Greece: a warning for European workers

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Greece has a capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for
about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP at least 75% of the leading
euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 15% of GDP. Immigrants make up
nearly one-fifth of the work force, mainly in agricultural and unskilled
jobs. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of
annual GDP. The Greek economy grew by nearly 4.0% per year between 2003
and 2007, due partly to infrastructural spending related to the 2004
Athens Olympic Games, and in part to an increased availability of
credit, which has sustained record levels of consumer spending. But
growth dropped to 2.8% in 2008, as a result of the world financial
crisis and tightening credit conditions. Greece violated the EU's Growth
and Stability Pact budget deficit criteria of no more than 3% of GDP
from 2001 to 2006, but finally met that criteria in 2007-08. Public
debt, inflation, and unemployment are above the euro-zone average, but
are falling. The Greek Government continues to grapple with cutting
government spending, reducing the size of the public sector, and
reforming the labor and pension systems, in the face of often vocal
opposition from the country's powerful labor unions and the general
public. The economy remains an important domestic political issue in
Greece and, while the ruling New Democracy government has had some
success in improving economic growth and reducing the budget deficit,
Athens faces long-term challenges in its effort to continue its economic
reforms, especially social security reform and privatization.

Nationaal product
agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 23.4%
services: 73.1% (2008 est.)

Werkzame bevolking:
agriculture: 12.4%
industry: 22.4%
services: 65.1% (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate:
8% (2008 est.)

Gini Index: 33
In Nederland (30,9) is inkomen dus iets meer gelijk verdeeld.
Frankrijk 32,7 - UK 34,0 - Duitsland 27,0 - USA 45,0

Dus overheid is veel te groot, Vakbonden te veel macht (liever:
gebruiken macht eenzijdig).
En dus eigenlijk niet zo veel verschil met Nederland toch?

Alhoewel onze landbouwers wel veel meer verdienen.

De Grieken hebben bij hun intrede in de EU gebruik gemaakt van valse
economische gegevens (en de EU heeft die als 'onnozele halsen'
geaccepteerd) en krijgen sinds 2001 nog steeds extra steun. Daar moet
toch een keer een eind aan komen?

Groet / Cees

PS. Je kunt dan nog wel zeggen dat de Griekse elite het plebs onder de
duim houdt, maar wat is dan het verschil met Nederland (waar de
zegeningen van de automatisering steeds meer gebruikt worden voor
repressie).

