The problems in Spain cannot be denied any longer. In fact, the crisis that hit the Eurozone is something that cannot be hidden.

Since the credit crisis that began in the U.S. a few years ago, countries and their banks have fallen like trees, showing black holes that had been hiding for years, as well as very bad practices that did nothing but make what was already a big problem worse.

Now that the complete rescue is about to come to Spain– the first one was only for the banks, although it counts as government debt– many authors and writers of Spanish newspapers question the competence of the European Central Bank (ECB), and wonder what prevents the ECB from saving us from total disaster by buying public debt of states that are worse off. In these writers’ speeches they explain that the ECB should act as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and provide financial resources to those who need it.

Are they wrong asking for this? Absolutely. The answer to the question of why the ECB does not act as the IMF is this one: because they are not the same. Despite the fact that, apparently, both agencies have similarities, the truth is the objectives for which they were created are completely different in each one, and the way they respond is not the same. That is why it is advisable to make a couple of clarifications on the differences between the two entities, in order to understand why the ECB is not a “European IMF.” It was not intended to be one.

The IMF was created in a completely different context, when the consequences of the Great Depression could be still felt. Its creation reflected the attempt of several countries to avoid repeating the disastrous measures that weakened economic activity during those years.

Meanwhile, the ECB, successor to the European Monetary Institute, was created in 1998, but it did not make full use of its powers until the entry of the euro in 1999. The creation, established in the Maastricht Treaty, responded first to the oversight of the transition of member countries from their national currencies to the euro and, second,  the need for the existence of a bank for this currency.

With these completely different contexts it is logical that the objectives of both entities are not the same. Thus, the main function of the IMF is to oversee the smooth running of international economic policy, and to encourage it, acting as a fund where countries can ask for help when they need temporary financing.

However, the main objective of the ECB is to maintain the price stability in the euro area by maintaining the inflation at low levels, leaving other objectives subordinates to this first and foremost. Broadly speaking, it seems that we can define the IMF as a fund that lends money to countries who need it, and the ECB as that one who ensures the proper functioning of the Eurozone. So, the role of the first one is active, while the second one’s role is rather passive.

Now the big question is: if the euro is not working properly and there is a risk of its disappearance, can the ECB not protect it through the purchase of public debt? The answer is, again, no. Why? Because of the statutes which regulate it.

Since it was created, the ECB defined itself as completely independent from the member countries of the Eurozone– which has been questioned in recent years, especially by the suspect origin of the last directors of the ECB– and the measures should not respond to the national interests of any country. In the same way, the European institutions and national governments are required to respect this independence, and this means that there is no mechanism by which a member state may compel the ECB to act in one way or another.

This is the main reason why the ECB cannot rescue any Eurozone country. Besides this, there is another powerful reason that we forget sometimes: the conditions for being a member of the Eurozone are strict. It is not enough to wish to adopt the currency, there are steps to follow before completing the transition.

The ECB is responsible for safeguarding the proper functioning of the euro because it assumes that other institutions– created for that purpose– have been responsible for verifying that the candidates have the specific requirements for entry. If someone has not, whose fault is it then?

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Following the Venezuelan independence day last Wednesday, US presidential nominee Mitt Romney issued a statement saying that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez “failed to honor the spirit of freedom with which Venezuela was established. Hugo Chávez is promoting ideas in Venezuela and other Latin American countries that run counter to freedom, prevent prosperity and expand tyranny.”

The statement is typical US discourse opposing Chavez, who has long been a hate figure in US media. The populist ideas Chavez is promoting have long been a concern for the US. This was illustrated by a similar statement by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, then reacting to Salvardo Allende’s election in Chile in 1970.

Chile was then on the verge of becoming an independent socialist state rather than a Soviet satellite, a development which, according to Kissinger, “would be far more dangerous… because its ‘model’ effect can be insidious… our main concern is the prospect that [Allende] can consolidate himself and the picture projected to the world will be his success.”

