The 2008 financial crash was seen by many
as another example of capitalism’s self-destructive nature. Deregulation and
the limitless pursuit of growth caused our interconnected economy to crumble.
Again. There are no excuses- this boom and bust has happened before.
Western consumerism blinded the working
classes to our falling wages and savings. Despite the West’s massive trade
deficit, banks increased the amount of lending to meet the demand of counties
that consume far more than they produce.
In the wreckage of the crash, ordinary
people were again left to salvage what was left and pay for what was lost. We
were forced to bail out the bankers and tighten our belts while we vowed to
never let it happen again.
Yet, the people we elected to fix the mess
are cut from the same neoliberal cloth. They argue that this was an ‘accident’
caused by ‘mistakes’, they promise that austerity and sacrifice will bring
about riches once more. They claim that you wouldn’t stop driving cars because
of road accidents. You would if every affordable car in the world
simultaneously drove you off a cliff every twenty years or so.
Neoliberalism’s continued hegemonic
dominance is apparent nowhere more so than in Greece, where the IMF and ECB are
forcing a radical government with a full democratic mandate for investment and prosperity
to their knees. Instead of protecting pensions and wages, global superpowers
are holding a Big Fat Greek Fire Sale of the public’s assets. Ports and
national industries that make the government money to pay for welfare are to be
sold off to the highest bidder, energy industries are to be deregulated to
allow corporations to exploit the country’s natural resources and tax relief
for disadvantaged or rural Greeks are to be cut.
While the German-led EU dismantle and
privatize Greece’s water utilities, many German cities are re-nationalizing
theirs. They cite the damaging effects that privatization of essential services
has on communities. They may not realize that they are highlighting the
hypocrisy and maliciousness of the austerity drive that suffocates their
European allies.
And what is the return for these massive
sacrifices for the Greek people? A loan of €85 billion plus interest that can
never be paid off and handing over sovereignty to unaccountable bodies intent
on further ideological attacks. Greece’s debt has risen from just over 100% of
GDP when the crash hit to around 175% as a result of neoliberal austerity
measures shrinking their economy and these massive debts that are being taken
on. From the creditors perspective, the purpose of the debts is not to
eventually be paid off, but to maintain control of the Greek economy and fiscal
policy.
And with further privatization, Greece will
soon slide further into the control of corporations, many based overseas with
little accountability to the Greek people and with the primary motive of making
profit. It is this false trust in private greed as a driver for global prosperity
that has got us into this mess.
This attack is not only being perpetrated
1,500 miles away on the banks of the Mediterranean. Our Thatcherite government,
like the ones before them, are selling off our crown jewels as well. George Osborne’s
mates rates sale of the Royal Mail
and RBS are only the most recent in a long line of shrewd business deals that
leave the people of this country collectively far poorer than the generations
before. Our spiraling national debt leaves us even more vulnerable to the next
financial crash, which our newly re-privatized banks are back on track to
causing.
We have learned from Syriza that solidarity
in the streets alone is not enough. History shows us that isolated socialism in
one country is doomed to fail. This is even more likely now, when the fall of
the USSR leaves American corporate-capitalism the world’s dominant economic
model and states like Greece that are under attack have no powerful allies to protect them.
Disorganization on the left has allowed the Neoliberals to consolidate power when they should have been at their weakest after capitalism’s collapse. They were allowed to divide us and scapegoat immigration and overspending to allow the real culprits off the hook. If we do our bit in Scotland, and hope that others across Europe can also succeed, we can build a network of support and challenge an ideology of oppression.
Disorganization on the left has allowed the Neoliberals to consolidate power when they should have been at their weakest after capitalism’s collapse. They were allowed to divide us and scapegoat immigration and overspending to allow the real culprits off the hook. If we do our bit in Scotland, and hope that others across Europe can also succeed, we can build a network of support and challenge an ideology of oppression.
By Hugh Cullen