks cashing them. The EU is a complex mechanism within which states defend their interests. Germans stay within the EU because they also win and the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. For instance, all East German Regions also get EU Cohesion money the way Southern European Regions did previously.
#3 by Desmond O'Toole on March 5, 2010 - 5:29 pm
That was a really important article, Vasilis, that puts Helleno-German relations in their proper context. It’s a real shame that tabloid newspapers in Germany fall back on tired old ethnic stereotypes about Greece, as their sister papers do in other countries. Your rational article, focussing on European solidarity and the strength of personal ties, stands in welcome contrast to the sloppy rhetoric of lazy, tabloid journalists.
There’s a Facebook group, by the way, that is encouraging people to take their holidays in Greece this year as an act of personal solidarity with our Greek friends. Hopefully, I’ll be spending two weeks in Greece in the Summer as my own personal act to support Greece and its PASOK government at this time. It’ll be the most pleasant act of solidarity I’ve ever engaged in!
And talking about PASOK, I think you hit the nail on the head about who is responsible for the calamitous state of Greek public finances at this time. It was the previous conservative government, led by Karamanlis, that was responsible for hiding its debt-financing via dodgy deals with American banks and lying to the European Commission about Greece’s finances. Blaming the Greek people for the mendacity of the conservative govermment is quite wrong, especially as it was the Greek people themselves that sent that corrupt government packing last October when they elected PASOK and Georges Papandreou to power.
Not for the first time, it has fallen to a social democratic government to sort out the failures of the Right wing.
Desmond O’Toole
PES activists Dublin
(personal capacity)
#4 by ioana on March 5, 2010 - 6:21 pm
I am talking as an immigrant in Greece from Romania. I was lucky to have a great Greek husband with his great Greek family to support and help me to adapt here … I perfectly understand Greek society. That doesn’t mean I agree with some of the facts you just described : nepotism, corruption, misleading, misinformation. But also I don’t agree with the ironical and mean approach of German media on Greek culture and heritage. It is pure and simple discrimination! There are 27 states in EU and 27 cultures … (either you German media accept them or not.)
And you know what I love most about Greece … you are allowed to express freely your opinion, and just say NO. And everyone will listen your arguments for your NO … the point is to explain your reasons without insulting anyone. It’s like making an imaginary circle with your arm having your finger pointed to the extremities of that circle … if you touch somebody’s nose just be brave and recognize your guilt!!! At least apologize … ( JP Sartre
)
I really love Greece and I really love Hellenistic heritage … they helped the whole world develop: minds, souls, sciences, progress … and approach on things. Noways Greece just need support to change it’s post-traumatic behavior … I mean post-traumatic because of the difficult times that Greek people encountered since 336BC till 1973 AC. ( Alexander the Great, Romans, Turks, 1st WW, Balkan War, 2nd WW, civil war, and finally dictator leading ……..
Also I am thinking that if Greece was today on the German media’s table … my own country may be next…
As regarding the Greek people’s reactions … some of them are truly exaggerated but you have no idea on how much pressure we all are here …” Will they throw us out from the Euro zone?”; ” Am I able to pay my credit to the bank?” Will my company throw me out?” “How should I raise my children?” etc … and that kind of worries which just leave you one option: react. Everybody will react in one way or another … either logical or not.
And I will close my humble opinion on this subject by using my favorite Socrates quote:” There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.” …
Ioana
#5 by Desmond O'Toole on March 5, 2010 - 7:06 pm
Well said, Ioana!
We are all in this crisis together, whether Romanian, Greek, German or Irish. We should remember that we are stronger when we work together rather than when we fall back into national stereotyping and blaming an entire people for the failures and mendacity of a few!
Desmond O’Toole
PES activists Dublin
(personal capacity)
#6 by Mario Spitzner on March 5, 2010 - 7:27 pm
I`m challenging the thesis that the “german media” had insult the greeks, only the Bild newspaper is a little bit populist, the cover of the Focus was only satire which illustrated the greek government. The fact is, that none serious newspaper here had shown the normal greek population as frauds, only their governments!
