The State's March To Fascism.

      Day and daily the Greek state bears down on the people, creating enforced poverty and deprivation at the behest of the Troika, (ECB, European Central Bank, EC, European Commission, and the IMF, International Mankind Fuckers). As the anger among the people grows, the state works hard at closing down any hint of free space occupied by the people. Squat after squat is attacked, evicted and closed down, the latest being the Orfanotrofio squat in Thessaloniki, which had existed for years as a social centre in the community. Some of the squats recently evicted have been in existence for more than 20 years. In difficult times the state will crush any attempt by the people to organise among themselves.

     The Greek state is now openly racist, this is another line of its defence, scapegoats. Blame the immigrants for all the ills that beset the people of Greece. In Greece they are rounded up and detained in concentration camps, more than a hint of Nazi Germany. It is the normal progression of the state whenever it feels threatened, a move to open fascism.

       Greece and the Greek people are no different from any other European country. What is happening in Greece is happening here. Though perhaps not as overtly or as brutal, but that is only because the state here doesn't feel the need to go that far, yet. However it is on the agenda whenever they feel that need arises.

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Bare-Knuckle Capitalism.

     Though we can all claim that democracy in Europe is an illusion, a screen of smoke and mirrors, in Greece the illusion has evaporated, the smoke has cleared and the mirrors are shattered. Greece is at the sharp end of the Troika's (EC, European Commission, ECB, European Central Bank, IMF, International Mankind Fuckers) creation of an all European sweatshop. As the people's resistance grows, so does the state's brutal defence of its power and privileges No where else in Europe is the state so openly brutal and the police given a completely free hand to intimidate and savagely repress the public.

     What was a peaceful march in solidarity with a prisoner on hunger strike became a brutal assault by the fascist Greek state's storm-troopers.

Details of the case of Kostas Sakkas HERE:

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A Tomorrow Of Deprivation!!

      You take it that the Greek government, (financial Mafia's puppets), have decimated the living standards of the people of Greece, destroyed the education system, turn the country's health system into a Third World health lottery and sent the unemployment rate through the roof, that their financial overlords would be pleased. However, the European financial Mafia, fronted by the Troika, (EC, European Commission, ECB, European Central Bank, and the IMF, International Mankind Fuckers) are not happy with with the pace of reforms taking place in Greece, and are threatening to withhold the next bag of blood money from their Greek puppets. They are dissatisfied with the slow rate of the reforms, especially in employment regulations, (deregulation), in the public sector, not enough people paid off, not enough privatised, there is also dissatisfaction with the lack of reforms in the health service, not enough cuts and lack of privatisation, this to a health service that has ceased to exist as a modern health service. What has been done to the people of Greece is a series of brutal criminal acts, all in the name of finance, but to the bunch of parasites, the Troika, it is not enough, the people have to be impoverished much more to satisfy the ideological lust of these financial leeches. The people's assets have to be sold off quicker and cheaper. To satisfy the blood sucking financial Mafia, the plunder of the people of Greece must be rapid and complete. The foundations of sweatshop Europe must be solid with a guarantee of permanency. Then they can move on to the other European countries with a vengeance. That corporate dream is in their sights, a sweatshop Europe that can compete with its Eastern adversaries.

      This is what the future holds for our children and grandchildren if we allow the preaent system to continue to exist. Its destruction is the only hope for any kind of future for those coming generations.

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The Holy Trinity, The Protectors Of Wealth.

       The people of Greece have experienced what is probably the most rapid deterioration of living standards of any modern developed country. They have entered a world of collapsing education and health-care, vicious wage cuts, stratospheric unemployment, destruction of all social services, massive tax increases and a range of new taxes, all this, to save the banksters and the bond market from facing their gambling losses.

     The resultant misery, ill health, mental and physical, rising addiction problems, increase in suicides, a flood of homelessness, rising crime and violence on the streets and the break up of families as thousands leave Greece to try to survive elsewhere, is not enough. Well according to that Holy Trinity, the protector of wealth and privilege, the Troika, (ECB, European central bank, EC, European Commission, IMF, International Mankind Fuckers), as they are pushing their fascist puppet government in Athens to speed up the pace of “reforms”. It seems that because the Athens puppets couldn't give away the state run natural gas supplier DEPA at a cheap enough price, they are not meeting the criteria set by the Holy Trinity, the Troika, so might not get the rest of the bailout.