Washington’s greatest fear, far greater than communism or the rise of totalitarianism, is, and always has been, successful independent nationalism. That has currently become a reality across Latin America following the last ten year’s remarkable development known as the “pink tide.” This movement is characterized by the election of leftist governments (with notable examples such as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Rafael Correa in Ecuador and Evo Morales in Bolivia, among others), increased government control over natural resources with new social reforms favoring the poor and former marginalized indigenous populations, and a region-wide opposition to Washington influence stretching from Venezuela to Argentina.

Venezuela has been on the forefront of this socialist movement, initiated by the 1999 election of Hugo Chavez.

Hugo Chavez was elected President following two decades of economic turmoil in Venezuela. Chavez, coming from poor conditions himself, immediately set out to introduce reforms specifically targeting the poor majority – a former invisible group in a Venezuela dominated by a small and wealthy elite with close ties to the US.

Today, Venezuela has free health care and free education, as well as some of the highest literacy rates in the region. In 2002, the disgruntled upper class, rendered powerless under the Chavez government, staged a coup with the help of Washington. The US had been channeling millions of dollars to the coup makers through US Aid and the National Endowment for democracy. Chavez was replaced by Pedro Carmona, a businessman who suspended all members of the Supreme Court, the National Assembly and the National Electoral board and assumed dictatorial powers.

The IMF was not late to jump aboard; during a press briefing the day after the coup, Thomas C. Dawson, Director of the External Relations Department in the IMF, immediately pledged allegiance to the Carmona government, saying that “we stand ready to assist the new administration in whatever manner they find.”

All the while, official US spokesmen backed a phony story about Chavez supporters shooting innocent civilians. However, the poor masses were not going to accept being marginalized once again, and thus emerged with great numbers from the Barrios demanding Chavez reinstatement. As they approached the presidential palace, the army turned against the coup makers and reinstated Chavez, a mere 48 hours after his ousting.

Philip Agee, a former CIA agent operating in Latin America, explains why the US would back a coup overthrowing an elected government and replace it with a dictator: “In the CIA, we didn’t give a hoot about democracy. It was fine if a government was elected and would co-operate with us, but if it didn’t, then democracy didn’t mean a thing to us, and I don’t think it means a thing today.”

Venezuela is home to the largest oil reserves in the world outside of the Middle East, and is thus a country of vital strategic importance to the US. Detrimental to US designs, Chavez is forming close ties with China instead of Washington. Chavez is also cooperating closely with Cuba, Argentina and other South American nations under the premise of achieving a Latin American “grand unity,” in which Washington is not included.

The US often condemns Venezuela and its current form of democracy, while paradoxically praising and supporting the neighboring government of Colombia, a country with one of the worst human rights record in history. According to virtually unreported Latinobarometro polls, Venezuela is annually the highest ranking in all of South America when it comes to trust in democracy, assessment of the current and future economic situations, equality, justice, and education standards.

Venezuela has got its far share of problems, such as mounting inflation and continuous corruption, but compared to the pre-Chavez Venezuela, where the majority of the population were completely marginalized, the democratic development is nothing far from remarkable.

As Latin America is steadily slipping out of US control, Washington is waking up to a new multipolar world in which its powers are no longer taken for granted. The continent has seen a remarkable reversal of detrimental financial and social policies during the last ten years. The region, which contemptuously has been known as Americas “back yard,” is moving towards a future in which a bewildered Washington no longer has a place.

No wonder Mitt Romney is disgruntled.

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London, United Kingdom — June proved to be a bullish month for stock markets, with investors buying back into the market after three previous months of declines as Central Banks looked to stimulate a slowing global economy.