Mr. Margaras, you should look at the reactions of the general public in greece, which didn`t target the Focus or the german media, the target of their hate attacks was the german nation! They boycotted german products like it happens with jewish shops under the Nazis, they showed our chancellor Angela Merkel as Adolf Hitler, a greek journal equalized the germans with the Nazis, currently there`s a downright pogrom atmosphere against germans – not german journalists, not german politicians, but against normal german people! Is this sort of hate you want to support with such an article? You as a reputable website should denounce this primitive hate, than to trivialize it as “protests against media reports”!
#7 by petros on March 5, 2010 - 10:59 pm
No matter what political beliefs one might have, I only know that: democracy and corruption are going on different paths. We Greeks we should know better.
This is a WARNING to the other fellow Europeans..
#8 by Anonymous on March 6, 2010 - 11:34 am
It seems to me your missing the general point Mr. Author. Nobody wants to work so that their life savings are spent on bailing out lazy gits.
When you try to understand that, you’ll see why German (and not only German) media are using such foul language.
European partnership – yes please!
Signing up to it just for the sake of being fed by others – hell no !!
#9 by Sabiene Bauern on March 6, 2010 - 8:26 pm
Very good Article!!!
It really nails the recent problems without insulting anyone!
too bad there aren’t more objective journalists like the author and too bad some of the German politicians provoke more problems by suggesting the sale of Greek islands….
thank you
#10 by Martyn on March 7, 2010 - 7:01 am
To be fair lets have a look at the polls. 72% of the Germans want Greece tossed out of the eurozone compared to 92% of the Dutch. Mind you if the Dutch end up participating in a Greek bailout, couldn’t they get some money out of the Germans in WWII compensations. Please! Greece fiddled its way into the euro and it needs to get itself out of the hole they dug. Blaming a former government is easy but remember who voted for them. Yes, the Greeks.
#11 by Enric on March 7, 2010 - 1:34 pm
Good article defending Greece’s reputation. However, I would like to add a couple of things: First, the harshest critics come from media. We know pretty well how media works. Media is a business and thus the more newspapers you sell, the more profits you get. By saying this, I just want to downplay German press reaction. They are just writting what they consider people want to read. I do think we have to give more importance to the fact that German Foreign Minister said that he was not willing to help Greece out. This is more important because shakes European solidarity.
Second, I would ask to the author to provide more details regarding why Greek economy has reached this point. It is only because speculative attacks? Spain did suffer these attacks as well, but the problems Spain has have their origin in Spain itself. In other words, I would like to read more self-criticism from the Greek part.
And finally, I deem the last part of the article a bit sensationalist. I don’t know deeply German-Greek relations but I don’t think you can consider them as historical ones. I mean, the relations between these 2 countries are not neither more nor less than the relations than other countries currently hold.
Thank you.
#12 by mog on March 7, 2010 - 10:38 pm
Germans did not treat their Dutch brothers the same way they treated the Eastern untermensch. They deliberately starved hundreds of thousands of Greeks to death. Ironically, it was the Turks who tried to send food aid to the Greeks.
#13 by Anonymous on March 8, 2010 - 10:20 am
It is all too well, dear Greek layabout friends, that you’ve decided to reminisce the “evils” brought upon you by the “nasty Germans” during WWII.
But why, oh why, have you though of doing that only now? Why didn’t you do it, say, 10 years ago? 5 years ago?? 20??? Why is it now, when you are in desperate need of their money?