      So four years of untold misery for the people of Greece with the promise that they would all then enter the promised land of mythical growth and prosperity for all, looks like it isn't going to work. They haven't sold (handed over) enough of the people's assets to the corporate world, they haven't lowered the wages enough, the haven't dismantled the employment regulations enough. Under no circumstances can the banksters and the bond markets be allowed to lose any of their ill-gotten gains, even if they gamble the lot with the reckless gay abandon of drunk gambling addict.

     There is also the talk of a €2-3 billion shortfall in the funding of the Holy Trinity, as they claim that some European states are dragging their feet on the funding matter. So even if the fascists puppets in Athens gave away all the people's assets and paid-off another few thousand public sector workers, there is a chance that they wont get the money. No matter the outcome, the misery knowingly inflicted on the people of Greece will continue, their situation is not likely to improve much, if at all, for decades to come. 

  It is not the balancing of the budget that has to be addressed, it is not the  Trioka's reforms that have to be speeded up, it is the stinking system of greed driven capitalism that has to be dismantled. Through all this misery and hardship in Greece, the pattern is the same as other countries, the rich are doing just fine, it is the people that have to take the misery to prop up a system of privilege for the few. Is this what we want?

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The Unfolding Story Of Greece.

       A few minutes after 11pm on the night of June 11, the signal of the two TV stations of ERT (the Greek state media broadcaster) was abruptly cut, as the Greek fascist government went further down the road of attempting to control the flow of information, or cut it all together. This decision was taken and enforced without any public debate or any vote in parliament. This unprecedented action was carried via a "act of legislative content" which is supposed to be invoked only during a state of emergency. The shut down meant the immediate firing of all the 2,600+ employees, this on top of an unemployment rate of 27.4%, the employees immediately occupied the broadcasting premises. The Greek public have come out in support of the employees occupation and more than 8,000 have gather outside the ERT HQ on Mesogeion Avenue.

     This drastic action by the fascist political puppets of the financial Mafia changes the situation in Greece as it has even angered the other political puppets that are playing the "representative democracy" game with the fascists, and further alienated the people from the government.

        Public sector Unions called a general strike for Thursday 13 June, buses, subway and trains stopped running, train and ferry links were affected, air traffic control was involved, journalists staged an indefinite strike with practically all major newspapers failing to appear, and hospital staff, already under pressure, also reduced staffing in protest at the ERT closure.

            There are some excellent photographs HERE and by Teacher Dude on his flickr site.
     Though the Troika, (ECB, European Central Bank, EC, European Commission, IMF, International Mankind Fuckers) consider that their fascist puppets in Athens are doing a good job, the people of Greece have not yet decided which way they will take their country, the book is not yet written.

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European Fascism On The Rise.

       As austerity bites ever deeper in European country after country, the establishment will enthusiastically encourage and support, rather than just tolerate, the rise of fascist groups. As anger rises and the normal state parties lose control, the fascist thugs will attempt to intimidate and break any organising towards an alternative socialist society, capitalism must be saved at all costs. What is happening in Greece is not an anomaly, it is a pattern that will appear across Europe unless the left-thinking groups are strong enough and organised enough to crush it at root. The economic situation in Greece is not an accident, it is the result of an ideology driven by the financial Mafia, the Troika, ECB, (European Central Bank), EC, (European Commission), and the IMF, (International Mankind Fuckers). This is not happening in some distant foriegn land with a strange name, Golden Dawn is in Greece, Greece is in Europe, and Golden Dawn is being bankrolled, with plans to expand into other countries.

         For more on the history of Golden Dawn and its rise, read Reports From The Edge Of Borderline Democracy's report: GOLDEN DAWN, 1980-2012. THE NEONAZIS’ ROAD TO PARLIAMENT

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THE TROIKA WANTS MORE GREEK BLOOD.

       No matter the will of the people, no matter the harsh brutality of their legislation, no matter that deprivation runs rampant through the country, the Greek government, the supposed representatives of the people, will put the stamp of legitimacy on the next batch of "austerity" cuts, in order to placate their overlords the Troika, that gang of three, ECB, (European Corrupt Banksters) IMF, (International Mankind Fuckers) and the EC, (Endemic Corruption).

