The truth
is this subject could run and run; the last post was too long and I've had to
accept Left wing politics can't be dissected in two posts. So I'll do it bit by
bit, this second part has been forever delayed and of course now a General
Election is going to get in the way.
If Labour
manage to win outright or go into Coalition, there should be a lot of good
examples of the problems of Left wing politics, but for now I’ll look at the most obvious
current example of a serious Left Wing Government; Greece.
Syriza's Leader - Alexis Tsipras
Greek, in a Left Wing Government and apparently serious...
There's
always an element of wanting to see the opposing view fail, for it to be proved wrong; it is in the nature of politics and to some extent it is part of human nature,
the cynical part of course.
I don't wish the people of Greece ill, not at all,
it'd be good to see them sort things out and create some sort of successful
'alternative', it'd be interesting to see how it can be done.
It's not
that I don't want it to happen, but I can't see it happening. Not without going
into the territory I wrote about in the first post.
Just as I
posted about the problems of modern Left wing politics, a party with a truly Left
wing outlook was elected to Government in Europe - Greece election:Anti-austerity Syriza wins election.
So it seems at least part of my analysis will be tested.
Syriza have won people over with their humble style
There
aren't that many truly Left Governments in the world and at the end of the day
without a Socialist bloc (as existed in the 20th century), they have to exist
in a capitalist world and therefore lack support, for hard Left politics.
European
Leftists want to paint Greece as the alternative to 'austerity', but I think
they're on a hiding to nothing and of course the Left will say that it isn't
the politics (the ideals) that have failed, it will be because its opponents
have brought it down.
In some
respects that will be true, if and when the Greek experiment fails. It's all
about money and Greece needs a lot of it. The Left will say Syriza and the
nation were denied the chance to make a success of it and they were unable to
succeed within the current system (a German controlled EU and a wider
capitalist system).
Angela Merkel
Between a rock and hard place...?
Greek Protesters
Bit extreme...
But
Greece would fail in most circumstances, at least if they didn't radically
transform their economy. The only situation that would work for Greece is a
worldwide revolution and then their global comrades could help them out,
because right now they're a basket case.
They
don't produce anything much, too many of their citizens don't pay their taxes; they
have the economic set up of a third world country, but they have become
accustomed to first world public services. And of course they want to maintain
those services, but someone has to pay for them and if they're not producing
enough to fund their own services, then who pays?
The rest
of Europe, particularly Germany, feels that they are paying for the Greeks.
This BBC
article talks of the inaccuracy of claims about ‘lazy Greeks’, supposedly
retiring early - Greek bailout talks: Are stereotypes of lazy Greeks true?
I wasn't
aware of these claims about the Greeks, the French, yes...
While there does appear to be some truth to the accusations, according to this article it is to a relatively small extent, but the author does go on to confirm the other problems of their
economic set up. Why are people retiring early in an unproductive, dysfunctional
economy? Who pays for it?
It does
seem that Greece is being squeezed by Germany and the EU should take a lot of
the blame for what Greece has become. Just as the Labour Government oversaw an unsustainable economic model in the UK, the EU allowed Greece to get like it is:
Athens Olympics - 2004
But the
idea of writing off debt while maintaining their public sector and services, is
actually insulting to those playing by the rules, not least many countries
outside the EU who would love to have the Greek standard of living.
Greece as
an independent nation has been afforded its standards of living by the EU and
membership of the Eurozone
They are
down the GDP list by any measure and their position will be assisted by the currency, many
countries with far worse services and infrastructure will be ahead of them in
terms of economic output. The respective circumstance and development of each
nation make for complex comparison, but there is a simple principle involved.
And the Left are normally fond of simple principles…
You could
say writing off the debt would allow them a fresh start and a chance to reform
without the burden of debt, something that has been offered to the developing
world in the past.
Make Poverty History - Edinburgh 2005
Firstly I
think they have to sort out the tax evasion before this is even considered,
they could be closer to having the means to service the debt but this has been
effectively ignored. It certainly has been by many of the Left wing advocates
championing the Greek revolution, talking all day long about tax avoidance in
this country and then supporting debt in one country being written off, so that
they can fund their public services, instead of collecting tax for it. Money is
lost from outside Greece, UK included, when the funds may well be in Greece;
how does that sit with UK Uncut’s principles…? It’s overlooked - https://twitter.com/ukuncut/status/566914895846047746
This is
Corruption, everything about the situation is utterly corrupt and that needs to be addressed. Thankfully
tax evasion is being acknowledged as a significant part of the problem - Greece debt deal: Reforms will 'combat tax evasion'. It hasn't been acknowledged by the Left at large. Our mate and favourite celebrity revolutionary
Russell Brand, who admits to not understanding economics, shared on Twitter a link to an
article about a impromptu market of 'the people' in Greece (“Without middlemen”
market). How
wonderful Russell, but how much tax is collected from this to fund their public
services? There was no response to my question on Twitter...