In June, the FTSE 100 gained 251 points or 4.7%. However, having hit resistance at the 5700 level at the end of last week, will the FTSE’s charge start to run out of steam? By close of play in the UK on Friday (July 6), all the major indices were firmly in the red, with the Dow Jones leading the way as it fell by over 150 points (over 1%) by 4.40pm (BST). Major indices in the UK and Europe recorded falls too, with the FTSE 100 shedding 30 points and Germany’s DAX 30 sliding by over 125 points to close the week at 5662.6 and 6410.1 respectively.

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More falls expected this week?

Last Friday’s dip in market sentiment was caused largely by the release of worse than expected non-farm payroll data in the US, which showed the country’s unemployment rate remaining unchanged at 8.2% in June but the number of new jobs was disappointing, with a total of 80,000 new payrolls being added to the economy against expectations of 90,000. Private payrolls also failed to recover, adding just 84,000 jobs against expectations of 102,000.

In the UK, meanwhile, the Barclays Libor scandal continued to fray nerves after the Serious Fraud Office launched an official investigation into the rate-fixing controversy.

Globally too, sentiment was sombre, with International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde revealing that the IMF will be revising its growth forecast for the global economy lower from the current 3.5%.

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From the year 2007 to 2011, the global economic system as a whole learned some of its toughest lessons and faced the hardest of times since the great depression of the 1930s. All of this started with irregularities in the US housing market and following credit crunch; then came the demise of Lehman and the chaos in the financial markets which triggered the global downfall in the growth rate, literally acting as fuel for a global recession.

This crisis was transported through various channels across the globe, creating a situation very close to the great depression where the pace of growth actually faded dramatically, where trade stumbled, financial markets dried out, and of course global unemployment bloomed.

A conceptual analysis of the empirical evidence from the period between 2007 to 2011 presents two broad cases of distinction. In the first case we were struggling to put the US economy back on track with the help of financial bailouts to corporations and financial institutions. In the second case we found that international institutions are providing a series of bailouts, creating a firewall against default by some countries in the Eurozone.

Death by Debt

Rapid, large scale accumulation of public debt poses a repugnant and most grievous threat to a national economy because it paralyses the eligibility of a country to secure any assistance in the future by the international community. It is nothing but financial death for a nation because it kills the natural basis of the financial system. The banking industry may collapse, lowering the value of domestic currency, causing irreparable damage to banks invested in the sovereign debt of the defaulting nation and worsening the potential global credit crunch.

Today economies, markets, and institutions are so interconnected and interwoven that any event or activity that can trigger a potential negative extreme, will have a direct and strong impact on other economies. For example, a drastic increase in public spending in China will probably increase demand for natural resources in Australia — and many more sophisticated illustrations can be easily found.

Bailouts and Future

How far can we really rely on bailouts? It all depends on how much we are prepared to mend the gaps between revenues and expenditure in government finances. In simple words, bailouts provided to any country does not mean that fiscal disparities are eliminated. In fact, bailouts often only act as the respirator of an ailing economy at its death bed.

In the case of the Eurozone debt, with the complications and assistance extended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it is a matter of diplomatic dynamics and not a real resolution that can be relied upon in the future.

IMF and other global economic and financial intuitions should draft a policy recommendation that virtually limits any reliance or mere assurance of a bailout by other nations in the future.

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The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the third review under a three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Kenya. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR 71.921 million (about US$ 110.9 million), which will bring the total disbursement under the arrangement to SDR 272.757 million (about US$420.7 million). The Executive Board’s decision was taken on a lapse of time basis.

Kenya’s economic reform program has started to yield results, as the authorities have taken decisive measures to address inflationary and external balance pressures. As a result, inflation is abating, the shilling has strengthened, international reserves are on the rise, the debt-to-GDP ratio is declining, and the government securities market is functioning more smoothly. More importantly, economic growth has held up in 2011, decelerating only slightly from 2010, despite the severe drought in the Horn of Africa and the higher food and fuel prices.