      The Greek people are not taking this lying down, this week there are numerous industrial actions across the country, but the battle needs the support of all the people of Europe. Only solidarity across the continent can bring down this stinking edifice of greed and corruption.

This from Teacher dude's Grill and BBQ:

 Angry taxi drivers outside the offices of Deputy Prime Minister, Thessaloniki.

     As the Greek government sends its harshest austerity bill yet to parliament, taxi drivers in the city of Thessaloniki kick off a week of widespread protests and strikes that promises to bring the nation to a halt Thessaloniki, Greece.

    Shouting "thieves and traitors" hundreds of Greek taxi drivers marched through the centre of the country's second largest city, kicking off a week of strikes and protests aimed at preventing the passage of the government harshest austerity bill to date.

    The three day strike by taxi drivers is just part of a series of industrial actions planned by workers in both the public and private sector. In particular the transport sector is set to be hit particularly hard as air traffic controllers, ferry crews, public transport drivers and train company employees will be participating in the 48 general strike called for Tuesday and Wednesday.

    Mass protests by trade unions and political parties across the spectrum outside the Greek parliament in central Athens have also been announced to coincide with the vote on Wednesday.

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DISSENTING VOICES WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

        Now as the financial Mafia put the boot in to the Greek people, it is impossible to even attempt to hold onto the thinest veneer of the illusion of democracy. Day by day the state comes down harder and harder on any form of dissent, more and more the gap between the people and "their" government grows ever wider. The powers that be don't even like to be seen in public, it only generates bad publicity for them. The so called elected representatives of the people don't want to have anything to do with the people, it is all corporate finance that matters.

            We should never lose sight of the fact that how the state acts in Greece is not unique to Greece. As austerity bites here and in other countries across Europe, each state will take the necessary action to force through the dictates of the Troika, that collection of vultures, leeches and parasites in the form of the IMF (International Mankind Fuckers) ECB (European Corrupt Banksters) and the EC (Endemic Corruption). Make no mistake, they are the rulers of Europe, the elected governments are there to manage the Troika's plans for the creation of a European sweatshop economy to compete with their Eastern rivals. 

This from the Greek Streets:

Monday, October 29, 2012

    Today the text of the 3rd memorandum of agreement eliminating public provisions was released. Simultaneously today, one day after the arrest of a journalist for releasing a list of tax-dodgers,  a young man was arrested in Corfu island because he published in his web-blog  photos of police officers having very friendly encounters with neo-Nazis. Earlier in the morning the management of the state TV channel (ERT) announced that from tomorrow the presenters of its morning news show are going to be replaced. The reason is that the two journalists commented on the attitude of the Minister of  Citizen Protection (police) who was threatening that will sue foreign newspapers  for writing that the anti-Nazi activists were tortured in the Police HQ. The two journalists were discussing about the coroner’s diagnosis which was released confirming that proper torturing of the 15 anti-Nazi activists did occur in the police HQ.

More from Teacher Dude's Grill and BBQ:

    Perhaps it is appropriate that Thessaloniki, which this weekend celebrated the 100th anniversary of its liberation from the Ottoman Empire looked like a city under siege. For three days the centre of Greece's second largest city was the objects of draconian security measures designed to avoid a repetition of last year's peaceful protests which closed down the annual military parade and forced the president of the republic to flee.
      Mindful of the fact that the event lead to the resignation of the then prime minister, Giorgos Papandreou just weeks later the current political leadership decided to make sure last year's events were not repeated.
    As a result 2,000 extra police were drafted to protect prime minister Antonis Samaras and president Karolos Papoulias as they visited Thessaloniki over the weekend. The security measures for the Oxi Day parade were so tight that no even the parents of high school pupils taking part were allowed within the 1 km “dead zone” that surrounded the VIP stand and effectively isolated the parade from the vast majority of citizens who'd turned out to follow it.

Read the full article HERE:

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THE GRAND PLAN.

       The grand plan is moving along nicely, the corporate dream is on the horizon. Thanks to the Troika, Europe is moving rapidly to a cheap labour economy. Slashing of social spending, wage cuts/freeze, and high unemployment, all the necessary ingredients for the corporate vision of a European sweatshop economy. The only thing that can now stop their greed driven vision is the people, do we accept a life of deprivation for ourselves, our children and grandchildren, or do we take control and shape society to the needs of all our people?

