Saving the euro requires some serious pain. Pain in the South, painful glee in the North. But saving the European Democratic Union takes a whole lot of backbone, back ache and selfless integrity.
And there are two different goals accomplished with the same effort provided we are all shooting in the same direction. Because the pain of saving the Euro common currency is applied disproportionately. Pain for some, and a bit of pleasure and greed for others. Yet equanimity is what is needed here now. Because with just a little bit more generosity of spirit, and not of the pocketbook, from the wealthy nations, fundamental changes will arrive for all the Europeans regardless of passport and national origin.
But some will ask if it is all worth it. Or is it just a game of brinkmanship designed to coerse the European people to behave in a certain way and to become second class citizens if not worse within their own home and country.
That is the fundamental question the Europeans and each country’s citizens must be asked and they should answer it honestly and openly as they see fit. The European people have to be asked this question in a timely and democratic fashion in order to get the real answer. An answer that we can hang on to built a healthy future.
And for those who don’t trust the people – I have this to say: People are mature and the crowd sourced democratic answer has got to be trusted fully. According to old Pericles, according to Condorset and according to long standing Democratic tradition – tested and true – the common response of the majority of the people holds true. Because their collective will is bound to be far more correct than whatever a group of experts – any experts – can get to. And people need to be asked this grave question, sooner rather than later… Lest the politicians sell them down the river of perdition.
Because without the people’s support, no reform can last. And a real choice must include the option of leaving the euro and even leaving the European country-club too. Now that this taboo has been breached, the euro zone should start thinking about how best to arrange the departure of those that cannot, or will not want to live under Germanic rules. Otherwise it is just like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic after striking the ice.
Take a moment and for our philosophical diatribe purposes, lets call the Germans, the new “Argives” bearing gifts to the others. Gifts of money and treasure, gifts of fire water to put out perceived and very real fires. Gifts like the Trojan horse of loss of sovereignty and the “Enabling Bills,” gifts of anti-democratic economic reforms, gifts of totalitarianism and gifts of usury… These are the vvgifts the Good Germans are bearing.
And of course right now the European masters of the Universe, will tell you that the emphasis of Europe needs to be on firefighting and not on squabbling over democratic niceties best left for later. What with Greece toast, Italy burning, and the rest of the euro area fearing that it could be consumed in this conflagration the willy Germans say that decisions cannot be hostage to the vicissitudes of democracy. They say that with 17 national parliaments it would be impossible to decide what to do… But Germany is keen in advancing it’s powers, either by restraining the European Central Bank from putting out the fires, or by hampering the EFSM and thus insisting that hand held water buckets are used instead of fire engines, to put out this blazing city fire — all in a bid to control the response and thus enlarge German power over the whole of Europe. And keeping the European Democracy captive, is sadly reminiscent of their power hungry folly — akin to rolling out the miserable rations to the captives of their concentration camps.
Sorry, democracy doesn’t work like that.
Neither Europe can function like that.
Lack of, denial or suppression of Democracy is plain old fascism. Oligarchy, terror, or worse a naked dictatorship.
How many Europeans will accept that?
I wonder.
Because in the long term, what good is Europe for anybody as a failed Democracy experiment?
And what good is the euro-zone if it only certifies Germano-French hegemony and it reflects only the interests of the few, the wealthy and somewhat reformed, yet still racist Huns? Ruling the EU with an iron fist along with the docile French acquiescence, seemingly speaking for the rest of the European federation — is not what Martin Luther would have hoped for in his worst of days. A dystopia straight out of Huxley and Orwell — something only the little Austrian colonel had visioned in his wet dreams.
But this is a real daylight nightmare because the same is what Mr Sarkozy said echoing Ms Merkel and Schauble: “I don’t think there is enough economic integration in the euro zone, the 17, and too much integration in the European Union at 27.”
In other words, France, Germany and Mr Sarkozy do not appear to have got over their resentment of the EU enlargement. At 27 nations-strong, the European Union is too big for France or Germany to lord it over the rest and is too liberal in economic terms for France’s protectionist leanings. Hence Mr Sarkozy’s yearning for a smaller, cosier, “federalist” euro zone – echoing German sentiments.
