For a start, that is, because we are the ones voting for governments this Sunday.

And for those of you who feel this might be slightly blasphemous, remember the time honoured saying,

VOX POPULI VOX DEI

This time our votes really matter.

With unemployment growing dangerously in Europe and youth unemployment in particular (with something like 50% rates in Spain and Greece already) all Mario Draghi can say about it at his press conference is that the labour markets must be reformed. That is, they must be made more “flexible”, because it is the inflexibility of the labour market that is responsible for the young remaining out of work.

Okay. Yes! He has it! Fire all the middle aged workers who are already earning too much anyway and hire the young at pittance level salaries! There you are! Problem solved! All that is required is the abolition of labour rights altogether, so you can just sack anyone at will (without severance pay that is), and then hire anyone who will work for a piece of bread say.

But if you sack the middle aged work force in order to hire the young, at a slashed salary and no security at all, what happens to the middle aged workers? Won’t they be unemployed? Well. Yes. But you will have solved the youth unemployment problem. Won’t you?

There you are “structural reforms”! Another example of what the troika mean by that. Brilliant!

Oh, and when asked about the anger of the people suffering under the yolk of austerity, he is reported to have answered that he understands the anger but condemns any acts of violence in protest at the situation.

Well of course! The people mustn’t be violent for heavens’ sake! They mustn’t protest either really. But if they should dare to do so, they must not be allowed to be violent! No! They must bear the violence the assorted troikas and EU directives are inflicting on them, but dear me, they have no right to be violent. No right at all. Don’t they know that by now? They have no rights left at all!

Yes Signor Draghi, but might not that be precisely what makes his victims turn to violence? Anyway, this “I can kick you as much as I like but you mustn’t kick me back!” attitude is not very realistic. And it never has worked before in history either.

In an article entitled “Fix Your Own Mess” appearing in the Canadian Financial Post, Jim Flaherty, Canada’s Minister of Finance has spelled out some simple truths concerning the gross mishandling of the European crisis. I would add, in my own words, by arrogant and inept politicians.

I would single out three main points. Firstly that the European Union has ample resources to solve it’s problems, but would rather get others to pay. Secondly, that Europe is over represented at the IMF (34%), a point I myself also made recently, which skewers the vote in its favour. And thirdly that since the EU is seeking assistance from the IMF, then to remain fair, it is the IMF that should besetting the terms and not Europe itself with the troika of IMF/EU/ECB.

With regard to the first point, Mr Flaherty states that although it has adequate resources, the EU is unwilling to commit them to resolve the crisis. And he goes on to say: “…IMF loans are not an adequate substitute for a serious commitment by Eurozone countries to resolve the crisis…. “. Through unfair treatment, the Eurozone wishes to solve its crisis by spreading the risk to the rest of the world, while it alone benefits from high exports through price stability.

I would go even further than this. It is not the Eurozone countries benefiting from this scam, but the strong northern ones, primarily Germany itself, self ordained commissar who has cooked up this wizard scheme of “Heads I win, tails you lose”.

The analysis of how Germany benefited incredibly from the Euro by amassing surpluses from its exports to the south through the price stability produced by the Euro, which caused the deficits of these countries to grow immensely and unsustainably, is well known, so I will not go into it. However, taking the Greek so called “bail out” as the shining example of how Germany likes to deal with such matters, I would like to point out that it not only wants the lesser developed countries of the world to foot her bill, but also the weaker southern states of the Euro zone.

The billions of Euros being pumped through Greece in the bail out plan are not designed to help the Greek economy. Quite the contrary. From the first bail out package the vast majority of funds went directly to the foreign banks, primarily the German ones. From the second bail out package, not only is NOT ONE CENT destined for the Greek Economy but furthermore, all revenues from within the Greek state are to be held in an escrow fund to go to the banks as well! That is not only is the Greek economy not benefiting in any way from the bail out funds, but its own revenues are also being siphoned off to go to the northern European banks primarily. And adding insult to injury, the interest charged by the EU/ECB is far greater than that charged by the IMF.