This from The International Journal of Socialist Renewal:

By Murray Smith
October 16, 2012 -- Frontline, posted at Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal with the author's permission -- It sometimes seems as if Europe’s sovereign debt crisis has been going on forever. But in fact it really only manifested itself in 2010, a result of the bailing out of private banks with public money and other public spending due to the crisis. And in May of that year Greece became the first country to ask for help and to receive so-called “aid” – really, it cannot be repeated too often, loans that must be paid back – from the now infamous "Troika", the IMF-ECB-European Commission.
This aid was conditional on Greece adopting policies of austerity and structural reforms, all regularly supervised by those who have become known as the “men in black”, the inspectors of the Troika. In an article in the UK Guardian on October 8, 2012, Alexis Tsipras, leader of the radical left coalition Syriza, makes two key points. First of all, the money lent to Greece goes into an escrow account used for repaying past loans and interest on them and for recapitalising private banks. It cannot be used otherwise, for example for useful social spending. Second,  he writes: “We believe that their aim is not to solve the debt crisis but to create a new regulatory framework throughout Europe that is based on cheap labour, deregulation of the labour market, low public spending and tax exemptions for capital."

Read the full article HERE:

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A NEW EUROPE.

From Red Pepper:

Joining forces for another Europe

      In November, European social movements will meet in Florence to plan continent-wide responses to austerity and the European crisis of democracy. Tommaso Fattori calls for us to make ‘Firenze 10+10’ a priority

      In Europe we are living in particularly dramatic times. Democracy is in death-agony and we are witnessing post-democratic processes taking over at the national and supranational level. EU leaders have further concentrated decision-making power on public and fiscal policies in the hands of an oligarchy of governments, technocrats and the European Central Bank (ECB), which are subject to the dictates of the financial markets. Neoliberalism, the real cause of the crisis, not only is not dead, but it appears to be in perfect health: it uses the crisis to destroy social rights and workers’ rights and to privatise commons, public goods and public services.
      Finally, the most incredible propaganda operation of our times is in full swing, in which states and ‘markets’ try to make people believe that public debt was caused by excessive social spending and high salaries. In fact the financial sector caused the crisis and the fiscal deficit in the EU is the result of the crisis, not its cause.
      A moment like this needs a strong social answer: it is urgent to act now, uniting our forces, creating the conditions for a common social response, for a pan-European mobilisation. There is an objective need to build a European space of ‘strategic alliances’: in order to elaborate common strategies and initiatives and to rebuild solidarity. When the attack on Greece by the great  economic powers and the ‘troika’ [the International Monetary Fund, the European commission and the ECB]  began, we, in Europe, were unable to organise a social response. Rather, each stayed wrapped up in their own crisis and their own national dimension, leaving the Greeks alone. It must never happen again. 

Continue reading HERE:

 

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THE GRAND PLAN.

        This is specifically for those conspiracy theorists. However looking at what is happening today,----well who knows??

             

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TAKE YOUR MEDICINE AND YOU'LL GET SOME PIE IN THE SKY.

         The IMF's (International Mankind Fuckers) hit squad, the financial Mafia, are back in Greece, to see if their minions, the Greek state apparatus, has plundered the public purse to their satisfaction. The answer of course will be no, they will have to introduce more “austerity” cuts. The fact that the Greek economy has contracted by 20% since 2008 and is expected to shrink by a further 7% and what this means to the Greek people, is of no consequence to the IMF/ECB, all that matters is the the various states make sure that the bond markets, banks and others of the financial Mafia, get all the money back that they gambled and lost. We should accept that in their plans this is not a temporary drop in the living standards of the people across Europe, this is a permanent adjustment in the difference in wealth between what is drip fed to the public and what goes into the coffers of the very rich. You are not meant to get it all back in a couple of years. Here in the UK they are now talking of “austerity” cuts continuing through 2017 and possibly 2020. However, it is not happening quick enough for the banking leeches, so Spain is now being pushed to get public spending down to the level of Greece or below. The results of their attack on public spending, wages and pensions, is that Greece is now running out of medicines, hospitals are closing, health problems are rocketing, suicides, drug and alcohol problems are escalating, and with the closing of needle exchanges due to cuts, HIV is increasing faster than anywhere else in Europe. This is not even noticed by the financial Mafia, all they see is financial balance sheets. Just as the Greek people take to the streets in anger, we are now seeing mounting revolt spreading across the cities of Spain. The fact is that the financial Mafia will not be deterred by a couple of countries in social turmoil, they will proceed with their march of destruction through country after country, carrying the false idea that they can balance their books and get back all that gambling loss. How long they go on with their vicious attack on the living standards of the people of all Europe will depend on the public. We can stop them dead in their tracks and change the whole structure under which we live, or we can accept their vision of the future and hope that if we put up with it, they will throw us a few biscuits, in some time in the future.

ann arky's home.

