Greece, ‘Preferring Not To’

[Jefferson23]

by Korina Gougouli
First Posted: 07-05-15 12:23 PM | Updated: 07-05-15 12:24 PM

The YES/NO Greek referendum vote announced on June 25th by the Syriza government, taking place today, is a call for the Greek people to grant the country some ground in negotiating a proposal for the restructuring of the European political and economic system. Since the announcement of the referendum the country has split into YES and the NO camps. The YES camp is comprised of organizations and people of power tirelessly terrorizing the countries public by propagandizing and saying that a NO vote would represent a vote against Greece’s economic and political participation in Europe. The NO camp, represents the part of Greek society which has had enough with the current conditions and is willing to express (what ideally would be) a homogenous veto against the irrational, impractical and non-beneficial austerity measures which do not, have not and will not ever serve Greece’s debt repayment.



There is a part, in the Discourse of Voluntary Servitude where Etiene de la Boetie calls the meek and oppressed to take action, he says that:


To achieve the good that they desire, the bold do not fear danger; the intelligent do not refuse to undergo suffering. It is the stupid and cowardly who are neither able to endure hardship nor to vindicate their rights; they stop at merely longing for them, and lose through timidity the valor roused by the efforts to claim their rights, although the desire to enjoy them still remains as part of their nature. (p.116)

This moment is a calling for Greek society to exercise their boldness so as to be able to, “achieve the good that they desire.” The shortcut voting announcement has not only forced every participatory societal actor to engage with direct issues concerning the countries role in the European Union; it has also caused a frenzy among the common workers, politicians, journalists, public personas, academics. Most importantly, it has exposed the Greek media as a highly biased organization that serves corporate interest to an almost absolute degree. As it has been stated by far more well versed journalists and intellectuals than myself, a NO vote would not mean the end of the countries destitute state it would however represent a societies massive outcry of despair in the face of an inept system.

The inequalities harvested by the lack of economic and political stabilization in the Eurozone have resulted in what seems to be the nations deadlock. Greece’s inability to compete among its economically more powerful and developed European relatives has lead the country in what could be, an everlasting economic void.

in full: http://nakedpunch.com/articles/234

[geek tragedy]

1. I think this is a rather detestable piece that basically

calls people voting "yes" traitors and terrorists.

Greece can't afford to tear itself apart, regardless of the outcome.

There is no clear, easy choice available to them--continued austerity vs a Grexit is a horrible choice to be facing.

[Jefferson23]

2. No, it is depicting the difficult choices they have been forced into by the elite.

Choices will have to be made, period..you must take a stand.

It is not about easy, I agree and why you're hearing the strong language.

[geek tragedy]

3. It's hard to find a side that's behaved wisely

Foolishness is met with more foolishness.

Lesson to be learned is that currency integration is political integration, and it's foolish to proceed as if that were not the case.

[fasttense]

4. I think Greece has been terrorized by the corporate and banking elite

Ever since the crash and this merely describes some of it.

[geek tragedy]

5. It's the fallout of dependency.

Greece became dependent on others--not mutual reliance--straight up dependent. That's a toxic situation.

[bemildred]

6. Is the Greek Rejection of Austerity the End of Modern Europe?

Ignoring the demands of their European partners, and heeding the call of their prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, Greek voters rejected austerity demands Sunday, a vote that could bring the nation out of the eurozone and could signal the beginning of the end of modern Europe.

Early returns show 61 percent of Greek voters said “no” to the question asking whether they would accept spending cuts Europe says are necessary to continue a five-year, $270 billion bailout package. Last week, Greece missed a $1.7 billion payment to the International Monetary Fund. The IMF, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission had extended Greece a financial lifeline as it teeters on the precipice of bankruptcy. Athens is now in default to the IMF, and owes the European Central Bank a payment of 6.7 billion euros, or $7.5 billion, in two weeks.

The “no” vote gives Tsipras his desired result. He believes it bolsters his negotiating position with European leaders. But in the lead-up to the Greek referendum, it appeared as if Europe was readying for the possibility of Greece leaving the economic union it joined in 2001.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/05/is-the-greek-rejection-of-austerity-the-end-of-modern-europe/

[bemildred]

7. Defiant Greeks reject EU demands as Syriza readies IOU currency

Greek voters have rejected the austerity demands of Europe's creditor powers by a stunning margin, sweeping aside warnings that this could lead to the collapse of the banking system and a return to the drachma.

