> On Apr 1, 2015, at 2:36 PM, raghu <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 8:52 AM, Marv Gandall <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Why not start with what the Greek people are themselves demanding? Greek
>> wage and salary earners and small propertyholders are effectively in favour
>> of repudiating the debt, the source of the crushing austerity being imposed
>> on them.
>
>
>
> It is not that simple. The "Greek people" are not one entity and it is
> meaningless to talk about what they are "demanding".
I' not so sure. The "wage and salary earners and small propertyholders" I
identified do represent the great mass of the "Greek people" and they
disproportionately voted for Syriza. Of course, I recognize that many others
voted for New Democracy, PASOK, and the other parties, but here too I don't
think you would generally find endorsement within their ranks of the austerity
program imposed on Greece by the troika. I expect most simply do not believe
any meaningful change in the existing arrangements is possible, least of all
under the leadership of a radical party like Syriza.
> Specifically, if you take Syriza's victorious platform as an indicator of
> what the "Greek people" as a whole are "demanding", it looks like they want
> two mutually contradictory things: (1) end austerity, and (2) stay within the
> Eurozone.
It is as yet undetermined whether these two objectives are mutually
contradictory, though my working assumption is that they are. However, the
question of whether the Greeks can escape from austerity within the eurozone or
whether they will need to default and exit in order to get on the road to
recovery is as a a subject of great contention within Syriza and wider circles
by people with a much greater connection to the situation than either of us,
and we should be mindful of that.
> If you have to choose between (1) or (2), which do you choose? The "Greek
> people" do not say.
As I noted above, the Greek left and the Greek people are divided on the
all-important tactical question. For good reason. Its a highly complex
situation which doesn't admit of easy answers, least of all from outside the
battle. Leaders who have made the wrong assessment of the balance of forces -
their own and the enemy's - have brought their people to grief for being either
too timid or too aggressive. In any case, whatever the intentions of the
Syriza leadership and the Greek people, they might have the decision to default
forced on them, with all the uncertain consequences that will entail. Or there
might be an orderly Grexit. Or unexpected concessions by the creditors. The
adversaries themselves are probably uncertain of the outcome. As Harold
Macmillan reportedly said, "events will decide, dear boy, events", not us, and
perhaps sooner than we think.
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