Performance under the program was favorable through end-2011. The fiscal outcome was in line with the program, thanks to strict expenditure control. International reserves exceeded the target, monetary policy remained appropriately tight, and government spending to protect the poor was above the program threshold. The authorities also made good progress with their structural reform efforts in the areas of public financial management and tax reform. Pension reform and the reform of the pay for civil servants have recently advanced.

Looking forward, stronger growth is expected in 2012 as the effects of the external shocks abate. Monetary policy will aim to achieve low and stable inflation, and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) will continue accumulating foreign reserves in order to build a buffer to cope with future external shocks.

Fiscal consolidation will continue and non-priority outlays will be limited to create space for infrastructure spending and for implementing fiscal decentralization as envisaged by the new Constitution. The new VAT law will help revenue mobilization. Policies for the financial sector will focus on banking supervision, close monitoring of credit risk, and moving forward with opening up the stock exchange.

The uncertain global environment outlook—in particular the European sovereign-debt crisis and the risk for further increases in oil prices—could affect Kenya by dampening growth and widening the deficit of the external current account. Thus, policies should continue to aim at ensuring that domestic demand grows in line with supply to reduce the external imbalance and keep inflationary pressures in check.

The three-year SDR 325.68 million (about US$ 502.4 million) ECF arrangement with Kenya was approved by the IMF’s Executive Board on January 31, 2011 (see Press Release No. 11/22). The Executive Board subsequently approved augmentation of financing under the ECF arrangement to SDR 488.52 million (about US$ 753.6 million) on December 9, 2011.

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The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a new arrangement for Niger under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in an amount equivalent to SDR 78.96 million (about about US$120.97 million). The Board’s decision will enable an immediate disbursement equivalent to SDR 11.28 million (about US$17.28 million).

The authorities’ program is aimed at maintaining macroeconomic stability while increasing resilience to shocks; strengthening public finance and debt management; putting in place a transparent legal and supervisory framework for the mining and petroleum sectors; and supporting private and financial sector development.

“The 2012 budget is well aligned with the authorities’ growth and poverty reduction program. Medium-term fiscal policy is rightly geared towards creating the fiscal space for increased development spending, while maintaining debt sustainability.

“Rising receipts from oil production and strengthened domestic revenue should primarily finance the planned investment. It will also be important to step up efforts to seek grants and concessional financing for large infrastructure investment and other projects. Non-concessional loans should only be contracted for well-assessed, high-yield projects,” observes Naoyuki Shinohara, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair.

“A significant build-up of government reserves at the central bank will provide flexibility in budget execution and bolster Niger’s resilience to exogenous shocks.

“Important structural reforms are underway. Measures to strengthen budget execution, reduce the number of tax exemptions, and modernize tax and customs administration will help maintain fiscal stability. At the same time, steps to strengthen and develop the financial system and improve the business climate will promote private sector development and diversify the economy,” Shinohara added.

Niger is emerging from a prolonged period of social unrest and from military rule. A democratically-elected government came into power in April 2011. Building on the poverty reduction strategy, the government has adopted an ambitious development program.

Economic activity in recent years has been affected by large swings in agricultural production. Following a year of serious food shortages, economic growth recovered quickly in late 2010, driven by an excellent harvest and the expansion of services related to agriculture.

The authorities’ medium-term policy framework is based on a favorable growth outlook driven mainly by the oil and mining sectors. With the startup of a new petroleum project, GDP is projected to expand by13.4% in real terms in 2012. Investments in a large new uranium mine and the development of the petroleum sector should sustain economic activity in the years after 2012

Niger’s medium-term prospects are nevertheless subject to various risks. The country is vulnerable to exogenous shocks, including recurrent, weather-related food crises and fluctuations in commodity prices. The deteriorating security situation in the region is another factor adding to Niger’s vulnerabilities.

Medium-term fiscal policy will aim at maintaining debt sustainability while creating room for increased development spending. At the same time, the objective to strengthen government cash balances to increase the resilience of the budget to unexpected shocks. In light of these objectives and the current projections for external donor aid, the authorities intend to keep the basic fiscal deficit below 1.5 percent of GDP during the program period.