Secondly, the great Helios scheme (or scam) whereby Greece will cover itself in solar energy panels and then export this energy to Germany and thereby solve its growth problem. Well, first of all, there is no way such energy can be exported at any sustainable cost. Secondly, this plan will not be funded by Germany but by the European Structural Funds Greece has not yet absorbed. And thirdly, but most importantly, Greece has been made to commit herself that she will only buy German solar panels for this hair brained investment, and not from any other country.

So another nice little earner for Germany. She will siphon off the structural funds earmarked for Greece, sell her panels and then not even buy the energy because it will be too expensive. And there are many other such commitments. Commitments for which our own politicians (and technocrat appointed PM) will have to answer for. The cries of treason being heard here in Greece, are not entirely populist bluster.

In short Germany does not want to fix her own mess. I say Germany, because, as the out going Jean Paul Junker also said, the European Commission is acting under German pressure. And as I have put it recently, Germany has hijacked the European Union and is bullying everyone into submission while it bleeds them dry through the brilliant blanket stringent austerity policy, in order to maintain her dominant position.

So obviously, going back to the EU’s expectations that the whole world should pay to fix the European mess (of German creation and the badly designed Euro for which she is also directly responsible), the rest of the world, Canada included, are perfectly right to say Nien! To The Frau’s expectation that she can get everyone else to pay while she alone benefits.

Enough!

And thank you Mr Flaherty for telling it like it is. I wish more heads of state would do so too.

Our good friend, Jean Paul Junker, Chairman of the Euro Group, is bowing out. Reportedly one of the reasons why, is that he couldn’t take The Frau’s pressure any more. On the other hand, he has nothing but the highest praise for Wolfgang Schauble, the German Minister of Finances, who The Frau has single handedly decreed, again,  is to succeed him. He is in fact quoted as having described this as “an ideal choice”.

I would like to think that this comment is the result of a real sense of sarcastic humour. Nevertheless, he is quite right. Since the European Union has been hijacked by the Germans, then surely, who better to chair the Euro Group? As I have said before, why not move all the Eurocracy directly to Berlin where it belongs? Fill all positions with Germans who can be trusted to do The Frau’s bidding, and consign Brussels to the back waters of Europe where it belongs?

Now, reportedly The Frau is none too happy with the possibility of Francois Hollande, being elected next President of France. She probably worries that he wont be as servile and malleable as his predecessor. Nevertheless she is convinced she will man handle him into submission too. And maybe she will.

But just to be on the safe side, she is cultivating a new side kick to fill her dear friend Nikolas’ shoes. Mario Monti.  Whoops! This one is probably even better in that he is the proper kind of thing she wants. A technocrat appointed by herself. None of this idiotic elected stuff. Perfect. He has already started squeezing the Italian economy and can be relied upon to reduce it to a Greek like pulp.

So Francois, if elected as the polls show, will have taken an enormous burden on his shoulders. How to combat the Rome/Berlin Axis, and save Europe from annihilation.

The Rome/Berlin Axis? European annihilation? The continent reduced to rubble through an unholy alliance between Rome and Berlin? Haven’t we heard that somewhere before? Oh dear, oh dear. Deja Vu shivers running up and down our spine.

Well, you know what they say. History repeats itself as farce. And the whole European project as abused by The Frau is nothing if not farcical. That is if you are not one of the growing many going hungry, for no reason, committing suicide, dying through lack of the medical care you have paid for but that has been denied to you, and so on.

Nevertheless, Francois, the way things are now. C’est la guerre! Or nothing.

“We  shall fight on the beaches […] we shall fight in the fields and on the streets […..] we shall never surrender.”*

At least if Francois Hollande is elected, we may start getting our alignments right. It may be the beginning of a meaningful resistance to The Frau’s strangulation of Europe through an unspeakable austerity sentence. Europe is being subjected to a brutal regime, that is leading to its utter destruction. First class passengers included!

Why?

*Excerpt from Churchill’s famous “We shall fight them on the beaches” speech to the House of Commons. June 4th 1940.

Ha, ha, ha, ha! A contender for the shortest joke of the year prize. Though it is two whole words rather than one, and unfortunately an unpleasant fiction.