Please do explain
#14 by anna on March 8, 2010 - 1:57 pm
Dear Mr. Margaras,
Finally an answer to the insulting and dangerous comments of the press concerning \the Greek problem\. When racism and discrimination against a nation are used to target financial shortcomings of a Government this is most upsetting indead in terms of respect of a people that already has enough problems to solve and is burdened by a deficient state management. The editorials of Kathimerini and other papers have been most interesting on the subject and I wonder if they could be translated in Fr or English as to enlighten the debate on the matter. Positive comments are most welcome in a climate of despise and denigration.
so far, Anna, Translator
#15 by Martyn on March 9, 2010 - 3:27 am
The German occupation forces starved the entire Dutch population in the winter of 1944-1945. If Greece wasn’t happy with the wartime compensation they received from Gernany they should have said so at the time. As long as Greek lawyers or dentists declare a € 20.000 income and keep the rest in cash no bail out should be forthcoming. As for the striking tax workers; they probably did f**** all to start with, so good hire a couple guys who take their job seriously a go after all those Greek tax evaders.
#16 by Slim K on March 9, 2010 - 6:43 am
Translator Anna,
I do wonder if the Greek officials have the same respect and capability for their job as you have for English language (which I assume is your professional tool as you are a translator).
an athmosphere of “despise” “indead”… not to mention the syntax.
#17 by Christos on March 9, 2010 - 1:27 pm
When I read some of the comments made about this article, I really ask myself if cool-headed people (Germans or of whatever other nationality) are an endangered species in Europe of 2010.
First, you get some wiseguy who insists that you should pay for something that is delivered to you broken, just because you ordered it. Newsflash, my man: I ordered it in working condition! It is a well-known fact that these subs had serious manufacturing flaws, and noone – no matter the nationality – would accept them this way.
At another point, you get some other self-righteous contributor, who uses unthinkable generalities and brands all Greeks as “layabout”. It shouldn’t surprise me – should it, now? – since it’s precisely those detestable generalitites that brought us to this discussion in the first place: the Greeks are lazy, just like the Germans are Nazis, the Dutch are cheapskates, the Belgians are stupid and the French are unwashed. Oh, please, don’t you know any better by now?
And then all this blowing of hot air, without taking into account (probably, without even being aware of) formal statements of both Greek and German officials, that the Greeks have never asked for and do not want German (or other peoples’) money!
What the Greek state needs is its european partners’ political support, so that it can borrow money from the international markets at reasonable rates, and not at the exhorbitant rates that would only favor speculators profiting from bringing down the European currency.
Yes, Greeks have been living above their means, yes, the administrative mecanisms are plagued by age-old weaknesses and they break down much more frequently than Greeks would like to, but that doesn’t mean that Greece is a country filled with gyros-eating, komboloi-toying, frappé-drinking time-wasters, who want nothing more than live off someone else’s money.
Grow out of these clichés and get your sense of humour back from the Italian mobster who has stolen it!
#18 by Anonymous on March 9, 2010 - 2:15 pm
Point taken, Christos. Generalising is by no means positive.
Point remains though, any sort of support, even political, given without imposing overarching reforms on Greece will doom us all, Greece and others.
#19 by Desmond O'Toole on March 10, 2010 - 12:12 pm
Fair play to you, Christos, for reminding us of what really matters in this crisis and of the dangers that lie in wait for us if we retreat back into suspicion of our neighbours and xenophobic stereotypes.
Desmond O’Toole
PES activists Dublin
(personal capacity)
#20 by al on March 11, 2010 - 2:05 am
Shows how the imperialistic spirit has resurged in Germany, more than all the other evidence. What happened to “never again”?
So you’ve come here to post personal attacks that don’t even have a basis? Maybe you took a wrong turn on the “intarwebs” en route to Stormfront.
Seems like there’s more than one on here. I’d call that post a violation of Godwin’s Law by proxy, just due to that manner of misbehaviour. The EU is no “European partnership” and anyone who studies its workings will realise that in a heartbeat. It’s another permutation of an old empire.