The government is committed to further strengthening public oversight of the natural resources sector in 2012 through the Inter-ministerial Committee for natural resources assessment, which will ensure appropriate information flows and coordination between government representatives in each natural resource company. In addition, the government intends to undertake a study on its overall strategy and policy in the petroleum and mining sector, including the policy to maximize the government’s petroleum resources and the structure of government oversight in that sector. This study is to be completed by end-December 2012.

A key objective for the medium term will be to bring the Investment Code into line with best practices. In collaboration with the World Bank, the authorities are planning to undertake a comprehensive review of the Code in 2012.

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A credit program will be reinstated for Afghanistan, its government stated on Tuesday, by the International Monetary Fund. This should restore the stream of international aid that had been suspended due to the Kabul Bank crisis. The Kabul Bank was the largest financial institution in the country and had sustained major losses of around $300 million USD. It almost collapsed from mismanagement and bad loans.

The IMF has not backed up Afghanistan for more than a year, while some nations who had previously been donors decided to stop authorizing payments to Afghanistan. Now that credit has been reestablished, the country’s international partners can now enlist once again in its development plans. The IMF approved a three -year loan for $129 million, said the Afghan Finance Ministry.

This will permit the government to take on crucial reforms in the financial and banking sector, it will further fiscal amendments in customs and revenue departments, and public financial management will be improved.

No mention of the Kabul Bank was made by the ministry, though it is now a symbol of the corruption in Afghanistan. The matter is being scrutinized by the Afghan people and Afghanistan’s international donors because it is an indicator of the government officials’ promise to eradicate patronage and show accountability to the financial institutions of the world, like the IMF.

Last October, Afghan lawmakers said they would reimburse the central bank of Afghanistan since they bailed out the Kabul Bank. A bill was passed to grant up to $825 million, which will be dispersed for the next eight years. The money will help recapitalize the central bank.

The Kabul Bank has been divided into a “good bank” and a “bad bank”. The Afghan Finance Ministry is running the “good bank,” while the “bad bank” is riddled with bad loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The division and the refinancing of the Kabul Bank partly satisfied the IMF conditions to provide more credit to the country.

However, the IMF has asked the Afghan government to fortify the regulation and supervision of the bank sector and to prosecute the people blamed for the downfall of what used to be the country’s largest bank. Seventy million dollars has been recovered out of over $800 million in falsified loans given out by the Kabul Bank, says the finance ministry.

Three hundred and fifty million of the amount has been restructured for repayment, while $110 million in the assets related to the loans were held and transferred to the government. Some of the fraudulent loans were used to buy mansions and invest in malls and other risky projects. Criminal investigations have begun for many bank officials and the top two executives of the Kabul Bank, Sherkhan Farnood and Khalilullah Ferozi.

The two executives each used to own 28 percent of the bank’s shares, while President Hamid Karzai’s brother owned 7 percent of the bank’s shares and was the third largest shareholder. Afghan officials claim that Karzai’s brother and Haseen Fahim, a shareholder and brother to one of Afghanistan’s vice presidents, have repaid most of what they borrowed from the bank.

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A group of analysts from the three institutions responsible for granting the country with its next package of financial help, known as the troika, has arrived in Greece to inspect the progress in regards to the budget cuts schedule previously proposed.

If the government doesn’t carry out the timeline proposal agreed by both the government and the troika, it is very possible the latter will not give Greece a vital loan to allow the country to continue with its normal activity. Without that loan, the government will go bankrupt and, therefore, neither Greece’s bonds investors, civil servants, pensioners, and the like will not be paid on time.

For those reasons, the troika, a group comprised of experts from the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank, started to examine the national accounts to verify that the schedule was being followed on September 28.