> Antid Oto schreef:
>
> Artikel is toch duidelijk. De neoliberale EU elite *dicteert* het
> sociaal-economisch beleid aan de PASOK regering in Griekenland.
> Wakker worden!
>
>
> Cees Binkhorst wrote:
>> REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl
>>
>> Antid:
>>
>> Dus volgens jou kan de EU het parlement en regering buiten spel
zetten,
>> of bedoel je te zeggen dat beiden zich 'buiten spel laten zetten' in
hun
>> eigen 'elitaire' belang.
>>
>> Groet / Cees
>>
>>> Antid Oto schreef:
>>>
>>> Greece: a warning for European workers
>>> By Marius Heuser
>>> 11 December 2009
>>>
>>> In his poem On Violence the German playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote:
>>> “The headlong stream is termed violent. But the river bed hemming
it
>>> in is termed violent by no one.” In light of the recent protests
and
>>> clashes in Greece it is evident that the riverbed has narrowed
>>> considerably in the course of the past year. The living conditions
for
>>> young people and their prospects for the future have only worsened
>>> since students took to the streets in protest last December.
>>>
>>> The army of over 10,000 armed police assembled last Sunday to
suppress
>>> the protests in Athens is a demonstration of the brutality with
which
>>> the ruling elite all over the world is seeking to defend its
>>> privileges in a period of economic crisis. In this respect, the
events
>>> in Greece are of great importance for class-conscious workers in
>>> Europe and internationally.
>>>
>>> With the country facing bankruptcy, the European Union has
intervened
>>> in Greek political life to dictate a draconian austerity program.
The
>>> Brussels-based EU officials have put the thumbscrews on the Greek
>>> government, repealing the country's control over its own budget â
€œfor
>>> a
>>> certain period” and restricting basic democratic rights.
>>>
>>> For its part, the social-democratic PASOK government has pledged to
>>> implement all of the demands laid down by Brussels with the utmost
>>> brutality against workers and young people. In so doing, it is
relying
>>> on the trade unions and the direct or indirect support of so-called
>>> “left” parties.
>>>
>>> The latest developments in Greece are indicative of what is on the
>>> agenda for the rest of Europe. The European financial elite is using
>>> the institutions of the EU to determine policy in specific
countries,
>>> circumvent democratic rights and shift the entire burden of the
>>> economic crisis onto the population.
>>>
>>> Due to its dependence on foreign direct investment, Greece has been
>>> especially hard hit by the international economic crisis. The
>>> country's indebtedness has reached record levels and now threatens
to
>>> destabilize the euro. Leading rating agencies promptly downgraded
>>> Greece following the announcement by Prime Minister George
Papandreou
>>> that the Greek budget deficit for this year is expected to total
12.7
>>> percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Fitch downgraded the
country
>>> from A- to BBB+, thereby increasing the interest payments to be paid
>>> by the Greek state. According to some estimates, the budget deficit
>>> could rise in 2010 to nearly 125 percent of GDP—solely due to the
>>> increased interest charges. Under such conditions the bankruptcy of
>>> the entire county is entirely possible.
>>>
>>> This situation has been intensified by the greed of the Greek elite.
>>> In a veritable orgy of nepotism and corruption, the country’s two
>>> main
>>> political parties, the social-democratic PASOK and the conservative
>>> New Democracy, have handed over billions to the elite via the
>>> privatization of state enterprises. In its corruption index,
>>> Transparency International currently ranks Greece as the second most
>>> corrupt state in the European Union, just behind Poland.
>>>
>>> Broad layers of the Greek population were already suffering prior to
>>> the economic crisis. In 2007, one fifth of the population lived
below
>>> the poverty level of €4,000 per year. Around 20 percent of school
>>> leavers are unable to find work. The state spends just 2.5 percent
of
>>> its GDP on education.
>>>
>>> Now the country's huge debt burden is to be reduced at the expense
of
>>> workers. The corrupt ruling elite in Greece has so far proved
>>> incapable of carrying out the economic measures demanded by
Brussels,
>>> and the EU has now decided to take direct control of the state's
>>> finances. They are doing this in the closest collaboration with
major
>>> European banks and the international financial aristocracy.
>>>
>>> Although Prime Minister Papandreou has already announced his
intention
>>> to lower the state deficit in 2010 through severe cuts to the
>>> country's pensions budgets and a 9.1 percent cut in the salaries of
>>> public service workers, there are a number of indications that the
EU
>>> is planning much more extensive cutbacks.
>>>
>>> The EU Council of Finance Ministers, which had already introduced an
>>> excessive deficit proceeding against Greece last spring, has
>>> systematically stepped up its pressure on the Greek government. In
>>> January of next year, Greek Finance Minister Giorgos
Papakonstantinou
>>> must submit a detailed plan to the Brussels commission for the
>>> consolidation of the country's finances. The situation in Greece
will
>>> also be on the agenda of the December 17 meeting of the European
>>> Central Bank. The ECB may further intensify pressure on the state by
>>> denying Greek financial institutions the possibility of depositing
>>> Greek government loans as collateral for debts.
>>>
>>> A number of media commentaries have sought to strengthen the hand of
>>> the EU in this crisis. The Financial Times Deutschland writes: â
€œThe
>>> European Union should declare its readiness to support its tottering
>>> member if it unconditionally accepts in turn a consolidation course
>>> dictated by Brussels. For a limited period the Greek state would
have
>>> to yield up its sovereignty over budget policy. That would be bitter
>>> for the Greeks, but absolutely necessary, if the EU and its
stability
>>> pact are to retain even a semblance of credibility.”
>>>
>>> EU institutions, therefore, are being called upon to assume direct
>>> responsibility for the budget policies of its member states—all at
>>> the
>>> behest of the financial elite. Elected governments, democracy, any
>>> consideration for the needs of the population: all of these factors
>>> stand in the way of the necessary course of budget consolidation.
The
>>> tackling of the Greek state debt crisis is a warning to all European
>>> workers: the ruling elite is ready to circumvent basic democratic
>>> rights in order to place the entire burden of the crisis on the
backs
>>> of the population.
>>>
>>> The conservative ND government led by Kostas Karamanlis, embroiled
in
>>> corruption and scandals, was unable to counter the wave of public
>>> opposition which culminated in the youth revolts a year ago. The
>>> elections last October were aimed at bringing PASOK back into power
in
>>> the hope on the part of the ruling elite that the social democrats
>>> would be better placed to hold the population in check.
>>>
>>> PASOK is incapable of doing this alone, however. The party had also
>>> thoroughly discredited itself in the course of nearly 30 years in
>>> government. It needs the support of various nominally “left”
>>> groups,
>>> such as the Greek Communist Party (KKE), the Greens and the Radical
>>> Left (Syriza). Their job is to attempt to breathe new life into the
>>> worn-out PASOK apparatus. In the recent election campaign, these
>>> groups unceasingly declared that PASOK represented the “lesser
>>> evil”
>>> compared to New Democracy and even expressed their readiness to join
>>> the former in a coalition government.
>>>
>>> The Papandreou government also has the support of the country's two
>>> biggest trade union federations—GSSE and ADEDY—both of which are
>>> prepared to support social cuts and implement them in the factories.
>>> They have a long history of betraying Greek workers and have
>>> frequently supported the privatization of state-owned factories as
>>> well as government imposed welfare cuts.
>>>
>>> The government’s determination to curtail social and democratic
>>> rights
>>> is very evident in the recent demonstrations. The police were
>>> instructed to show “zero tolerance,” and no less than 784
>>> demonstrators have been arrested since last Sunday.
>>>
>>> Workers and young people in Greece, however, confront not merely the
>>> Greek state authorities but also the institutions of the EU and the
>>> European financial elite. These interests are represented in Greece
by
>>> a combined front of political parties, radical groups and trade
>>> unions—all of which are determined to break any resistance.
>>>
>>> The mass protests have their source in the intensifying social
>>> contradictions in Greece. In and of themselves, however, they offer
no
>>> solution; neither PASOK nor the ND can be pressured by such protests
>>> to cease defending the interests of the financial elite.
>>>
>>> The only viable perspective for combating the dictates from Brussels
>>> and the associated social and political attacks consists of an
>>> international orientation and above all a socialist program to unify
>>> workers across national boundaries in a common struggle to establish
>>> the United Socialist States of Europe.
>>>
>>> http://wsws.org/articles/2009/dec2009/gree-d11.shtml

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