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO SELF DEFENCE.

         Some previews of Martin Schulz's "social explosion", The Spanish people have stirred and there are €65 billion more of cuts on the way, courtesy of the financial Mafia, ECB and IMF (International Mankind Fuckers). By the time that they admit that the cuts and bailouts aren't working for Spain and Greece, they will have moved on to Italy, Ireland and Portugal. The march of the financial Mafia is not going to stop because a few million people are suffering. It will stop when the people stop them by destroying the present economic system and creating a system of mutual aid and co-operation. Their so called "crisis" is our golden opportunity to expose the flaws in their corporate greed feast, a chance to construct alternative modes of life, human interaction freed from the profit motive.
       We the people are under attack from the corporate fascists, the financial Mafia and their henchmen, the national governments, who do the dirty work of implementing their plan and subduing the protests. When you are attacked, you have the right to self defence.

The corporate fascists answer to the people's anger.

ann arky's home.

SPANISH ANGER RISES.

        The Spanish miners marching from Asturias to Madrid and then being attacked by riot police seems to have been the spark that lit the fire. Since then the people of Spain have mounted a series of protests across the country. Unemployed have marched from Andalusia, Catalonia and elsewhere into Madrid and are filling the centre of the city. The effects of previous “austerity” measures and the newly announced IMF/ECB dictated further €65 billion “austerity” cuts, a 3% increase in VAT, the attack on the miners and their supporters and an unemployment rate of 24.6% takes life in Spain to the level to which the financial Mafia have succeeded in foisting on the Greek people. Now, like Greece, the Spanish people are fighting back, the protests have been joined by fire-fighters and police in civilian clothes as well as civil servants. Last Thursday evening 500 police and fire-fighters protested in front of the Spanish parliament saying “We are angry because we have lost 30% of our income.” and on Friday, civil servants set up road blocks and were soon joined by nurses, teachers, university professors and doctors. On Friday evening a Facebook organised protest brought thousands out in front of parliament, they were promptly attacked by riot police. The ruling parasites are obviously concerned and there has been a rather stupid and shallow token response from the royal family, they have suggested that their budget takes a slight cut. Another piece of “we're all in this together” shit.

       The quicker the people of Europe realise that what is happening In Greece and Spain, with Italy, Ireland and Portugal not far behind, is coming our way, the better. The system isn't going to fix itself and get everybody back to “The good ol' days”, that never were, this is a downward spiral with ordinary people having their social structures decimated, a downward spiral the will make deprivation the norm. Call it what you will, but this is murder, thousands of people are dying, some slowly by health problems and malnutrition caused by poverty, others quickly by suicide, (check the increase in Greece). It is not an accident, it is the result of deliberate financial policies carried by our so called elected representatives at the dictate of the financial Mafia. A financial Mafia that is faceless, unelected, unaccountable, and yet controls our lives. These policies have only two results, the destruction of our standard of living and an increase in the wealth of that financial Mafia and their hit men.That's the system that we accept, why?

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WHY SHOULD THE INNOCENT PAY SO MUCH?

From Occupied London:

UPDATE, 20:17 GMT+2 A translation of the suicide note left by Dimitris Christoulas, the 77-year old man who commited suicide at Syntagma Square in Athens earlier (this month) today (see below for background to his story).

The Tsolakoglou* [Quisling] occupation government literally nullified my ability to survive on a decent pension, for which I had already paid (without government aid) for 35 years.I am of an age that prevents me from offering a decent individual response (without of course ruling out the possibility of being the second person to take arms, should one person decide to do so), I find no solution other than a dignified end, before resorting to going through garbage in order to cover my nutritional needs.One day, I believe, the youth with no future will take up arms and hang the national traitors at syntagma square, just like the Italians did with Mussolini in 1945 (at Milan’s Piazzale Loreto)

–Dimitris Christoulas, Syntagma, Athens, April 4th, 2012

[*Georgios Tsolakoglou was a Greek military officer who became the first Prime Minister of the Greek collaborationist government during the Axis Occupation in 1941-1942.]