After September 2, they decided to leave Greece because the government was not applying the measures agreed upon by both parts, thereby putting Greek leaders under more pressure. One of the measures agreed upon was reducing the number of civil servants by 30 percent before 2015 with the immediate layoff of 30,000 employees out of 900,000 employees.

Other measures prescribed will reduce civil servants’ wages and salaries up to 25 percent and include compulsory retirements. These cuts will affect all public services from the health system to education and transportation. Those cuts have caused a deep sense of unease among the Greek population who decided to mobilize themselves to preserve whatever they could from public expenditure cuts.

For instance, the group had to change the place and hour for a meeting with the Transports Minister, Yannis Ragoussi, because some civil servants were protesting against mergers and acquisitions of public companies with private ones, which would result in a decrease in the number of employees by about 10 percent and the liberalization of truck and taxi driver licenses.

In Greece, an unusual day is one without demonstrations. A few days ago, a group of 250 retired soldiers took over some offices in the Ministry of Defense until the minister himself, Panos Beglitis, threatened to resort to the use of force to make them flee. Another example is the students’ strikes, which have taken over more than 400 schools and 100 faculties to protest against cuts in the education system.

All these tug of war games are creating a complicated situation in the country. On one side is the troika, always asking for more and more cuts and new measures to reduce public deficit. On the other side are civil servants who feel as if they are on the verge of being fired, and citizens who see more and more cuts day after day that are worsening the public system.

In between is a government with feet of clay, coping with ministers’ resignations every month, social strikes, and the pressure of the troika. The government is playing a dangerous game: promising a high performance to the troika that they know is impossible to carry out in real life and watching the time pass day after day without being able to find solutions to satisfy both sides.

 
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The possibility of the European Economy inviting the double dip recession is almost certain. Experts say Greece will not be able to pay all of its debt. The fate of Europe and European Economy depends on how effectively countries entangled in debt crisis mitigate its impact.

European leaders, and especially leaders of devastated public finance systems, have lost sleep in order to keep the pulse of their economy beating. They are on the brink of collapse that might potentially drag-back the world economic growth rate to lowest in a decade.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU) have been attempting to keep the country solvent to avoid another recession hitting already weak global economy. The most outrageous shock will be on the EU banking industry as a whole, since European banks parked heavy doses of money into sovereign debt in the region.

Of all 17 nation bloc of Europe, exposure of France to Greek debt is $56.7bn, German exposure is $33.9bn, and the UK is $14.6bn. The EU and IMF agreed on 110bn Euros of bailout funds for Greece last year and again this year in July a further provision of 109bn Euros was agreed upon.

In July, European leaders agreed to provide an additional 109bn Euros bailout to Greece as it again came on the verge to default. Even so Greek Economy never settled on to that and situation got much worse. The problem with Greece, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal in a broader sense, is that they all were living beyond their means.

Over the last 5 years, the fiscal gap had been drenching wider and wider. All these nations had been spending far from revenue which led them to put reliance on debt, and because of this, the debt balloon is so big that it will possibly burst. According to Gary Jenkins, the head of fixed income research at Evolution securities, the timing of a Greek default remains in the hands of the troika (EU, ECB, and IMF), and it is difficult to believe that it will pull the plug at this stage.

Louise cooper, Market analyst at BCG Partners, shared his opinion on the situation. “I’m not sure that more austerity will help, which is troika demanding. What is needed is deep structural reform, which neither the Greek electorate or political class seem to have much appetite for.”

A recent report included a plan to eliminate 25,000 public sector employees hired last year, but according to spokesman for the European commission, Amadeus Altafaj-Tardio, new austerity measures aren’t on the table but negotiations are underway for full-fledged compliance with earlier agreed measures.

With drastic drop in public expenditure on various socio-economic fronts there has been wide-spread anger and violent protest in Greece so far this year. Greek default may sky-rocket cost of borrowing in the region and potentially Europe may face credit crunch which will be greatest hindrance to weak economies of the region.