Early returns in the historic referendum showed the No side -Oxi in Greek =- running at 61pc versus 39pc for the Yes side as the Greek people turned out en masse to vent their anger over six years of economic depression and national humiliation. A volcanic revolt appeared to have swept through Greek islands.

Greek referendum results live

The shock result effectively calls the bluff of eurozone leaders and the heads of the European Commission and Parliament, forcing them either to back down or carry out drastic threats to eject Greece from monetary union.

The European Central Bank faces an immediate decision over whether to continue freezing emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) for Greek banks at €89bn, a stance that would amount to liquidity suffocation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11719688/Defiant-Greeks-reject-EU-demands-as-Syriza-readies-IOU-currency.html

[Jefferson23]

9. wow. Thanks, bemildred for all the links. I feel for them, very intense times. n/t

[bemildred]

12. It should be very interesting, my friend.

Tsipras seems to know his people. Now we should find out what he wants.

[Jefferson23]

13. Yes. Something like 61%...holy shit. We'll find out soon enough. n/t

[bemildred]

8. The Latest: Poland: If 'no' wins, Greece must exit eurozone

11:05 p.m.

Poland's prime minister says that if final results in Greece's bailout referendum are confirmed as "no," she believes that Greece will have no choice but to leave the eurozone.

Ewa Kopacz spoke on Sunday as a partial count showed a significant majority of Greeks voting "no" in Sunday's referendum.

Kopacz said that she suspects that if official results confirm a "no" victory, "the path of Greece can be only one: leaving the eurozone."

Poland has not adopted the 19-member joint European currency. Though it has pledged to adopt the euro in the future, the prospect is very unpopular among Poles and politicians continue to postpone euro adoption.



http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GREECE_BAILOUT_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-07-05-15-42-54

[bemildred]

10. The Guardian view on Greece’s no vote: eight days that shook a continent Editorial

Kicking the can down the road has been the cliche of choice over a slow euro crisis that has steadily strangled the life out of the Greek economy. But at some point Europe was bound to run out of road. That happened on Sunday night, when it emerged that the Greek people had said no to continuing to engage with their creditors on the same suffocating terms.

Just over a week ago, Alexis Tsipras staked his future on forcing this denouement. The eight days that followed his midnight declaration of a plebiscite, to accept or reject the creditors’ terms for the latest slug of overdraft, have witnessed many extraordinary things. The Greek parliament licensed a hasty referendum on a question that had already been overtaken by events. A ballot paper written in jargon posed a ludicrously technical question, opening up a void for emotion to fill. Mixing talk of “terror” from their partners with haze about what would happen after a no, Mr Tsipras and his finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, aimed squarely for the heart rather than the head. Meanwhile, Greeks faced the fiercest financial controls ever seen in modern Europe: bank doors were shut, supplies disrupted, and citizens queued at every cashpoint for their ration of notes. In countries such as Germany, where history engenders suspicion of referendums, it may have looked like a paradigm case of how not to do democracy.

But the response of the creditors was more extraordinary still. The first noises from the council of finance ministers and the European Central Bank sounded so hawkish that they might have been trying to get the vote cancelled. But then came a bit of a rethink: it emerged that the ECB was capping, rather than cutting off, liquidity support, and leaders including Angela Merkel spied an opportunity to rid themselves of a tricksy interlocutor. They imagined scared voters rallying to yes, trashing Mr Tsipras’s personal authority and perhaps unravelling his loose-knit Syriza alliance. By signalling that voting no would push Greece out of the euro, they broke all the usual protocols by weighing into someone else’s democratic contest. It was an appallingly presumptuous path to go down. Now, after Greece has said no, Mr Tsipras’s future is not the immediate question. It is the fate of the euro itself which is hanging by a thread.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/05/the-guardian-view-on-greeces-no-vote-eight-days-that-shook-a-continent

[bemildred]

11. Varoufakis on Referendum Result: “Greeks Returned Ultimatum to Creditors

“The ultimatum has been returned to Creditors,” noted Yanis Varoufakis on Sunday night after the first results of the Greek Referendum showed that most Greeks say no to a previous proposal offered to the creditors

“Today’s no is a big yest to a democratic Europe,” said a smiling Varoufakis.

After the landslide win of the NO vote he supported, Greece’s Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said that tonight Greece put an end to 5 years of bad medicine.

Varoufakis said that creditors wrongly believed that the bankruptcy of the Greek state could be averted with new loans the poor would have to pay.