The most recent victim of bountiful European solidarity is Spain. Rajoy won a landslide victory recently by being reticent on what was in store for the Spaniards. Stringent austerity, tax hikes and slashing of benefits (for a start that is). You know, that tremendously successful plan that has turned Greece into an unbelievable miracle! It is unbelievable actually. How you can wreak so much destruction on a country in such a short a time without physically dropping bombs all over it?

Poor Rajoy has tried in vane to convince the Brussels directorate they were demanding far too much far too quickly. But No! The Brussels Directorate, (fearful of The Frau’s fury) knows best! And Rajoy had better do what he’s told or else! I mean look at Greece. They always do what they’re told there, From Papandreou, to Papademos, to Venizelos, so there’s no reason why Rajoy should not follow their brilliant example. Is there? After all, look at all that has been achieved in Greece. Spain can aspire to the same! Provided it follows the Berlin/Brussels dictate without fail!

Yes. That’s one definition of European Solidarity. Another is what happened in Greece today.

It appears the run up to the election is not going as well as the Berlin/Brussels axis Quislings had hoped. To be sure, like Rajoy, not only are they trying to mislead the electorate about what is in store for them, but they are actually trying to convince it that they have been very successful so far! For all their efforts at arrant deceit, however, they know they are not convincing. So an announcement was circulated in the press today.

The EU was planning a super Marshall Aid plan for the south in an amount of 200 billion Euro. The politicians pounce on this and tell us Ah! But be careful! You have to return us (the Berlin/Brussels axis Quislings that is) to power otherwise we will not be able to avail ourselves of these goodies!

However, before the euphoria could even start, Brussels released a strong denial. No such plan was being considered!

Well we knew that! It was only in the Greek press and nowhere else. A little piece of insignificant misinformation, perhaps, to convince the electorate that European Solidarity was coming into play. Well it wasn’t. And no one but no one expected anything of the kind. Not even the groveling lackeys serving the Troika! 

It’s time we all stopped the fun and games and came to grips with reality.

Francois Hollande has said that if he wins the election he will renegotiate The Frau’s idiotic financial stability pact which wants to outlaw deficits and make this a golden rule! (Like the gold standard, ehem ahah?) Quite unsurprisingly this prospect has gained a lot of support in the EU because it would mean some sense returning to Europe. Perhaps.

Also unsurprisingly, The Frau stamped her angry little foot down. No! She shrieked. No! You cannot get rid of my baby! No the pact will not be renegotiated! It has already been negotiated and agreed to! 25 member states have already signed it. (The two heroes who thumbed their noses at it, quite rightly, were the Czechs and the British). And two countries, Portugal and Greece, have already ratified it! A third, Ireland, will be ratifying it at the end of next month! (Of course that remains to be seen.)

The Frau has a very good point. Though we mustn’t make too much of Portugal and Greece ratifying it. These two countries are being kicked around and bullied and threatened with instant oblivion if they don’t comply. Not that that excuses their governors from signing their countries death warrants, but still. But why on earth did all these other leaders docilely and subserviently sign a fiscal pact they knew would never work?

Why did they not confront her in the meetings and tell her, you can’t just isolate deficits and decree by law that they should be abolished. You can’t legislate the deficit away without placing restrictions on surpluses too. And above all if you have no provision for growth, the economy will die off. As it is doing in Greece today. It simply is a nonsense pact. Why was there no one there with the stature to lead an effective opposition to The Frau’s authoritarian and uneconomic bent?

They all knew it was a pack (or a pact) of nonsense. All of them. Yet there they were, in a picture that will remain their collective shame till the day they die (and beyond because this is History), smiling and passing round the death trap to sign. One after the other, signing on the dotted line, simply because The Frau had decreed it and her sidekick backed her up all the way. So her fury and intransigence are perfectly understandable now. You bloody well all signed up! Stick to it now!

But though she is quite right about that, it doesn’t work that way. Nothing seems to work the way she’d like it. And nothing can be set in stone. Like the brainwave bit of everyone putting the so called ‘golden rule’ into their constitutions. Just as she seems to be unaware how economies work, so she appears to be equally unaware how power politics works. It isn’t always in your favour. No matter how strong you are. Even the strongest has a weak point.