#21 by ioana on March 12, 2010 - 12:44 am
What can I say … I hope my country, Romania, never join the “Euro zone” … It seems that that “old plan” of Jean Monet it was useless … Here the EU greatest nations are arguing about their own very different mentalities, on their politics behavior,… even about their cultures which from the start were as a matter of fact the whole meaning of the EU… And I, as an immigrant in Greece I was wondering … how should I adapt to this “socio-cultural aggressive” concept of harmonization throughout the EU environment … IS IT ALL ABOUT MONEY? If the answer is yes then allow me to become an Euro skeptic……
#22 by Emanuel on March 15, 2010 - 11:01 am
Mog, please be carefull with what you say.. I’m Dutch and my mother lost a kid brother due to the starvations in the winter of ’44-’45 and she told me the horror stories about her other brothers desparately seeking for days for food and at one point failed.. However after the war people hold my grand-mother responsible for his dead.. These are serious trauma’s one should not write lightly about.. Still I like the quality of German products and their thorough way of doing things and many other aspects of their culture.. Just as I like the Greek hospitallity, their bigs smiles and their food
#23 by Mitsos from Greece on March 15, 2010 - 8:54 pm
The Greek political regime is both enemy of Greek people and Europe. All political parties leaders in parliament are agents of Russia-China axis that destroyed on purpose Greek economy -while they were hypnotizing Greek people for years by giving fees more than Greek economy could excuse- so Russia and China will presend as ”savors” and geopolitically control Greece. On the same time the Greek regime is giving for free crucial parts of Greek economy to Kremlin agents like the well known ex Stazi agent that everyone knows…
In this game the Klintonian system of USA are playing also the game against Europe because they want to strike Europe and because Klinton expresses the USA capitals that are invested in China.
Shortly there is a game of Russia and China with the help of Clinton against Europe, and Greek politcal system plays on purpose the role of Trojan Horse against Europe.
As a Greek I call the European people to wake up and resist to that blackmail, and give voice to the opressed democratic people in Greece
#24 by Joe Noory on March 15, 2010 - 9:46 pm
Mitsos:
Don’t flatter yourself. The internal activities of Greece are not significant anough to China or Russia that they would somehow, by some magic, have parliamentary puppets.
The tabloids are right. The Greek government is being pressured by mobs to keep borrowing like mad.
This is the complex: public demands more civil services, government hires way too many civil servants to do it. Government pays this inflated mob badly. Mob keeps striking for a better, new and improved pittance. Government borrows more.
It’s a form of Syndicalo-Anarchism, and it’s meant to destroy a society.
It also has the effect of suppressing everyones’ earnings while at the same time giving to collectivist shakedown artists more income per unit of inaction as everyone else.
Good luck with all that.
#25 by ioana on March 17, 2010 - 1:23 am
Let’s not forget that Greece is not Germany as Italy is not Holland or Belgium … They have very different mentalities … So when the Eurozone was created the EU financial powers knew very well that there is no chance that the PIGS ( as they are called by the “experts”) will be able to change their way of living, thinking and change their financial priorities in 5 or 10 years… If I’ll ask my 10 years old cousin she will know that this is pure and simple impossible. As I personally think that those brilliant minds of the Eurozone really knew what they were doing … they were searching for markets and customs exemptions for their own products … Unfortunately this is all the truth… they use PIGS as a simple market share statistic for their products. Now when it’s the Eurozone turn to help they just blame the PIGS … outrageous for a European way of thinking. I was thought to be brave an assume all risks especially if I want to create something more than a monetary union or a “European” market.
#26 by Immigrant on April 18, 2010 - 11:32 am
Many Greeks have found comments in German media offending, and probably quite rightly so. However, they ought to bear in mind two things. First, the Germans and most of northern Europe are right to be angry for feeling used by the Greeks, and second, the Greek public opinion is now experiencing what the Albanian, Macedonian and other immigrants living in Greece have had to put up with for the last twenty years, prejudiced and mean spirited name calling by the Greek media. You certainly do not have my sympathies. Now you have found out that abuse hurts.
#27 by set on May 5, 2010 - 10:38 pm
“Blaming a former government is easy but remember who voted for them. Yes, the Greeks.”