     Suicide rates have doubled in Greece since the government signed the loan agreement with IMF/EU/ECB. This morning (Apr 4), a 77-year old retired pharmacist shot himself dead at Syntagma, Athens’ central Square (his suicide note is translated above).

      Yesterday evening, a 38-year old father of two and long-term unemployed, jumped off the roof of his housing block in the town of Ierapetra, Crete.

     There are calls circulating for a rally tonight on Syntagma Square at 18:00. One of the calls is accompanied by this flyer.

      ‘Scumbags, one suicide per day because of you, but the day is coming when the desperate ones will choose to take the law into their own hands: you shall pay’

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PHASE 1, GREECE, PHASE 2, EUROPE!!

    So you thought that once the financial Mafia and plundered and raped Greece, we would be all sorted out and growth would come galloping to the rescue and return us all to everlasting prosperity. Well it seems it is not going to quite work out like that. Just as the “financial crisis” of 2008 slips into the fog of short memories along comes the rumblings of another wee problem with the financial sector, Oh dear will prosperity be delay? Well of course it will for you and I, but not for the unimaginably rich financial parasites that live off our backs, after all, this is capitalism.

 

This from The New Statesman:

 

The finance sector is signalling alarm, and our politicians are once again asleep at the wheel. Another "credit crunch" may be looming. The most significant evidence emerged from the ECB's second Long Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) on Thursday last week.

The LTRO is simply language intended to disguise the "printing of money" by the ECB for lending to private European banks at a very low rate of interest - 1 per cent. (In fact, the money is not even printed: it is created by entering digits into an ECB computer, and then transferring hundreds of billions of euros as 'bank money' to private banks.)

The fact that British banks rushed to drink from this punch bowl, tells you something about the state of their balance sheets.

Continue reading

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TWO FACED FINANCIAL MAFIA HENCHMEN.

        Slippery, sleazy smooth talking henchmen of the corporate financial Mafia, they don't know how to make a straight answer to a direct question. Perhaps the do, but are well paid not to, double speak, phoney empty phrases, nice sounding words, that's all they spout and it is all meaningless. All meant to confuse and weave an illusion that it is all for our benefit.

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THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES, GOLDMAN SACHS!!

    
         So the IMF (International Mankind Fuckers) ECB (European Central Bank) and European governments are going to sort out the financial crisis by adding more zeros to the end of their bank balances and everything will be just fine. Well not according to those in the top echelons of the big boys gambling casino. It seems what I have been saying for some time now has been openly spouted on BBC TV, governments are no more than the managers for the banking system and Goldman Sachs rules the world. It makes you a proper twat, running to the ballot box and thinking that will sort the problems. When will we wise up and get this bunch of parasites off our backs?

ann arky's home.

       CAPITALISM OR JUSTICE? YOU CAN'T HAVE BOTH.

       According to a recent article by the BBC, the World Bank is warning that food prices are close to pushing millions more into extreme poverty. Since June 2010 an additional 44 million more people have been pushed into poverty. The bank claims that a further 10% rise in food prices would push 10 million more below the extreme poverty line of $1.25 a day, while a 30% price increase in the price of staples could lead to 34 million more poor. It is estimated that at the moment there are about 1.2 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day. The bank also warns that the prices of wheat, corn and soya all rocketing.

      While this disaster is unfolding the so called “financial crisis” (gamblers and spivs gone bust) is still with us and will unfold over the next year or so with the possibility of chaos and civil disobedience on a massive scale. Greece, at the moment, has almost daily mass demonstrations in most of its cities, with a general strike planned for this month. Spain has the Squares in its large cities occupied, and every other country in Europe has demonstrations and more planned on a unified front. The real pain has still to hit.

      Meanwhile the IMF is hell bent on screwing the people of various countries, most of Europe included, by handing governments loans, Of course we all know that nothing the IMF or the European Central Bank does, helps to alleviate the poverty in the world. On the contrary, for their loans they demand “deficit reduction” which translated into ordinary speak, means, cut all social spending, privatise everything in sight and send the money to the busted banks and bond market.