She is going to have to give, even though I do sympathise with her outrage. But my dear, the lily livered obsequious nonentities you can bully so easily are always the ones to betray you at the first chance. You cannot govern for long or successfully by bullying and threatening. You only build up resentment and hate. Which hits back even more viciously when given half the chance.

And besides, I am really sorry to say, but your baby was stillborn. Didn’t you even realise that, when it was The Netherlands, of all countries, to buckle under?

So for all her justified moral outrage, she will have to renegotiate. It’s not enough being the strongest. Even the little pip squeak could upset the apple cart (by chance perhaps, in a botched election perhaps?) and bring the whole edifice crashing down, and that would not be good for anyone. A true consensus and a workable one has to be reached. Which is why she will have to back down. Otherwise the whole EU project is in danger of collapsing completely. With all that that would entail.

And as the Spanish Minister rightly said. When the Titanic sank, the first class passengers drowned too.

After stringent austerity, the great panacea for solving what used to be called the sovereign debt crisis, is structural reform! Okay. And yes. There are a lot of structural problems that need addressing like the bureaucratic system and how the courts of justice work and… But no, no, no! Stop right there! When we say structural reform we mean things like abolishing all the last vestiges of the welfare state!

We mean abolishing all labour rights. In short, we mean turning the world back to those Dickensian values of raw capitalist exploitation where there is no such thing as a restricted number of working hours in a week. Heavens no! What nonsense. Where you work for as long as is needed and get paid no more, however long you may have toiled! Where there’s no such thing as pensions, or severance pay or anything at all that does not enhance maximization of profit!

That is what we mean by structural reforms! A bit like competition and competitiveness. The ONLY cost of production that needs to be slashed to achieve competitiveness is the cost of labour. So there you are. All this IMF/EU pontificating about the need for structural reform is only another euphemism for “stick it to the people!”, “screw the workers!”

However, there is a very great need for structural reform. But not so much within individual economies as with the International bodies. Like the very IMF itself! The World Bank, not to mention such zombie anachronisms as NATO. And also the whole of the Illogical (and somewhat despotic and unworkable) set up of the European Union. Now if anything cries out for structural reform it is that.

Things have changed.Things the vested elites running all these cumbersome and often anachronistic international institutions, would rather ignore so as not to lose their enormous privileges and power. We shall not go into how Keynes’ original plan for recycling surpluses in the world was summarily discarded in favour of an America centrist model (for an excellent exposition of this see Yani Varoufakis The Global Minotaur) but rather take a look at conditions prevailing today.

Nobody, but nobody disagrees that the great implosion of the world economy of 2008 (and continuing) was caused when the horrendous financial bubble burst. And I also don’t believe that anyone disagrees that this bubble which spiraled out of all control was precisely the result of the total deregulation of the financial and banking sector. So I would contend this would be a prime candidate for structural reform. Have you heard anyone from the IMF or elsewhere strongly advocate this? Didn’t think so.

In 1945 the western powers, that is the US primarily but also Europe, were the strong rich countries of the world so they were the ones to set the terms. Terms which despite discarding Keynes’ basic surplus recycling tenet worked very well till the beginning of the 1970’s. (When the vicious Chicago School virus began poisoning the world!)

Today, however, things have changed enormously. The western world is in multiple decline. Economic decline, moral decline, democratic decline, cultural decline. You name it. It’s declining. On the other hand, formerly under developed and poorer nations such as the well known BRICs, Brazil, Russia, India China (and others) have grown in wealth, in influence, in importance.

So another candidate for structural reform is the weighted membership importance of the International Institutions, such as the Security Council of the UN. Is the permanent presence of multiple European countries to the exclusion of far more important countries warranted?

And what about our good friend and saviour, the IMF? When the French Director Dominque Strauss Khan left in disgrace over a tawdry affair (which at worse was rape, but at best pathetic sleaze), he was replaced by another French person. The disgraceful Christine Lagarde, disgraceful for flaunting her Hermes scarves and enjoying all the extravagant privileges of her office, while decreeing that people she knows little of and cares less about, should go hungry and be deprived of all medical care. Because, in a nutshell, that is the current IMF formula.