If Greece somehow manages for an orderly default that might push repayments a decade ahead so confidence in the region might not get shaken completely or otherwise trust in the euro zone may be shattered forever. In its semi-annual World Economic Outlook, IMF gave a statement saying, “Global Activity has weakened and became more uneven; confidence has fallen sharply recently; and downside risks are growing.”

The Fund further said, “Greek default already affecting the world economy. Coupled with the economic slowdown in the United States and the impact of the Japanese earthquake, Europe’s debt crisis is putting the global recovery at risk.”
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The current upheaval in Greece continues its unstable and fluctuating nature and while all eyes are on the next step, this report looks to convey in a discreet, convenient and beautiful way what concerns the restless population of Greece.

Is this possible? Maybe not simply because the truth, most of the times, is not discreet, convenient and beautiful. So, what’s going on outside of the Greek parliament in Athens, and in many other Greek cities these days? The answer is simple yet meaningful. This is going on: one of the biggest protests of the last decades of modern Hellenic history.

Let’s take it from the beginning. It obviously been a long time since the economy, as well as the political and social life of Greece, has been taken advantage off and ruined by the interests of Greek and foreign governments, multinational corporations and of course the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the relevant support mechanisms.

This situation asphyxiated the people, figuratively. They saw themselves as qualified yet were incapable of getting a job. Some lost their jobs and others worked more hours for less salary, their pensions to be reduced tremendously while the daily cost of living was to grow rapidly. In addition the country these people live and the public wealth, has been literally sold out. On the other hand, as usually happens in such cases, corrupted politicians and the upper-class earn more and more.

Citizens from every corner of Greece felt the need to rise up and protest for their rights. They decided via social media to make a huge gathering, in which political parties and violence would be absolutely unwelcome. And so it happened, with a massive participation of people of all ages, occupation, and social class.

They decide to call their selves in Greek “οι ΑΓΑΝΑΚΤΙΣΜΕΝΟΙ”, in which is loosely translated to “the people who feel indignation” in English. With this name, they wanted to express their feelings about the situation they are experiencing. It started as you might expect at the center of Athens, the capital of Greece as well as Thessaloniki, the second largest city, on May 25, 2011.

This spontaneous, peaceful and independent movement of the people, made such a hopeful impression that from May 25 until today, the center of Athens is closed because the protest is repeating over and over, each day. Many people, most of them young, actually live there in tents so that the area can be constantly crowded.

From the afternoon until late into the night there music plays and a microphone is available for the public to voice their opinions. Also vendors of every kind, especially food, settled there to make the life of those who took up residence easier. The protest did not stop in Athens but it spread in many other cities of Greece.

The people who participate in the protest are friendly, helpful and willing to inform passersby about the country’s situation. I know because I was there with them. Their greatest motto is “Real and Immediate Democracy NOW.” There are, however, many more slogans like “Thieves” regarding of course the politicians, “We do not owe, we do not sell, and we do not pay.” Insulting slogans could not be missed targeting the prime minister of Greece George Papandreou, the banks and the IMF.

The goal is to bring about a fair and equal society, in which the people can expressed loud and free, and most of all, their needs and demands can become reality. The people of Greece grew tired of being cheated and ignored, and finally they started to resist in an undefeatable way: massively and peacefully.

The truth is that these Greek citizens may feel indignation, but, above all, they are aware of the situation the country got into. Finally, people can see the government’s game behind their backs and therefore rise up. Day by day, more citizens realize that this artificial economic crisis was carefully planned to satisfy specific interests – not theirs. Greeks refuse to be victims anymore.

This is an inside information i can give about this Greek protests: this protest has shook the Greek government, leaving the country’s leaders frightened for the first time. That is the reason the government had to find a way to prevent the people from gathering and protesting. The problem is that since the protestors are not using any kind of violence, the police forces are incapable to stop them.