Putting all the blame on the people who voted for a faulty regime…
I’m very tempted to invoke Godwin here…
#28 by Car Guy on May 5, 2010 - 11:57 pm
Greece has a primary deficit of over 8%. Which is to say that even if you make the debt payments go away, the country is only taking in enough tax revenue to cover 91% of its spending.
Given how poor Greek tax compliance is, this means that austerity plans will literally have to be on the table no matter what happens: if they default, they won’t be able to borrow any more money, and will have to run at least neutral; and if they don’t default, they will have to cut deeply in order to make their debt payments.
#29 by Mustafain Meghani on May 6, 2010 - 5:56 am
I enjoy watching the cradle of western civilization crumble. Soon Turkey will one again rule Greece bringing Islam to those vermin. From there Islam will rule Europe and then America. Pakistan will be the new superpower and all kafir Infidels especially Fat Americans will perish.
I can’t wait.
#30 by Mekonen Haddis on May 7, 2010 - 12:28 am
Neo-Liberalism, and the Greek tragedy.
May 6, 2010 by politicalsnapshots.wordpress.com
Neo-liberalism, and the Greek tragedy.
The country that gave the world the three most important tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides is facing a major economic tragedy. While economists the world over have differing views on the root cause of Greece’s economic problem, as a non economist, I have been immensely concerned with anarcho-capitalism, (an economic system that destroys government regulation of the economy, and creates economic anarchy within the global economic system).
The conscious deregulation of the economy that started during the Reagan administration in the U.S. reached its climax during President George W. Bush’s tenure and has brought the global economic chaos the world is in at the moment. Their bankrupt economic theory of the market policing itself, has proven to be as hollow as their dreams of making trillions of dollars without manufacturing anything. (Capitalism without ethics, June, 2009 PSS.WP).
Sadly, Greek is another glaring example of the failure of neo-liberalism. Developing countries beware neo-liberalism is here to destroy you, not to save you. And those politicians that still praise the virtues of neo-liberalism, as Ashley St.Claire would say, they are either dim-witted or have a personal agenda that would personally benefit them at the expense of the interest of their countries.
Neo-liberalism is what Susan Strange calls “Casino Capitalism”. She is one of the first to have for seen the dangers of anarcho-capitalism. She has linked “casino-capitalism”, in to a number of trends among which are: government’s deregulation of the economy, (based on the fallacy that, the market and the banks would regulate themselves), and commercial banks turning in to investment banks. Susan Strange’s work is an essential contribution in de bunking the dominant doctrine of neo-liberalism.
Recently, the EU and the IMF have agreed to extend $147 billion dollars rescue under a three year agreement. This “rescue” plan actually is intended to rescue French and German banks that are holding a large share of Greece’s bonds. Moreover, the “rescue” is meant to temporarily stop a widening debt crisis in Europe which might include Portugal, Spain and Italy. In all this, the Greeks will be burdened with more debt, and are required to take harsh budget cuts.
In order to comply with the EU and IMF’s “rescue” plan, the Greek government will cut public-sector workers’ pay by 20%, raise the retirement age, increase sales tax to 23%, increase the price of tobacco products, alcohol and gas by 10%, increase taxes on property and businesses, etc. etc. Even if all this drastic measures are instituted according to plan, the actions taken actually would increase Greece’s debt and shrink its economy by 4%. How about a big applause to neo-liberalism?
Focusing only on dollars and cents, what usually is left out is any discussion of the impact of neo-liberalism’s creation of political instabilities around the globe. The main crime of neo-liberalism is its unparalleled focus on greed some would say debauchery and social injustice.
I only hope, the violence in Greece would quickly recede before it destroys a country that is the root of European civilization.
Professor Mekonen Haddis.
#31 by Mekonen Haddis on May 23, 2010 - 8:40 am
Neo-Liberalism and the role of Government.
May 23, 2010 by politicalsnapshots.wordpress.com
Neo-Liberalism and the role of Government.