We are in dire need of structural reform. But not in the way the monetarist neocon jargon would have it, but real structural reforms. Reforms of all international institutions and the European Union itself could undergo with a major overhaul. So what about starting with a proper up grading of the European Parliament, so that it will act like a democratically elected Parliament and appoint the governors of Europe who will then be directly answerable to it.?

Dictatorship by an appointed European Commission answerable to no one, and somewhat too prone to finger wagging at those in pain would do well to be abolished. It would be a very good start. And who knows? It might just lead to sensible planning of economic affairs, for one, For the people, By the people, Of the people.

Haven’t we heard that somewhere before? It does sound good. Like, Allons Enfants de la Patrie, perhaps? Remember that one? Eh?

The Frau’s policy… well, policy? Obsession rather. Solution perhaps. Idee Fixe (to use the French term), of turning Europe into the colonies of a German Empire to be governed under the German Jackboot of permanent austerity and misery, particularly for the lesser, undeserving races of the south, has it’s side effects.

Side effects that have adverse effects on The Frau’s Grand Design or Struggle (I can’t use the German word for that one!). One of which may be that she is achieving precisely what she wants to avoid. A Europe of the Peoples. Horror! Horror! Absolute anathema! And yet, lets take a look at what is going on.

Elections are to be held in France and Greece on the same day. The Dutch government has come a cropper and there are to be elections there too. The Irish have their own referendum at the end of May. And everybody is interested in the outcome of each and every one of these. Whenever before in the history of the EU and Common Market has public opinion ever given a damn about the outcome of elections in another country?

And whenever before has a French Presidential candidate directly addressed the problems of one of the smaller and most insignificant countries of the union? Yet Francois Hollande did just that, pledging to change the terms of the “memorandum” or death trap Greece has signed, by, at least, placing the emphasis on growth rather than destruction. He said Greece could not be condemned to a state of permanent austerity, and of course this goes for the whole of Europe too.

Within the EU, loyalty to country seemed to come first and  foremost, party loyalty always stumbling against this. Yet now we see a consensus and perhaps even a front of parties advocating a completely different policy, one concentrating on growth and jobs rather than stark austerity, forming across state lines.  (See John Palmer’s article in the Guardian today.)

During the dictatorship in Greece there was a joke. The joke was that Papadopoulos, the dictator, had succeeded where all other governors of Greece had failed miserably. That is he had managed to unite the people. Against him.

The Frau and her policy seems to be achieving the same. Uniting the peoples of Europe across state lines. Against her iron fisted destructive policies. But being drunk with power and determined to remain in the saddle she lusts after, it appears she would be prepared to do a deal with the devil to stay there. She has already put out feelers to Hollande and is said to be hoping for another SPD/CDU coalition government, if all else fails for her.

To do that of course she will have to change, or modify her policies. If she does we should not go black in the face with anger, but rejoice. Rejoice because she will have had to bend her brittle stance, to the will of the People. The People of Europe. So when we all go to the polls we should remain acutely aware of this.

The People of Europe appear to be uniting.

So here we are. Back again to the question of the EU’s perception of democracy. When I was young my father used to tell us this story of his father. My grandfather was a military gentleman, an officer in the Navy, but also secretly a journalist on the side. He used to write columns in the newspaper under the pen name “The Stinging Nettle”, and his views were accordingly stringent.

Now my grandfather used to announce to the family that: “In this household all decisions will be taken democratically.” And he would look around at the eager faces before adding: “Provided you all agree with me.” Of course this was the result of a sense of himour in his case.

Unfortunately the EU has shown time and time again, that this is precisely its idea of democracy, without any sense of humour. They take all the decisions and the people are called upon to rubber stamp them. And Devil take them if they don’t!

Here in Greece, only a very short while ago, after the miserable bond swap and the signing of Greece’s IMF/EU dictated death warrant by our so called government, everybody was very up beat, assuring us that we were no longer in danger of being summarily flung out of the Eurozone. Everything had been fixed and now we could look forward to….. Well no, not propserity. Heaven forbid! But more of the same debilitating recession and rising unemployment.

