Lessons from the Greek Crisis 4: Because there are people who are hungry

"We must both have been hungry because we constantly led the conversation round to food. "What is your favorite dish, grandad?" "All of them, my son. It's a great sin to say this is good and that is bad." "Why? Can't we make a choice?" "No, of course we can't." "Why not?" "Because there are people who are hungry." I was silent, ashamed. My heart had never been able to reach that height of nobility and compassion. "

 ~Nikos Kazantzakis, Life and Adventures of Alexis Zorbas

film still from Zorba, the Greek

Greece is Not a Dog: the Arrogance of the Austerians

"One of the most extreme pronunciations came from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in a recent pre-election debate with Labour leader Diederik Samsom. Samsom openly asked Rutte whether, in order to save Greece and the euro, he would be willing to cough up the money for another bailout. (Obviously, it’s not about “giving” this money, it’s about expensive loans. But let’s leave that aside). No, Rutte yelled. Why not? Because it would be extremely unwise to say that now, for the Greeks would immediately slow down, sit back and stop privatizing and reforming. After all, they would count their blessings in advance, knowing full well that “someone would pay for them” again and therefore refuse to do anything whatsoever. And so Samsom had to be careful with his words, because the Greeks were listening along — and they would “now receive a completely perverse incentive” from the Labour leader.

 Rutte: “we have to keep them on a tight leash.”

Excuse me?

As if Greece were a dog. As if the Greeks were shitty little kids grabbing every opportunity to skirt their responsibilities. What an idiotic way of doing international politics. What an arrogant attitude toward people who are bending over backwards to stay inside of “Europe”. Rutte apparently has such a deep distrust and such a profound contempt for our fellow EU member state that we — from the point of view of Ruttian pedagogy — have to actively deceive them and, above all, should not let them know that they can count on any further bailouts if needed. As Prime Minister, Rutte has already made it known that he has “nothing to do with the Greeks”.

From a staggeringly to the point article (and insightful comments from readers) by Dutch journalist Ingeborg Beugel on September 11, 2012 at the Roar magazine

Fighting Back

Alex, a Greek stereotype?

Opposition to George A.Papandreou Teaching Seminars at Harvard: The Ire of Hypocrisy

A Greco-American professor opposes the invitation by Harvard to George A.Papandreou, former prime minister of Greece during the height of the crisis, to teach seminars to its students on "ways to get out of a crisis" etc.

Worth reading:


Dear Mr. Trey Grayson, Director of Harvard School Institute of Politics,

 From the Website of the Institute, I was informed that the Fellows and Study group Program has organized a series of seminars /discussions, titled "Redesigning Europe", to be presented and led by George Papandreou (http://www.iop.harvard.edu/redesigning-europe-led-george-papandreou ).

 Please understand that for the majority of Greeks who live in Greece and experience the hardships, as well as for Greek Americans who, in desperation and indignation are watching Greece drowning and do not know how to help, GEORGE PAPANDREOU IS A WANTED MAN. A man who should be investigated for treason, a man who, intentionally or unintentionally (unfortunately there is a lot of evidence for the former) bears the greatest responsibility for Greece's downfall and for the consequences on the Greek people, which range from closing their businesses and losing their jobs to ending up homeless or committing suicide. It is inappropriate for your prestigious institute, at these crucial times, to invite George Papandreou to offer his insights regarding "sovereign debt crisis", "solutions to global problems", "Will austerity make our economies competitive?" etc. Is he, seriously, the authority to talk about austerity and the impact on a country's competitiveness? Presenting himself as a "socialist", I doubt that he will advocate austerity measures as a means to increase a country's competitiveness. Yet, this is exactly what he dragged Greece into. Do you see the hypocrisy here?

Considering his recent "achievements", is George Papandreou a suitable person "to inspire students to consider careers in politics and public service", which is the mission of your Institute? Do you understand that inviting this individual to lead a study group in your institution (an invitation that honors G. Papandreou and indicates that you hold high respect for him and his views) is a slap in the face for the Greek people? Please do not allow these seminars to continue. Cancel these seminars on the basis that you received many complaints from Greeks, and your prestigious Institute cannot afford to organize and sponsor questionable programs.

 Thank you,
Vassiliki Aroniadou-Anderjaska,
Ph.D. Research Associate Professor
Dept. of Anatomy, Physiology, and Genetics and Dept. of Psychiatry,

F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine USUHS / HJF 4301
Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814

Hermes: The Summer Campaign is Shot on Aegina Island, Greece

The beauty of the pictures speaks for itself. The purity of line, the wisdom of time, the sparsity of luxury. All these are represented perfectly by the French sellier -which became the fashion and leathergoods luxe house- and the eternal Greek ideal. The mighty, sturdy olive, gigantic through the passage of the centuries, the clear skies, the flowing fabrics, the architectural lines, the "nothing in excess" spirit.

The campaign's motto? "Le Temps Devant Soi"...time before you.

Enjoy!

The Three Major European Mistakes Towards the Greek Crisis

In a detailed article signed "Diogenes" by a group of professors of economics, bankers and specialists in the French economic paper Les Echos the three major mistakes perpetrated by the Europeans towards Greece are delineated. It is again made clear, as we have referenced in these pages before, that the euro crisis and the austerity put on Greece as a means to devalue the euro only benefits one party: the dollar (as attested by numbers). And furthermore, those who doth protest too much (i.e. the AngloSaxon press) are exactly the ones whose countries and institutions stand to gain the most.

Here is the English translation of the Les Echos article. Very worth a read:


"The European leaders who have accepted 21 July 2011 not to support Greece in exchange for a downgrading of its debt led us into an unknown world, and especially uncontrollable. Those referring to the Argentine crisis a decade ago forget one thing: the Argentine banking system was closed, like any national currency system. Foreign exchange position passed by the balance sheets of the central bank. The latter could unilaterally block the exchange to avoid capital flight. That's what she did. And without telling anyone: in these conditions the effect of surprise is essential. Those who lived through the devaluations of the franc remember: until the last moment the Minister of Finance denied any problem taking speculators by surprise.

By introducing the Euro, European countries have created an open system where money flows freely. Greek banks can safely transfer the assets of their clients in France, a bank in Anglo-Saxon, for example, that he not be allowed to change of the euro against the dollar or sterling. Using one of the benefits of the euro which allows citizens to use the same currency in all countries of the euro area, the Greeks could "nationalize" their savings in dollars and convert easily. It is therefore not possible to set up a special exchange control for the Greeks.

If we continue the argument, before anybody could do anything whatsoever, and this is almost a year while it lasts,in Europe there will remain but the debts of Greece and Spain. The assets will be elsewhere. It is these assets that are vital to restart their economies. European leaders were wrong - at least-three times.

By breaking the pact of solidarity of the single currency, with of course the excellent reason that the Greeks have lied. By taking action whenever insufficient but more expensive, they went back to the public in those countries without a solution. Letting time pass, they allowed the Greeks and Spaniards who were rich enough to take the necessary steps to get their assets out of their country.
To continue in the same way, all they need to choose between two options: do nothing or decide that Greece should leave the euro.

The big winners are therefore the dollar, the U.S. economy, which desperately needs cash to finance its deficits, and the Anglo-Saxon banks who take their commissions in the process. In a world where competition is fierce, victory belongs to those who demonstrate the ability to move, to decide to act against a Europe mired in its selfishness and its divisions."