So, the government created a reason to let the police use violence and break the protests: using a small amount of people, most likely undercover policemen to penetrate into the other peaceful protestors and cause trouble by throwing rocks or molotov cocktails against the police, or setting things on fire.

The Greek government has used this tactic in similar cases in the past. The protestors try to push this small group of people wearing hoods or helmets to hide their faces away, but since the protestors are unarmed and the others are not, the protestors can’t handle it in most of the cases.

The media, which is more or less controlled by people with the same interests as the government, shows pictures of violence and destruction from the protests to the viewers in order to scare them and prevent them from protesting. Imagine sitting on your sofa, watching images of police officers hitting innocent people on TV.

They are surrounded by huge clouds of fumigants, chemicals and fire. Would you feel compelled to go there? Media play this key-role and I am personally angered by the image being transformed and relayed in both national and foreign media.

I decided to write this article to express my opinion (and I hope the opinion of many others of my fellow countrymen), my intention is to help others to understand what is happening, not only in our country but worldwide. Do not always believe what you hear on the news – stay vigilant on checking up on information. The truth is not always that simple.

The article An Inside Look at the Greek Protests appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Greek crisis evokes the concerns about the country’s future, since the 110 billion euros bail-out given by EU/IMF is about to run-out, and despite the vote of confidence for George Papandreou’s government on June 22, Greeks seem extremely unpleased to run into more debt in return to meet the the conditions of European Union by sacrifising more . Greek unrest does not seem to calm down within a short-time.

The country is facing real hard times after the recession in 2009. Currently, the debt is 340 billion euros, which means for a country of 11.3 million population the debt per person is more than 30.000 euros. According to Standard & Poors, Greece became the lowest-rated country in the world, despite the efforts of the European partners. The recent Reuters article “Quick Guide to the Greek Crisis” indicates that, “Greece holds two unwanted world records: the lowest credit rating for a sovereign state, and the most expensive debt to insure”.

On Thursday and Friday, EU leaders in Brussels is going to discuss a new Greek bailout, in return for the commitment of economic reform in Greece,  since EU leaders share the concern that a possible Greek default is going to harm the confidence in the euro. Greek example is bringing up the question of European Union’s credibility.

Slavoj Zizek, one of the most influential philosopher and critical theorist of our century, in his “Capitalism and Assault on Reason” article, claims that the Greek crisis is a sign that “not only the Euro, but the entire project of the European Union itself is dead.”

Zizek, sees “Brussels-shaped cold Europe”, against Greek passion and corruption, or in other words, reason against pathos.

Despite the drift of  financial crisis, Zizek offers to hold on to an internationalist and universalist approach by re-politicizing Europe by evoking the phenomenon of ancient Greek democracy and French revolution, instead of adopting a  speech of global capitalism.

Defined as a post-Marxist  philosopher Zizek emphasizes on Marxist jargon and offering communism as an alternative:

“What I would argue is that this state of affairs demonstrates why we need an alternative to the current system of global capitalism, and that communism remains the best name for that alternative. For communism begins with the “public use of reason,” with thinking, with the egalitarian universality of thought.

When St Paul says that, from a Christian standpoint, “there are Jew nor Greek, no slave nor free, no male nor female,” he was thereby claiming that ethnic roots, national identity, gender and so on are not a category of truth.

Or, to put it in precise Kantian terms, when we retreat to the comforts of ethnicity, localism, or even the indulgences of commodity capitalism, we engage in a private use of reason, constrained by contingent dogmatic presuppositions.

We behave, in other words, as “immature” individuals, not as free human beings who occupy the dimension of the universality of reason.”

For Zizek’s insight of economic crisis and critique of capitalism, please watch his interview with Riz Khan, “Are we living in the end times?”

Find more at http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/rizkhan/2010/11/201011111191189923.html

The article Greek Tragedy of Debt Crisis and The Future of Europe appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.