[D66] Syriza in a bind

[J.N.]

http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1852-frederic-lordon-syriza-in-a-bind

Frédéric Lordon: Syriza in a bind

By Mike Watson / 10 February 2015

Frédéric Lordon, author of Willing Slaves of Capital follows his
considered analysis of Syriza's "fork in the road", focussing on the
difficult choices the new government face in power.



We knew that the Syriza experience would provide an object lesson in
politics, with all the fundamental bases of power and sovereignty being
laid bare as the legal and financial niceties evaporated. And here we
are: even sooner than we expected.

As we could also have expected, the nerve centre of this power play is
in Frankfurt, at the European Central Bank. No article in the European
treaties provides any legal basis for showing a member state the door –
but the ECB can do so, entirely of its own discretion and without any
process or democratic control. And it’s just given us a foretaste of
this, just ten days after an ‘unsuitable’ government came to power
backed by a popular movement, having the sheer gall to demand an end to
the insane torment to which our dear Europe has subjected Greece. That
is, a country in the heart of the European Union that’s been forced into
a situation of humanitarian crisis [1] – indeed, forced into it by the
EU. After a few other similar examples, we ought to think of using this
country’s experience to formulate a legal concept of  ‘economic
persecution’ – as well as saying who the persecutors are. On the
receiving end is the Greek people, which has given itself a legitimate
government with a mandate to end this state of persecution. It is a
sovereign government.

As we have long known – from the outset, in fact – Europe’s answer to
the question of sovereignty is… ‘No’. The golden-tongued St. Jean-Claude
Juncker never misses an opportunity to offer his wise words, such as
this fatalist view of politics: ‘there can be no democratic choice
against the European treaties’ [2]. And so Europe invites the Greek
people to go to hell… but in a democratic way, following the treaties’
stipulations.

It should now be clear enough that the object lesson, here, has to do
with two radically different conceptions of democracy: one meaning
popular sovereignty, and then another opposite one meaning enslavement
to the treaties. When I put that binary a different way – Syriza’s
choice between capitulation or open sedition – I was talking about a
fork in the road, leading to the ultimate victory of one or the other of
these conceptions. We have reached this parting of ways very quickly.
And by showing what the reality of the treaties is (and it is not
written in their articles) the ECB has proved what kind of democracy is
driving the EU.

[...]