The austerity measures that have plunged Greece into civil unrest not seen in decades has passed their parliament. The vote came down to 155 for, 145 against. This is a sad day for anyone who thinks a nation’s sovereignty shouldn’t be bought and sold by banks and neighboring nations. Pay attention, because this is coming to America in the not too distant future.
These loans were provided under a corrupt and undemocratic system. Common law going back to the Revolutionary War states that when a loan is provided knowing it cannot be paid back for the purpose of enslaving an individual, repayment is not required. These principals must and should apply to nation states as well. Obviously there’s a lot of blame to go around and Greece will have to endure a lot of pain for their part in the general corruption, but the banks too must take a “haircut.” The loss of sovereignty in everything except name isn’t an acceptable alternative.
Just to give you an idea of how long it will take for Greece to pay back these loans, from a Bloomberg editorial out today:
“Even if Greece gets its bailout and its economy rebounds, the government would have to run a budget surplus, excluding debt-service costs, of 5 percent of GDP for about three decades to bring down debt to the 60 percent maximum allowed by euro- area rules. Achieving such a fiscal feat for even five years is extremely rare for any government, let alone Greece’s.”
That’s just to satisfy the requirements for entering the Eurozone. Under this impossible fantasy scenario, they still wouldn’t be debt free.
As Charles Hugh Smith of the blog Of Two Minds notes, Greece is a Kleptocracy. The term literally means, “rule by thieves.” Here are the basic elements of a Kleptocracy.
(1) A government subject to control fraud
(2) that takes advantage of governmental corruption
(3) to extend the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class
(4) via the embezzlement of state funds at the expense of the wider population
(5) sometimes without even the pretense of honest service.
This is exactly what has happened in Greece. Elites operating in Greece (many of whom pay no taxes) promoted the easy money policies that they benefit the most from. When its time to pay up, the losses are socialized and regular people pay. Yes, we must all honor our obligations to pay our debts, but what should be the end result when those debts are forced on us by self interested bankers and elites working in collusion to rob the people?
The debt crisis in Greece has prompted the sell off of public assets to private corporations and other foreign nations. Formerly public beaches, natural resources, seaports, land, and utilities like trains, power and water are being sold off to private enterprises at drastically reduced values to help pay off a debt that cannot realistically be paid. Privatization of public industries doesn’t improve service or prices for the people when they are a monopoly, as these will be. The result will be a tragic deterioration in all elements of Greek society.
STRATFOR reports that the demands for privatization is being driven by foreign nations looking to acquire assets on the cheap.
“It presents opportunities for other countries to gain assets at below market value… Greeks see the forced privatization drive as a loss of sovereignty and a plot by Berlin to cheaply acquire control of lucrative companies. China would use the Greek ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki to bring its goods to the Balkans, former Soviet countries like Ukraine and Belarus, and Central European EU states like Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. Russia is interested in using Greece to block a key European alternative route for natural gas supplies.”
This is what it means to be in debt slavery — your life, freedom, sovereignty, property, all are subservient to the debt collectors’ demands. Rest assured, this is only the beginning of the sacking of Greece and the free world in general. Is it fair that a nation with 25 percent unemployment must accept austerity so banks can get paid for loans that never should have been provided?
When we can’t pay, they’ll come back for more and more demanding we liquidate our entire national inheritance to honor a set of commitments they’ve forced us into through control of the system.