Secondly,
if the debt is reduced or gone, they should then have to fend for themselves. I
imagine the likelihood of them leaving the Eurozone is high if they won't
service their debt and it would only be fair to the other nations within the
zone, any nation with a large amount of debt. Surely Spain, Portugal and Italy
will all be clamouring for better deals if Syriza get their way within the
Euro.
If Greece
leaves, we will see how they fair, if they can change their economy and
maintain their standard of living.
The crux
of the situation does appear to be that Syriza want the rest of the EU to
support and maintain the Greek standard of living, when they are not productive
and do not pay their taxes.
The
European Left should not be championing this situation.
You can’t
blame the Greek population for turning to a political movement promising to
maintain their way of life without the ‘pain’ of austerity, the electoral
victory doesn't make this is a success for Left wing politics, they haven’t
achieved any of their aims yet.
Yanis
Varoufakis and Alexis Tsipras
If the
Greek government do get a handle on tax evasion then the Control aspect of Left
wing politics I looked at in the last post, will be in place. Although rightly
in that circumstance, it would still be interesting to see the effects.
Fiscal
and wider reforms would have to be fundamental and will put pressure on large
sections of the population, some of whom may currently be supporting Syriza,
but it will take some time to see what happens and how any changes affect
particular groups and activities - Keypoints: Greece economic pledges to Europe
Greece
suffers from Corruption in various ways, tax evasion is just one aspect of that and they will need to radically improve their economy with relatively
limited means to prove their politics are Practical, in the modern world.
If they can avoid endemic levels of corruption as they move on, then maybe they will be heading in the right direction. Their population is relatively low and this is can enable more successful restructuring and then allow for a Left Wing organisation of society to be maintained.
This is
the case with the favourite national examples of Left leaning success for the
more Liberal Left in the West; the Scandinavian countries. They are similar to
Greece in that each has a relatively low population, but the similarities
pretty much end there; the Scandinavians pay their taxes, levels of corruption are low and
probably most importantly, they have long established, functioning
economies.
I saw one
Twitter comment suggesting the Greeks should take a leaf out of Iceland’s book,
the small nation having apparently made strides towards recovering from the
economic crisis. And this appears to be a common suggestion on Twitter.
Iceland
and Greece? Opposite ends of Europe, very different economies and cultures, and
the population of Iceland is barely that of the average small European city. So
it’s a bit more complicated than the suggestion…
Reykjavik, Iceland
Athens, Greece
It is
just shows how desperate the European Left wing intelligentsia have become, as
they're championing Greece, when it is little more than a fed up people wanting
to maintain their living standards on flimsy economic foundations. Championing
their cause is one thing, but championing their politics and methods is
different. Of course it's always the principles of the matter for Leftist
intellectuals, not the practicality...
Leftists have long given up on France... And further afield, Venezuela was a former favourite of the Left - the Left's favourite 'socialist paradise' is sliding into poverty and dictatorship, but
this has faded away recently and is in truth another poor example for the Left.
Crime and corruption are still rife in this country, there is significant
opposition to the current Government, even then it is still in some ways a
better example of potential economic success for the Left than Greece, as
Venezuela at least has oil money to exploit.
It's not
good, it shouldn't be a sound economic foundation for Left wing sensibilities, but
that didn't bother Owen Jones and it seems the notion didn't bother the SNP in
Scotland. A means to an end. At least Norwegians appear to realise it can't last forever.
If you don’t have the natural
resources, then you have to work hard to stay ahead. The Greeks have got their
work cut out, if they are to sort out this mess and prove the likes of Owen
Jones right.
Owen Jones
The world
was certainly looking at Greece when Syriza won power. Of course many are keen
to point to Greece as the cradle of European civilisation and the pioneers
of democracy, and while this is of course true, things have moved on quite a lot
since then. Mostly Northwards, where modern civilisation has flourished and
largely been maintained.
The
Greeks are proud of their history
Start there and move on...
Europe
has already had one catastrophic collapse since their ancient democracy and Greece was under
foreign rule for significant parts of the intervening time. So are they
saying it begins and ends in Greece or the cycle starts again…?
They’re
certainly tempting history now:
Tsipras is ok now Putin is behind him...
"I must do what Stalin should have done many years ago..."
Good luck to them, I think we all need it...
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