       This is capitalism, a system where the parasites with the money gamble and con their way to greater wealth for their little club, and when the gamble doesn't pay off, then they turn to the ordinary people and plunder their assets, decimate their standard of living to ensure that the gamblers and spivs don't lose out for their greed.

      How much longer can we afford to allow such a system of greed and exploitation to decimate our world, a world that we will leave to our children and grandchildren. Do we leave them a future of poverty and greed, devoid of hope and opportunity, or do we leave them a world that will allow them to develop to their full potential, free from the fear of deprivation, a sustainable world that sees to the needs of all. The choice is ours!!!

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WHAT HAPPENS IF THE GREEKS DEFAULT?

        The end is nigh, prepare for Armageddon, the banking world is in shit creek and the system is about to explode. Of course most people with any knowledge of capitalism know that it is unsustainable and will eventually collapse, the financial sector is just part and parcel of that same system. Our problem is not so much the collapse of the system, but how do we react to that  catastrophic event? Will we fight to get it back on the rails, so that we can get back to borrowing and getting ever bigger mortgages, back to a job with crap wages and an never ending struggle to get an increase that will help you survive? Or will we decide to take control ourselves and change the entire system to one free from the profit motive, bond holders and financial spivs? The following is an extract form a much longer and more detailed article HERE.

What Happens if the Greeks Default?

       Andrew Lilico, writing in the London Telegraph, gives us the answer to that question with a series of short bullet points. I might not agree with all of them, but he is looking in the right direction. (quoting from http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/andrewlilico/100010332/what-happens-when-greece-defaults/)

       “It is when, not if. Financial markets merely aren’t sure whether it’ll be tomorrow, a month’s time, a year’s time, or two years’ time (it won’t be longer than that). Given that the ECB has played the “final card” it employed to force a bailout upon the Irish – threatening to bankrupt the country’s banking sector – presumably we will now see either another Greek bailout or default within days.

“What happens when Greece defaults. Here are a few things:

- Every bank in Greece will instantly go insolvent.

- The Greek government will nationalize every bank in Greece.

- The Greek government will forbid withdrawals from Greek banks.

- To prevent Greek depositors from rioting on the streets, Argentina-2002-style (when the Argentinian president had to flee by helicopter from the roof of the presidential palace to evade a mob of such depositors), the Greek government will declare a curfew, perhaps even general martial law.

- Greece will redenominate all its debts into “New Drachmas” or whatever it calls the new currency (this is a classic ploy of countries defaulting)

- The New Drachma will devalue by some 30-70 per cent (probably around 50 per cent, though perhaps more), effectively defaulting 0n 50 per cent or more of all Greek euro-denominated debts.

- The Irish will, within a few days, walk away from the debts of its banking system.

- The Portuguese government will wait to see whether there is chaos in Greece before deciding whether to default in turn.

- A number of French and German banks will make sufficient losses that they no longer meet regulatory capital adequacy requirements.

- The European Central Bank will become insolvent, given its very high exposure to Greek government debt, and to Greek banking sector and Irish banking sector debt.

- The French and German governments will meet to decide whether (a) to recapitalise the ECB, or (b) to allow the ECB to print money to restore its solvency. (Because the ECB has relatively little foreign currency-denominated exposure, it could in principle print its way out, but this is forbidden by its founding charter. On the other hand, the EU Treaty explicitly, and in terms, forbids the form of bailouts used for Greece, Portugal and Ireland, but a little thing like their being blatantly illegal hasn’t prevented that from happening, so it’s not intrinsically obvious that its being illegal for the ECB to print its way out will prove much of a hurdle.)

- They will recapitalise, and recapitalise their own banks, but declare an end to all bailouts.

- There will be carnage in the market for Spanish banking sector bonds, as bondholders anticipate imposed debt-equity swaps.

- This assumption will prove justified, as the Spaniards choose to over-ride the structure of current bond contracts in the Spanish banking sector, recapitalising a number of banks via debt-equity swaps.

- Bondholders will take the Spanish Banking Sector to the European Court of Human Rights (and probably other courts, also), claiming violations of property rights. These cases won’t be heard for years. By the time they are finally heard, no one will care.

- Attention will turn to the British banks. Then we shall see…”

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