Greece's moderate left says no government possible
Source: BBC
The moderate Democratic Left party in Greece says it will not join pro-bailout parties in a coalition without the more radical far left Syriza.
The Greek president has called the four main parties, including the centre-right New Democracy and the Socialist Pasok, to try to form an emergency government to avoid new elections.
But Syriza said it would not attend because it could not back any coalition which supported austerity.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18055629
That's got to be the end of possible coalitions from this election. They'll have to have another election.
= new reply since forum marked as read
> You do realize that it took both the bankers and the Greek government
> together to get into this mess though right?
... along with a *lot* of the Greek people ...
The country (Greece, America, UK) often gets treated as a homogenous
entity by both sides of the argument (e.g., people upthread claiming that
"the Greeks" should have paid their taxes or "the Greeks" have been
betrayed by "the Germans"
.
The truth is - as always - that a significant part of the people were actively
supporting the situation at the time but (again, 'as always') there comes a
point where the unsustainable situation falls over and suddenly there are a
lot of pointing fingers in place of the happily waving arms.
(c.f., The Bush supporters necessary to get "America"'s name blackened
across the globe -similarly for Blair and the UK - who weren't the entire
collection of "Americans" but who also were a significant fraction of them.)
And "moderates," no less! They're supposed to "play ball" (the rich get richer, the poor get looted) and not be "shrill" and "radical" and invite "chaos" like the "far" Left!
Lol!
Are they going to start calling them the reddish-pinkish Left (as opposed to the light bluish Left) for not being so "moderate" after all but sticking with the, um, Left-Left (the rosy-colored Left, which came in a strong second (almost equal) to the light bluish Left)?
Really, the BBC can sometimes be as bad as the Wall Street Urinal. (They are very bad on the Latin America, too, where most countries have rejected "austerity"--the BBC not reliable any more at all, on LatAm--after getting Blairited (attacked, downsized, corporatized) over the Iraq War.) (The issue in LatAm is also oil.)
This is not quite as bad as the Urinal and the Slimes, but it's close. The article seems to say that, if only...IF ONLY...the light bluish Left would jettison a third of the voters (those to the Left of the light bluish "moderates" and join the Right (true blue), all would be well. Then they could all be lavender together as indentured servants of the 1%! "Chaos" would be averted (i.e., the rich won't suffer).
Credit to the BBC for admitting that Syriza (rosy-colored Left) came in second and that New Democracy (light bluish Left) got 50 extra seats merely for coming in first. The formerly bad, pro-"austerity" Left and the Good Left (the "reds" are equivalent in support, in other words; they split most of the votes between them and SHOULD rule the country on an ANTI-"austerity" platform, no matter how hysterical the rich become, cuz most of the people in the country think "austerity" sucks.
It's called democracy! And guess what? The Greeks invented it!
The parties who put together "austerity" were abandoned by huge numbers of voters.
The voters can't devise a solution, themselves. Millions of people can't really do that. Decisions have to be made, agreements negotiated, agencies of government directed, etc. In this current form of democracy, they need representatives to act on their behalf, in their interest. The voters' mandate, however, was quite clear. They reject "austerity" for the poor majority while the rich few get richer. That is what "austerity" MEANS, in the current context. It is NOT "austerity" for everyone--only for the great majority--the workers and the poor. That is what all the protests were about in Greece. That is what this election was about.
As for the neo-nazis (minuscule support), I think it just indicates fragmentation on the right, that is, among the pro-corporate, pro-bankster, pro-"austerity" political establishment. The far right--or, I guess I should say, the far far right (nazis)--blame troubled economic times on minorities (are racists), are often (at least at this nascent stage) insular--and want to fall back into homogenous groups, in a homogenous society (are "nationalists" , with protective policies that include them among the rich and privileged. Some small segment of the Greek population is that fearful about what is happening. A few voters have fallen prey to their fears. I don't think it's very meaningful, as to Greece. We have that here, too, with the "Mad Tea Party"--though, here, we also have "TRADE SECRET" voting machines, all over the USA, in every state, with the code largely (80%) owned and controlled by one, private, far rightwing-connected corporation--ES&S, which bought out Diebold. So, more nazi-like madness gets (s)elected and put into power, here.
OUR situation is quite dangerous. Greece's, not so much. Though they had a fascist dictatorship at one time, I think that they are much like Argentina, with society strongly committed to democracy and the rule of law, in reaction to prior fascist rule. Argentina also went through a debt crisis, one of the worst in the world--and has emerged triumphant, with their democracy in tact and their economy well on the way to recovery and even prosperity, due to strong Leftist leadership, and specifically due to the courage of the Leftist leadership in REJECTING AUSTERITY.
In fact, the parallel is very, very close. It was also IMF (rich investor, bankster) loans with ruinous conditions. Much of Latin America suffered what Greece is suffering now, a decade earlier. Argentina is the best example of it. Like Argentina, Latin America, as a whole, is recovering from that disaster by employing Leftist, "New Deal"-like policies, and are a great example to the Greeks and to us, about what solutions really work.
These are: Re-negotiating or defaulting on egregiously unfair, assaultive, ruinous loans, that were originated by the local rich for the global rich. Government spending. Government job creation. STRONG government regulation of banks and big business. Fair taxation. Big investment in education. Help to small farmers and to other small businesses. Strong support of labor rights. Inclusiveness, public participation, strengthening of democracy. Collective endeavors--like Social Security and Medicare but even better--to insure dignity for the old and the sick. Direct alleviation of poverty. And, economically, putting cash into the hands of "the people" who then create demand for products and services. Basic Keynesian economics. The rich will never solve this problem of a dead (murdered?) economy. The majority (workers and the poor) solve it by BUYING THINGS.
This is why it is so NUTS that our local, state and federal governments are FIRING people--teachers, emergency responders, government health inspectors, secretaries, postal workers, et al. These people BUY THINGS. These people SPEND THEIR MONEY. Their salaries stimulate the economy! FDR even put writers and actors and artists to work on the federal dime, to stimulate the economy.
It's nuts--what our governments are doing and what the EU banksters are demanding of Greece. It is WRONG. It's the wrong economics. Greek voters know this and were able to express it in a legitimate, honest election. WE are the ones who can't do that and who are in the greatest danger of this Great Depression upending our society, and of a "nazi" coup, because, quite frankly, it has already happened, with the Bush Junta, and now the bad guys have direct and complete control of our voting results and can play our system like a piano--giving us an Obama period of "forgetting" of their many crimes (including grand theft on a monstrous scale), while building up utter frauds in governorships and in congress, to to prevent critically needed reform, in the immediate present, and to create a fake "movement" of nazi-like racists and "nationalists" for future (s)elections, as a front for bringing us to our knees, for destroying all labor, environmental and other public benefit regulation, for looting and privatizing everything in sight--everything that the "New Deal" and our people have created since WW II--hijacking our military for more corporate resource wars, and ridding themselves of any government or social responsibility whatsoever.
I don't fear for the Greeks. I fear for us.