Tsípras: Scared by His Own Courage

Written on February 25th, 2015 in politics Comments Off

Published on Dissident Voice, by Wilhelm Langthaler, February 21, 2015.

… Sýriza is prisoners of its own past, its origins in the euro-communist Synaspismós. For them the European Union has been the greatest achievement of the post-war period. Only they would need to make it more socially inclined. They failed to understand that the very raison d’être of the EU is to destroy the welfare states which historically had grown within the nation states.  

Certainly, the people longs for security. Their vote is endorsing the balancing act between ending austerity and remaining keeping the Euro. They want to be part of the club of the rich countries and fear to be pushed again into the poor periphery. This is understandable. The latest developments however make it more than clear that this is impossible – the capitalist centre will not accept it. To end the hunger dictate Greece must get rid of the rule of the EU’s elite dominated by Berlin before Berlin kicks Greece out on German terms.

Sýriza has been more and more hinting to the mandate given by the vote, but this is turning into a pretext, a cover to hide behind the people. While the people start to understand and demonstrated their overwhelming support of a hard line against Berlin, Sýriza is turning into the rear guard blocking the rapid process of popular radicalisation. The answer to Berlin and Brussels would be obvious: If you insist on starving us, we will send the creditors to hell. In such a case, it would be Schäuble’s and the Goldmen’s turn to panic. That cancelling the debt is indeed possible has been demonstrated by governments that are much less left-leaning than Sýriza – see Argentine or Iceland.

At the end of the day a broad coalition for a break could have emerged – reaching far beyond Greece including forces like Podemos and others. The contours of the real social Europe would have appeared on the horizon – on the rubble of the Euro and the capitalist EU. By signing the agreement Tsípras and Varoufákis have done a great disservice to Julio Iglesias of Podemos in Spain … //

… The central demands in the interest of the popular classes are: Exit from the euro – break with the capitalist centre.

Following steps could follow suit:

  • capital controls
  • repudiation of the debt
  • nationalisation of the banks
  • public investment programme
  • exit from EU and NATO
  • turn to Russia and China in view of an international co-operation independent of the imperialist west

The incipient popular movement is needed to avoid capitulation. We call for international solidarity to all forces fighting the starvation programme that proved to require the immediate break with the Euro regime.

(full text).

Related Links:

  • The Eurogroup noose tightens around Greece, on Socialist Worker.org, by Alan Maass, Feb 23, 2015: European governments and financial institutions have kept their stranglehold on Greece after the new government agreed to an extension of the bailout. LEADERS OF the new Greek government face a deadline of today to come up with a program for implementing harsh austerity measures that the radical left-wing party SYRIZA came to power promising to end …;
  • re-listen – Yanis Varoufakis: The Global Minotaur: America, Europe and the Future of the Global Economy, 57.26 min, uploaded by SkriptaTV, Feb 12, 2015 – his book/same title: on  Zed Books, London, 2013; on amazon; on Google Web-search … followed by other videos in autoplay;

Other Links:

Gaius Publius: Tobacco Deaths, TPP and the “Trade” Courts, on naked capitalism, by Yves Smith, Feb 24, 2015; Yves here. Obama’s pending trade deals, the TransPacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, have few fans at Naked Capitalism. But we are always looking for ways for like-minded readers to to alert friends and colleagues to the dangers of the proposed pacts and hopefully take action against them. This post gives concrete, accessible examples of some of the uses made of investor-state dispute settlement panels, which Gaius calls trade courts (even though they are actually secret arbitration panels) by Big Tobacco …;

UK: Tom Malleson, After Occupy: Economic Democracy for the 21st Century, Oxford University Press, 2014, on New Left Project.org, Feb 24, 2015;

Recevez gratuitement des kits anti requins pour la journée du 7 mars, dans France ATTAC.org, le 24 février 2015;

How cash transfers can work, on Business Sztandard, by Jyoti Mukul, Feb 23, 2015;

What about all the other James Robertsons? on Chicago Now, by Leslie Kahn, Feb 23, 2015;

