Havana, Monday, July 18, 2011. Year 15 / Number 199 Greece, A Victim of Capitalism MANUEL E. YEPE A CubaNews translation. Edited by Walter Lippmann. Greece, cradle of slavery democracy, seems fated to be among the countries digging the upcoming grave of capitalist democracy. SYNTAGMA SQUARE scene of people’s protests against the asphixiating measures imposed by the european union and the imf. “To understand what the future has in store for the people of Greece, you need to imagine an intruder breaking into your home, pointing a gun at your head and demanding you give him your salary, your savings, your car, your TV set and your refrigerator.” That’s how US writer and journalist Zoltan Zigedy sees the situation in his web site ZZ’s Blog where, under the title Capitalism Mugs Greece. Who is Next?, he explains that the Greek people did not benefit at all from the orgiastic profits of international banking nor did it promote its irresponsible behavior, but now it is forced to pay the price for the damage which caused the collapse of the global capitalist system. “And if invasion, armed robbery and extortion are crimes, Greece is undoubtedly a crime victim. And the European Union, the European Central Bank andwe The recovery-from-recession prescription -- presented by capitalist economists as a universal law – stemmed from the concept that deficit and debt-promoting expenses stimulated growth and inflation which, in turn, increased tax incomes and made the debt cheaper allowing the reduction of public debt vis-a-vis the economic product. Today, according to Zigedy, two factors have changed this dynamic. Firstly, the almost total domination of the neoliberal ideology which has generated in public opinion a great fear of any degree of public debt. Secondly, for decades, changes in the global economy led to a new dynamic that manipulates and exploits the debt to limits never seen before. With many of the rich capitalist countries moving their manufacturing industries to low-salary areas, the financial activities – administration, manipulation and expansion of capital – took on a main role in these economies. New techniques, instruments and institutions evolved toward the accumulation of surplus value – profits – in the hands of only a few engaged in the financial game. The combination of these two elements –one subjective and the other objective – has placed Greece in a spiral of death. With a swiftly rising unemployment rate already over 16%, with taxes that cannot be collected, reduced salaries and benefits, with a growing number of homeless families and their social services slashed, Greek workers face a future of serious decadence. The Greek people know little of the exotic instruments created in the international financial centers to generate the massive amounts of ghost capital that stimulates the growth of the predator system; they are only indirectly familiar with the arrogant and irresponsible actions of gargantuan international banks such as Bear Stearns, Lehmann Brothers and Goldman Sachs. Zoltan Zigedy recommends that his fellow countrymen notice the similarities between this assault on the Greek people and the situation facing the US citizenry. “We should be inspired by the popular resistance in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states, and understand that we have a very difficult struggle ahead, without being seduced in this struggle by such false political allies as the Democratic Party, the US homologue of the Greek PASOK.” Certainly for humankind the collapse of the global capitalist system will not be an easy matter, because there is no doubt it will do everything possible to delay its own debacle and will lay upon the rest of the world, including its allies, the associated damages. |
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http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2011/07/18/interna/artic01.html |