When a government abdicates its responsibility in regulating the economy (as did the U.S. government), capitalist greed accompanied by all sorts of illegal amassing of wealth by the few, at the expense of the majority in society takes place. In other words, policies of neo-liberalism compel governments to abandon regulation of the economy, so that only profit- making becomes the law of the land. Society be damned. The citizen is only a consumer. The government is only a facilitator of business exploitation.
A government as a body that has the power to enforce environmental, labor and consumer laws was required by neo-liberal philosophy to abandon its most critical responsibility of social policy to “market forces”. While it is true that Democracy gives ordinary people a significant voice in government, at the end of the day, who makes the policies that the U.S. government pursues, is what matters. When that question is properly answered, then, we will find out who has power in America.
If a government relinquishes its central and essential duty of protecting the poor. If it fails to tackle unemployment, poverty, and income disparity in society, then, who is it working for? When the government makes it its religious duty to propagate privatization and market deregulation, then we see the sleeper hold neo-liberalism has on government. “Under Neo-liberalism everything either is for sale or is plundered for profit”. Giroux.
Explaining the danger of neo-liberalism on society, Henry A. Giroux writes,
“Neo-liberalism has become one of the most pervasive, if not, dangerous ideologies of the 21st century. Its pervasiveness is evident not only by its unparalleled influence on the global economy, but also by its power to redefine the very nature of politics itself. Free market fundamentalism rather than democratic idealism is now the driving force of economics and politics in most of the world”.
Unlike president Reagan who believed that the “government was a problem, not a solution”, President Obama says, “ that the real issue was not whether government ought to be big or small but whether what it did actually worked”. President Obama in his speech on overhauling financial regulation, seems to have understood the failure of neo-liberalism and the economic destruction it has brought on the U.S. in specific, and the world in general. Moreover, he has made the government’s ceding its responsibility as one of the main culprits for the United States’ financial meltdown. Obama said:
“Now, one of the most significant contributors to this recession was a financial crisis as dire as any we’ve known in generations — at least since the ’30s. And that crisis was born of a failure of responsibility — from Wall Street all the way to Washington — that brought down many of the world’s largest financial firms and nearly dragged our economy into a second Great depression. A free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it. That’s what happened too often in the years leading up to this crisis”. (Neo-Liberalism, Anarcho-Capitalism).
For the first time in the last thirty years, the bankruptcy of neo-liberalism is so obvious that neither sorcery nor religion could save it. According to Naomi Klein, Neo-Liberalism “has been a class war waged by the rich against the poor, and I think that they won. And I think the poor are fighting back. This should be an indictment of an ideology. Ideas have consequences. Wall Street crisis should be for neo-liberalism what fall of Berlin Wall was for Communism”.
Professor Mekonen Haddis.
#32 by Mustafain Meghani on May 31, 2010 - 8:33 pm
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#33 by Cato the Younger on June 9, 2010 - 3:38 pm
The problem of the EURO zone and internal market is that it creates many of the deficits that Europe faces. Take the U.S. for instance, California’s trade with other U.S. states do not cause an imbalance that needs to be financed. Therefore with a truly united market the net carry trade balance or imbalance only affects things like tax revenue, employment but do not created stuctural debt when they use a common currency. One real problem is that Germany has a huge imbalance with many of her trading partners. The internal market is not truly unfied if the net trade imbalance has to be financed on the markets. Meaning that German goods imported required require Greece going into the market to finance said goods. Currently internal trade deficits matter to the amount of debt member-states have when they should not. The other problem is the lack of transparency and proper tax colllection if some EU states. If taxes were properly collected the state balance sheets would be much improved. These two factors along with a sound fiscal policy could help steer the EU out of the current predicament. Either the EU is a loose confederation where some members share a currency and have open markets…or it has a robust internal market that is aided by a common currency and sound fiscal rules.
#34 by Hans on June 10, 2010 - 12:21 pm
>>One real problem is that Germany has a huge imbalance with many of her trading partners.