Nevertheless, we were assured that this was the necessary price for staying in the Euro! Which had now been assured. However, yesterday, in the run up to our general election the threat has been pulled out of the bag again. The Governor of the Bank of Greece in presenting his yearly review, took out all the stops and went ballistically political. After painting the blackest of black pictures he gave dire warning, again, that if we don’t continue with this ruinous policy we will be kicked out of the Euro!

So what happened to last fortnight’s assurances? And what has changed? Well, in so far as polls are to be believed, the election will not go well for the Eurodictators. Not that a government servile to them will not be formed. It will.  But it will by a weak and shaky one in an explosive environment. So we better start bullying them and terrorising them again, just to make sure.

Ireland goes to the polls on May 31st to ratify The Frau’s still born baby, the fiscal suicide pact. Now Ireland has seen this in practice before. If they vote NO, they know that they will be required to hold another referendum, then another until, through attrition and weariness they finally vote YES. That is the European Union’s idea of democracy. At least my grand father had a sense of humour!

So to keep on the safe side, the Irish are now being subjected to the same terrorization tactics as we are here in Greece. The following video shows that they at least do have a sense of humour. And as Umberto Ecco showed us in The Name of The Rose, the greatest weapon against this kind of authoritarian despotism is laughter.

Lets all have a giggle with this one.

Okay, now this is just ridiculous. Holland finds itself in a political crisis. Mark Rutte’s government finds itself having to resign. The edifice of this solid state’s government collapses. Why?

Well, because of The Frau and her mindless obsession. Which was taken up with a vengeance by the Dutch Minister of Finances. He was rude and overbearing and wagged his finger at horrible miscreants, Greece in particular who had to apply more and more austerity if it wanted to be bailed out by the rest! (“Bailed out”, of course, being a euphemism for having money to the banks cycled through Greece, oh and of course paid for by insolvent Greece through high interest rates.)

And now, Holland finds itself unwilling (and rightly so) to affect slashing cuts merely in order to achieve a deficit of 3% by the end of the year rather than 4.5%. We’ve heard of fiscal discipline, but this is ridiculous!

Now The Markets are threatening to slash one of Holland’s three As off if it doesn’t take austerity measures to achieve this deficit rate. Why? Has everybody gone totally mad in this world? Or is The Frau’s obsessive idea of fiscal discipline being the answer to everything contagious?

Small digression. Since The Frau grew up in East Germany, she was raised on the notion that there is only one answer to everything. Marx! Of course it wasn’t even Marx really, but The Party’s diktat of what that meant. So here was a system where there was one answer to every question, The Party’s undisputed decision of what Marx meant. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that that is how The Frau is continuing to think. (If she does do that at all.)

Digression over and back to The Markets and Holland. First of all the 3% deficit target is an entirely arbitrary figure laid down by The Frau (and agreed of course by the Dutch government who erroneously thought this was for the bad guys of the club and not themselves.) This figure means nothing and has no relation to anything. Why 3% and not 2%? Or even 5%? Can anyone tell us?

Secondly, the Dutch economy is strong, with low unemployment, exports and, yes LOW deficits. Should the Dutch government proceed with stringent austerity cuts now to achieve the totem 3% what will it achieve? Well, quite simply, it will start ruining its economy which at the moment is functioning very well. The economy will slow down, GDP will shrink, unemployment will rise and so on. In other words, The Markets are threatening to lower Holland’s ratings if it DOESN’T take measures to ruin its economy?

This is rather a disservice to investors I would think. Holland decides to jump on the stringent austerity band wagon and The Markets do not reduce Holland’s rating so buyers flock to Dutch bonds. But this policy inevitably leads to economic stagnation in Holland so bond holders feel, hey, this doesn’t look good! And start selling off to minimise their losses and the interest rate goes up and, before you know it the Dutch start screaming “We will not become another Greece!!!” But they will, of course if they stick to the stringent austerity. And for no reason!

Now if the Dutch say, Hang The Frau’s obsession and hang fiscal discipline the way she wants it and we will keep our economy going as its is and concentrate on growth rather than austerity, then The Markets will pull away one of its A’s. Initially interest rates will go up on Dutch debt as investors become wary of buying Dutch bonds.

However, a little down the line when the Dutch economy is doing well and growing, investors will start wanting to buy safe and solid Dutch bonds more and more! So what the hell are The Markets playing at?