Exemptions to Deductions: What aam aadmi wants from Budget 2015, on First Post, by Parizad Sirwalla, Feb 23, 2015;

UK: Report says children in deprived areas are missing out on science education, on Left Foot Forward, by Ruby Stockham, Feb 23, 2015:
RSA report finds that children in poorer areas have fewer academic choices

Global Governance and Common Values, the Unavoidable Debate, on ZNet (first on Human Wrongs Watch), by Roberto Savio, Feb 23, 2015;

Peter Oborne opens a media can of worms, on Jonathan Cook.net, by blog owner, Feb 23, 2015;

HSBC: Switzerland, Media and the Revolving Door, on teleSUR, by Peeti Kaur, Feb 23, 2015: HSBC’s Swiss banking arm helped wealthy customers dodge taxes and conceal millions of dollars of assets. Regulators and government ministers protect bankers from scrutiny while some leading newspapers ignore the story altogether. Switzerland would far prefer to be noted for its Swiss cheese and chocolates than as the preferred place to undertake illicit banking. Yet, decades of practice suggest that it is the “go-to” place for wealthy individuals and corporations to engage in tax evasion, and hide stolen funds …;

Community Response: A Danish Answer to Radical Jihad, on Spiegel Online International, by Manfred Ertel and Ralf Hoppe, Feb 23, 2015 (Photo Gallery): The murders in Copenhagen have refocused attention on a thorny question for Europe: How can radical jihadists returning from Syria be reintegrated? The Danish city of Aarhus may have found an answer …;

Anarchy in Rojava, A libertarian revolution in the Middle East, on Dissident Voice, by subMedia, Feb 23, 2015: … in this sedition, we look at the fierce men and women, who have been fighting the head chopping Islamists of I.S.I.S. to create libertarian commune along the border between Syria, Iraq and Turkey. On the music break we have Kurdish rapper Rezan with “Em Kurdin.” Our guest this week is Chris Dixon, author of “Another Politics” a book about anti-authoritarian organizing in Turtle Island … listen to Anarchy in Rojava on Autonomous Action Radio – Audio, 17.12 min … directed and produced by Frank Lopez. Read other articles by subMedia, or visit subMedia’s website;

India: Why do FMs ignore inflation? on The Hindu Businessline, by AARATI KRISHNAN, Feb 22, 2015;

Canada: How to improve cost, quality and access, on The Chronicle Herald.ca, by YVETTE D’ENTREMONT, Feb 21, 2015;

Canada: Le temps venu de planifier les revenus de la retraite, dans Le Devoir, par Réginald Harvey, Feb 21, 2015;

France: Charges RSI vous coût du travail salarié et bas revenus, dans iFRAP.org, par Bertrand Nouel, Feb 20, 2015;

US: Government Properties Income Trust Announces Fourth Quarter and Year End 2014 Results, on Business Wire, Feb 20, 2015;

Europe’s Stark Choice, Reform Or Collapse, on New Left Project.org, Feb 13, 2015;

Pornographie rancunière, la vengeance devient crime en Grande-Bretagne, dans Le Devoir, par Fabien Deglise, Feb 12, 2015;

The Fate Of TTIP And The Future Of Europe, on New Left Project.org, by Adam Blanden, Feb 11, 2015: What the EU-US trade deal tells us about the concentration of power in Europe and what democratic forces like Syriza can do to stop it;

Yanis Varoufakis – Welcome to the eye of the storm, 8.44 min, uploaded by Lone Varg, Feb 9, 2015: spoken in english, subtitled in greek;

UK: Have charities become too corporate? on Left Foot Forward, by Joseph Blake, Jan 24, 2014: Many charities have long ceased to challenge the powers that be;

Massive 5,000 Year Old Underground City Uncovered In Central Turkey, 2.09 min, uploaded by DigitalUploads411, Dec 29, 2014;

Download the whole Issue no 70 of the real-world economics review, edited by the World Economic Association WEA.org. See also the RWER Blog;

… and this – Mark Knopfler:

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