I disagree. This is not a “problem”, it is simply a consequence of free trade. The real problem is the excessive indebtedness. To put it in simple terms, rather than buying expensive BMWs on credit the Greek should have bought cheap Korean or Chinese models. This would be reasonable economic behaviour and it would also be the natural way to keep trade imbalance in check.
#35 by Cato the Younger on June 12, 2010 - 1:36 am
RE: One real problem is that Germany has a huge imbalance with many of her trading partners.
In a non-currency union the Greek currency would reflect the net-value of their economy and allow for their currency to reflect their fiscal situation in free trade area. The internal market and currency union are parts of the EU a semi-political entity with many people ignoring the truth that Europe’s fates are tied together and bound by the Euro. When the EU created the EURO, it should and needs to change how Eurozone trade is viewed. Simply put, if you acted like commerce in all other currency zones with internal markets, internal deficits would not require external debts to pay for them. Otherwise, the Euro should be abandoned and then the countries of Europe’s currency could fluctuate according to the economic realities created by trade.
#36 by Mona Lisa on July 1, 2010 - 11:39 pm
I agree with the commentator (Hans) above that suggested that buying expensive German products is a problem for the Greeks. Most nations are trapped in a cycle of consumerism but for the European South, this has taken a dramatic swing. Greek markets opened freely to German products (no tarrifs to protect the local industries) and their industries one by one got hammered by uneven competition until collapse. Encouraged by the banks, Greeks used credit to continue the consumption cycle (from trains, drugs and submarines to cars) which was great for the German economy, but balloned the country’s debt.
It is worth noticing that the 20% German surplus equals to the 20% South European deficit. One can see where the trade has been flowing to. Consumerism based societies benefit the strongest manufacturing countries and create havoc in the more traditional economies. A high euro exacerbated the problem making low value Greek products (like foods, textiles, raw materials) and services (like tourism, transportation, ship repairs, medical tourism) too expensive in the global markets. Local industries collapsed and legions of workers became unemployed. Governments in Greece, fearing the mounting unempoyment and trying to secure office started the habit of creating public sector jobs, jobs that gave to their supporters in exchange for votes.
There has been so much negative talk from the German media about the ‘lazy PIGS that don’t want to work’ that is really frustrating. Unemployed people are not lazy, they have lost their jobs due to a unification agreement that benefits the German economy but cripples the others and renders them insolvent. Greeks need to realize that German products are too expensive, they have to open their markets to other parts of the world and protect the local industries from the high euro.
Comments like the ones we got accustomed of hearing from Germans (like the islands, the laziness, the ‘society of entitlements’, the Venus of Milo gesture) are not going to go away all too fast. They are not going to erase overnight from the memory of the Greek people. Something deeply personal has been attacked here that no amount of good will (as the one of the blogger) is going to make good. Greeks will get their country back sooner or later, with one way or the other. I think it is in the nation’s character to weather the storms and fight hard and long for their country. We did rebuild after a devastating war with Turkey and a horrid adventure from the imperialists Nazis. We will rebuild again. But, I think, comments like the ones we read in the ‘Bild’ will forever mark the relationship of the two countries.
#37 by Winkie on October 9, 2011 - 10:18 am
This is what I don’t get. If Greece cheated to become a part of the Euro-zone over twenty years ago, why wasn’t it kicked out as soon as it was found out? It isn’t as if other European nations just suddenly found out Greek governments can be corrupt. My guess is it probably benefited at least some nations to have Greece join and now that it doesn’t benefit them, all these things are brought up. What did Greece gain by joining the eurozone? In the long run it doesn’t seem like much. I have a Greek pen-pal who works like a dog for very low wages, even on the weekends. As an engineer, he only makes like 800 euros gross and is thinking of getting out of there. I feel bad for people like him. At least the guy doesn’t have kids and is fairly young still and can move. It must be a lot tougher for those who have children and can’t move or don’t want to. I also have a pen-pal who is married and has two children. She constantly worries .