This chimes with the idea of a Kerneuropa (“core Europe”) promoted in 1994 by Karl Lamers and Wolfgang Schäuble, who happens to be Germany’s current finance minister. Intriguingly, it is the first time that Mr Sarkozy, once a sceptic of European integration, has spoken publicly about “federalism”, although he had made similar comments in private to European leaders in all the summits and the G8 and G20 gatherings. It echoes the views of Mr Sarkozy’s statist predecessor, François Mitterrand.
Such ideas appeared to have been killed off by the large eastward enlargement of the EU in 2004, and by the French voters’ rejection of the EU’s new constitution in 2005. But the euro zone’s debt crisis is reviving these old imperial dreams.
Good thing the old Blightey is out of this mess and will live on to fight another day and serve Democracy and the Union by it’s simple ornery devotion to Parliamentary Democracy and the will of the people along with the pound the sovereign and “Dieu et mon droit.”
Still while all these psychological mind games are playing out, Europe will need not only to put out the fires, but also to institute a new fire code to put out these Financial fires of the future in a speedier manner without dissolving itself into the current crisis.
Therefore, a new “Financial Fire department” has to be instituted. And this needs a measure of Democratic reforms towards the financial stability pact, as well as a slew of new rounds of healthy debate and discussion with full on referendums for Europe and it’s usefulness. The EU treaty discussions are likely to be reopened, again and that’s a good thing. Euro members will have to abide by stricter fiscal rules and accept intrusive inspection and managerial guidance by outsiders. And that’s a good thing too. Yet the loss of sovereignty would be more acceptable to debtors if the creditors were to accept the need to behave like good Europeans. Because eventually they will need to overcome their own purely psychological handicaps and agree to issue the bloody joint Eurobonds. Of course this will happen only after the Southern profligate bastard children of Europe, the pigs and the like, go through a tough minded reform school, but so be it.
Any rigorous education is good after all…
So after a period of atonement the Germans will find their better self and higher intelligence will prevail and the Eurobonds will arrive on the scene… Because new means and methodology is the only solution to solve this old arbitrage problem. Because in the final analysis the arbitrage is a great game best played by cool players. And to counteract its tremendously leveraged power new European intelligent and independent institutions are now needed to create bulwarks, shore up the defenses and place bazookas at the escarpments — all in order to make the system work.
Yet most European current leaders would prefer the dirty job to happen by the unelected European Commission, an intergovernmental body dominated by the German-French, Vichy type alliance. This unelected and undemocratic commission however, could not act impartially neither between the 17 Eurozone partners and certainly not towards the ten non Eurozone member states, thus creating the multiple-speed Europe now openly advocated by Germany & France. A multi-speed Europe with only one seat to steer occupied by Germany and with France in the pannier. All the rest of the Eurozone partners and the non Euro states are crammed inside the saddle bags, simply coming along for the ride. But in the founding vision of a federal European project, Europe did not mean more Merkel-Sarkozy oligarchy and less single market, but it was a vision of a Democratic Union. Not a Weimar republic waiting for the Reichstag fire to spawn a nutty mustache in funny clothes, as a leader.
Further to the point is that all the various pompous Doctrinaire recipes from Ms Merkel and Mr Sarkozy are just not what the Doctor ordered and certainly they offer no medicine to cure the Eurozone financial illness.
Because much of it is pure nonsense. Italy and Greece need growth and a priming of the economic pump. And although they chose freely to join the euro, they are also free to leave. Being in reform school fashion they will gain of course some knowledge and earn some measure of fiscal discipline, either through the lessons reserved for them from the markets of finance or from the lessons learned by the strict dictums of the German reform school. Still that is the choice of it’s citizens lest Greece and Italy are occupied countries and their religion needs to be reformed too.
Granted, in a monetary union, irresponsibility by one member endangers the well-being of all others, but this union still has ways to go before such perilous state is reached.
Yet the fear for the ever fragile state of Democracy in Europe is very real, because for many countries, such as Greece and Spain, the EU has been the major anchor of democracy. But as the crisis persists, austerity drags on and the calls for suspension of Democracy deepen, such as the current G20 uproar over the Greek Referendum, legitimacy of this European Democracy will suffer. In contrast, the pain would be more acceptable if the creditors acted as if they believed they faced an existential threat. But rather than committing their full resources to the crisis, they are seeking to limit their liability and occupy others… This raises a sense of double standards. A set of rights and one kind of rich plentiful democracy for the wealthy creditor nation and a loss of rights and penury of democracy for the debtor nations with foreign installed governments and Pro-Conculs leading those societies.
