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"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it."
- Noam Chomsky
I am reminded of a poem by e.e. cummings about a conscientious objector named Olaf, which includes the epic lyric, “There is some shit I will not eat.”This, essentially, is what Prime Minister Papandreou is saying. If you want the Greeks to continue the belt-tightening, you cannot alter the terms of the deal by stealth.By involving his countrymen in the decision, Papandreou turns himself from agent of foreign austerity demands into a leader of the Greek people. The referendum will be sometime this winter, after the true terms of the deal are clear.Polls taken over the weekend show that some 59 percent of Greeks oppose what appear to be the terms of the latest deal, but over 72 percent want Greece to stay in the eurozone.If the International Monetary Fund, European Union, and European Central Bank are as good as their word and hold the bankers to the terms that were negotiated, we can expect Papandreou to urge Greek citizens to ratify the bargain. If, on the other hand, political and financial elites try to wriggle out, then the Greek people can draw their own conclusions—and we will all be in the uncharted waters of a likely default by a eurozone country.In the meantime, Papandreou is showing real leadership. It is about time someone stood up against the banker-led austerity consensus.
regardless of papandreou's past behavior, putting this critical decision in the hands of the greek people is the right thing to do... people in the u.s. certainly never got that opportunity with the bankster bailout in 2008...
European leaders reach a deal on the debt but if politicians decide there is no "credit event" and credit default swaps don't get paid -- it could leave large US banks "naked," according to independent analyst Reggie Middleton of Boom Bust blog. It could be a tipping point for Bank of America which he believes is insolvent and seeing pressure from all sides.
yeah, well, eurozone leaders THOUGHT they had reached a deal on greek debt...
The Greek government faced possible collapse on Tuesday as ruling party lawmakers demanded Prime Minister George Papandreou resign for throwing the nation's euro membership into jeopardy with a shock call for a referendum.
Caught unawares by his high-risk gamble, the leaders of France and Germany summoned Papandreou to crisis talks in Cannes on Wednesday to push for a quick implehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifmentation of Greece's new bailout deal ahead of a summit of the G20 major world economies.
The euro and global stocks were pummeled on financial markets after the Greek move threw into question the survival of crucial efforts to contain the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.
how very interesting - and perhaps even democratic - that papandreou actually thinks the citizens of greece should have a say...
a commentator, writing in spiegel, agrees with papandreou...
It must be said right at the beginning: The Greeks will, for a change, decide for themselves how they and their country will move forward.
They have had no real opportunity to do so for quite some time. For about a year and a half, this once proud country has been under foreign administration; it is de facto no longer a sovereign state. The government's most important task has been dragging the austerity programs and structural reforms though parliament and implementing them. These are dictated by the strict troika of the EU Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund. Otherwise there will be no more bailout money, and the country would go bankrupt.
To no longer be the master of their own finances, to be begging for money and ready to do almost anything for it -- this is as humiliating for penniless states as it is for poor people. It injures the soul, stirs up anger and creates desperation. Knowing that the situation is also largely self-inflicted only makes things worse.
That the Greek Premier Georgios Papandreou wants to consult his people on the financial restructuring of the country seems like an act of desperation appropriate to the dramatic principle of 'committing suicide in fear of death.' The voters will decide whether to endorse the decisions made in Brussels or not.
[...]
Until the referendum in Greece, there will be an intense debate about the two alternatives: Brutal rehabilitation within the euro zone or state bankruptcy with a reintroduction of the drachma.
It will demonstrate that it is not about the choice between hell and paradise. Both paths will be difficult and grueling. Each citizen must decide for themselves what they believe to be the better choice. They will consider whether they want to risk their assets with an exit from the common currency -- savings would be worth hardly anything in a return to the drachma.
But at least every Greek gets to decide, and can no longer complain about their government bowing to international demands. And even if the Greeks ultimately say no, and in the worst case scenario the country leaves the euro zone, the consequences seem less dicey than they did a year ago.
let the chips fall where they may... at least the greeks can once again lay claim to being a sovereign state rather than a wholly-owned subsidiary of the global banksters...
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