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/07/05/varoufakis-on-referendum-result-greeks-returned-ultimatum-to-creditors/

[bemildred]

14. The Latest: Tsipras Thanks Greeks for Making 'Brave Choice'

11:45 p.m.

Greece's prime minister says the "no" result in the bailout referendum shows that "democracy won't be blackmailed."

Alexis Tsipras says Greece is willing to return to talks, but "this time the issue of debt will be on the negotiating table."

He was speaking in a live TV address on Sunday after the government-backed "no" side won by a wide margin in the referendum.

Tsipras thanked Greeks for making "a very brave choice."

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/07/05/world/europe/ap-eu-greece-bailout-the-latest-.html

[bemildred]

15. Greek referendum no vote signals huge challenge to eurozone leaders

---

As the magnitude of the result became clear, thousands of no vote supporters began pouring into the central Syntagma Square in front of the parliament in Athens to celebrate, waving Greek flags and chanting “No, No.”

The sweeping victory for Tsipras, who challenged the might of Germany, France, Italy and the rest of the eurozone, represented a nightmare for the mainstream elites of the EU. With Greek banks closed, withdrawals limited, capital controls in place and the country rapidly running out of cash, emergency action will be needed almost immediately to stem the likelihood of a banking collapse. But it is not clear whether the European Central Bank will maintain a liquidity lifeline to Greece and whether the creditor governments of the eurozone will sanction instant moves to salvage Greece’s crashing financial system.

Germany’s vice-chancellor and social democratic leader, Sigmar Gabriel, said Tsipras had burned his bridges with the rest of the eurozone. But the Greek leader believes he has strengthened his negotiating hand.

Tsipras campaigned for a no vote, arguing that this was the best way to secure a better deal, keeping Greece in the euro while obtaining debt relief from its creditors. The leaders of Germany, France and others stated the opposite, that a no vote meant the Greeks were deciding to become the first country to quit the currency, membership of which is supposed to be irreversible.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jul/05/greek-referendum-no-vote-signals-huge-challenge-to-eurozone-leaders

[Jefferson23]

16. *The Eurogroup will discuss the state of play on Tuesday 7 July.

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/07/05-statement-eurogroup-president-following-referendum-greece/

[bemildred]

17. I think things will be happening tomorrow.

Lots of people are going to be very upset.

Merkel. First Putin, now Tsipras, she has completely missed the boat. And the refugee mess. I didn't know much about her before Ukraine came along, but if she is not a CIA plant she is a very pedestrian thinker. She is supposed to meet Hollande for dinner tomorrow, that should be a very entertaining conversation, full of self-pity and recriminations, all couched in opaque language.

[Jefferson23]

19. They're freaking out. Open your window, you'll probably be able to hear them.

See you tomorrow afternoon.

[bemildred]

18. Greece, decision theory, and the sure-thing principle

---

The safe option for the European insitutions is to cave in, write off lots of debt and lose a lot of face.

The risky option is to foreclose, and force Greece out of the eurozone, and leading to a repudiation of debt. The possible outcomes involve several interdependent sources of uncertainty

Whether the Greek economy does so badly that the Greek public regrets their choice and throws the government out at the next opportunity
Whether exit from the eurozone is followed by exit from the EU
Whether the process generates a broader financial crisis

From the European viewpoint, all of these outcomes except one would clearly be worse than an immediate backdown. If Greece leaves the euro and recovers, the whole austerity project will be shown up as the failure it is. If Greece leaves the EU (and especially if the UK also does) the European project is done for. And, while the institutions seem to have convinced themselves there won’t be a financial crisis, their past track record gives little ground for confidence.

So, the only case that could conceivably counted as a win is the one when the Greek economy fails, but Greece stays in the EU and there is no immediate financial crisis. I’d argue that, even here, the damage to confidence in the euro and to the European project would be greater than the costs of a backdown. If that’s right, then the “sure thing” principle applies to this decision. Backing down is the best option with probability 1.

http://crookedtimber.org/2015/07/06/greece-decision-theory-and-the-sure-thing-principle/

About right IMHO, it's the monkey politics that creates the uncertainty. Careers are at stake.

[Jefferson23]

20. So many careers. I am riveted by the recent events..amazing.

**European austerity has been a complete failure and raises the threat of a new global financial crisis. The sooner this delusion is abandoned, the sooner it will be possible to address the real source of the problem: the unsound and unsustainable growth of the financial sector.