Still everybody must understand the constraints placed upon Mrs Merkel by her own government and party. But today’s German people are reasonable and view Democracy as not an exercise in schizophrenia… So why is it that Mr Papandreou ex PM of Greece, commits a “breach of trust” if he calls for a referendum by the people? Isn’t this what Democracy supposed to be? The will of the people, a government and a direction made up of that public will alone. Why should Greece stay in the Eurozone constraints if it’s people feel otherwise?
The Greek debtors, moreover, bear the cost of the creditors’ mistakes. In Greece the IMF correctly, wanted the adjustment programme to focus more on growth-promoting structural reforms whereas the Europeans prioritised deficit-reduction. And of course the German position prevailed and Greece experiences a deeper-than-forecast recession shrinking the economy by more than a cumulative 17% over three to five years. This means Greece must chase ever-receding fiscal targets with ever more austerity in a never ending vicious circle. And take the punitive first bail-out which gave Greece three-year loans at tremendously punitive interest rates, with no debt reduction. This naturally led to a second and a third bailout where the latest rescue efforts offers Greece cheap rates for up to 30 years, with a 50% haircut on private bondholders only. Yet why the institutions that forced upon Greece this terrible recipe for economic bondage and certain failure, not have to take the haircut too? At least their recipe was an unmitigated disaster, it was forced upon Greece causing depression in the economy and certainly these rescue options were so wrong, that neither bail out package agreed upon, may now be enough to save Greece…
Still, Germany belatedly accepted the need for the rescue fund to be larger and more flexible. Yet still Ms Merkel doesn’t see the ECB and the other tools of the trade such as the European Rescue Fund as the big red hot Fire Engine it is supposed to be in order to put out the fire burning up the European Democracy and it’s Peoples.
Still there is time to act decisively now but even this time is running out…fast.
Let’s act now with vigour and unity… And we can still lick this disaser, and avert the full catastrophe.
But we need to go full Monty against all arbitragers and market makers out there. Show the big guns and keep them at the ready to defend the economic realm of Europe. The whole of Europe not just the Reichstag and Élysées palace, but the periphery where people matter far more than their governing political scheming classes. Actually this clases are best forsaken for an unfettered future.
Because had all this been done sooner, the crisis might have been contained already. And surely it would have been dealt with more easily, and at a far lower cost for all concerned, Greeks and “Argives” alike.
Yours,
Pano
PS:
Still if Italy and Greece had not been so corrupt, self serving and indulgent, anti-transparent and over-indebted, arteriosclerotic, and with a political class fit for the dogs — they would not be in such terrible straits today. And of course EU member countries that extend financial help and water to put out e fires to Greece, have the right to impose conditions. Some of these conditions are to ensure that their loans are repaid and some are to ensure hegemony. For he who has the gold makes the rules is how the old saw goes.
But look at the other options…
The alternative to euro-zone dictatorship is being abandoned to the markets and their merriment. And the markets right about now, look like a pack of crazed wolves smelling the blood of arbitrage opportunity. A good time to eat the flesh of the profligate people and their kin who are caught in the vice like tree trunk like Milo who was eaten by the wild beasts, because of his own folly and athletic power hubris.
And even if the fire burns through the forest it will be cathartic at the end – no doubt. But if a response is needed now to put the fire out, it will inevitably be from Germany with France holding the firehose…
But be wary of these ersatz “Argives” — Beware of Argives in general, bearing gifts and giving water to douse the flames. For some of this water is adding fuel to the fire.
Because when the fire first burns through Democracy that spawned this Union, then the whole lot best be burned down. And given time, blood and toil, out of these cinders Democracy will reign again. And that’s a better bargain to behold.
Because even that would be a small price to pay to avoid the excesses we’ve seen from another fire that burned down the Reichstag some seventy seven years ago. A fire that killed Democracy and left another rule instead and thus laid the path for the “Enabling Bill” Same like today’s memoranda and the gathering of signatures of obedience and faith to a bill to ostensibly protect the Union.
Sad path we go down on…
Because we’ve seen this play before and we’ve seen the willy mothers goosing their eggs…
And we saw what serpents these eggs hatched.
So never again we will let ourselves get dragged down this path. Never again…
