Greece’s Lesson For Russia
Published on Dissident Voice, by Paul Craig Roberts, July 17, 2015.
Greece’s lesson for Russia, and for China and Iran, is to avoid all financial relationships with the West. The West simply cannot be trusted. Washington is committed to economic and political hegemony over every other country and uses the Western financial system for asset freezes, confiscations, and sanctions. Countries that have independent foreign policies and also have assets in the West cannot expect Washington to respect their property rights or their ownership. Washington freezes or steals countries’ assets, or in the case of France imposes multi-billion dollar fines, in order to force compliance with Washington’s policies. Iran, for example, lost the use of $100 billion, approximately one-fourth of the Iranian GDP, for years simply because Iran insisted on its rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Russian journalists are asking me if Obama’s willingness to reach a deal with Iran means there is hope a deal can be reached over Ukraine. The answer is No. Moreover, as I will later explain, the deal with Iran doesn’t mean much as far as Washington is concerned … //
… With the deregulation that began in the Clinton regime, Western capitalism has become socially dysfunctional. In the US and throughout the West capitalism no longer serves the people. Capitalism serves the owners and managers of capital and no one else … //
… Unregulated naked capitalism, has proven in the 21st century to be unable to produce economic growth anywhere in the West. Consequently, median family incomes are declining. Governments cover up the decline by underestimating inflation and by not counting as unemployed discouraged workers who, unable to find jobs, have ceased looking. By not counting discouraged workers the US is able to report a 5.2 percent rate of unemployment. Including discouraged workers brings the unemployment rate to 23.1 percent. A 23 percent rate of unemployment has nothing in common with economic recovery.
Even the language used in the West is deceptive. The Greek “bailout” does not bail out Greece. The bailout bails out the holders of Greek debt. Many of these holders are not Greece’s original creditors. What the “bailout” does is to make the New York hedge funds’ bet on the Greek debt pay off for the hedge funds. The bailout money goes not to Greece but to those who speculated on the debt being paid. According to news reports, Quantitative Easing by the ECB has been used to purchase Greek debt from the troubled banks that made the loans, so the debt issue is no longer a creditor issue.
China seems unaware of the risk of investing in the US. China’s new rich are buying up residential communities in California, forgetting the experience of Japanese-Americans who were herded into detention camps during Washington’s war with Japan. Chinese companies are buying US companies and ore deposits in the US. These acquisitions make China susceptible to blackmail over foreign policy differences.
The “globalism” that is hyped in the West is inconsistent with Washington’s unilateralism. No country with assets inside the Western system can afford to have policy differences with Washington. The French bank paid the $9 billion fine for disobeying Washington’s dictate of its lending practices, because the alternative was the close down of its operations in the United States. The French government was unable to protect the French bank from being looted by Washington.
It is testimony to the insouciance of our time that the stark inconsistency of globalism with American unilateralism has passed unnoticed.
(full text).
(Paul Craig Roberts is an American economist, author, columnist, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and former editor and columnist for corporate media publications. He is the author of The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism. Read other articles by Paul, or visit Paul’s website).
Links:
A Government Divided – Schäuble’s Push for Grexit Puts Merkel on Defensive, on Spiegel Online International, by Fiona Ehlers, Julia Amalia Heyer, Horand Knaup, Peter Müller, Ralf Neukirch, René Pfister, Christoph Schult and Timo Steppat, July 17, 2015 (Photo Gallery): German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble had a plan to push Greece out of the euro zone. Chancellor Merkel wasn’t sure what to do about it. The result is widespread resentment of Germany and a damaged Franco-German relationship …;
SPIEGEL Interview with Wolfgang Schäuble – There Is No German Dominance, on Spiegel Online International, by Klaus Brinkbäumer, Michael Sauga and Christian Reiermann, July 17, 2015: Criticism of Germany’s role in the recent negotiations over Greece’s future has been fierce. SPIEGEL speaks with Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble about the government in Athens, his own feelings about a Grexit and his relationship with Chancellor Merkel …;
The German Sense of Humor, 0.46 min, uploaded by Rick Steves Europe, July 8, 2015;
Demandez votre accès gratuit pour les 8 activités du Festival d’été Éveil et Conscience 2015, dans Conversatin Papillon, July 2015 (also on YouTube, 7.07 min);
Ende der Manipulation – Geheimnisse der Menschheit aufgedeckt, 60.09 min, von Querdenken TV am 30. Mai 2015 hochgeladen: Rasmin Banedj-Schafii (deutsch-iranischer Sprach- und Religionswissenschaftler) im Gespräch mit Michael Friedrich Vogt. Seit Anbeginn der Menschheit tobt ein Kampf um den Umgang mit den Erdenbewohnern. Nach dem das atlantische Reich unterging und die Hochtechnologie in Form der Hochkulturen neue Blüten hervorgebracht hatten ging das Spiel der Dualität in die nächste Runde. Die sumerischen Götter waren die neuen Taktgeber der Zivilisation. Wissenschaftlich ist es völlig unbekannt woher diese Zivilisation kam und wieso diese wieder urplötzlich verschwand …;
5 Verschwörungstheorien, die wahr sind, 11.13 min, von MrWissen2go am 3. Sept 2014 hochgeladen;
Milan and Lake Como, 25.05 min, uploaded by Rick Steves Europe, Aug 19 2013;
Enseigner depuis “l’autre rive” … ou se tenir au milieu du courant, 19.49 min, mise enligne par Isabelle Padovani, le 13 février 2013;
Les inconforts de l’éveil progressif, 32.39 min, mise en ligne par Isabelle Paovani, le 28 janvier 2013: De plus en plus de nos contemporains vivent un “éveil progressif”, qui se caractérise par des allers-retours entre conscience impersonnelle et personnelle : cette vidéo explore quelques uns des inconforts rencontrés par ces “voyageurs” de la conscience, et propose des pistes pour vivre cet éveil progressif avec plus de détente et de sérénité.