Before the 2012 elections in Greece, in a blind panic the German press used all sorts of underhand and unacceptable ruses to influence Greek voters. Even headlines in Greek. One of these was an enormous CHAOS!!!! Which was, they maintained what would ensue should the Greeks dare vote against the Quislings serviley toeing the German inspired austerity cures all policy.
Now the Germans are sticklers for Rules!!! They believe that if you follow the rules to a tee everything will be all right, but if you don’t, all Hell will break loose. Rules, they firmly believe, are made to be followed and strictly adhered to, or else!
Now the Greeks on the other hand know very well (as does a large number of German industrialists, like the ones gaining contracts throughout the world through bribes rather than competitiveness, to take a random example) that rules are there to be gotten around or broken when there’s no getting round them.
Initial knee jerk reaction to this: Bad, naughty Greeks, Good, virtuous Germans (well, not the ones pretending to be competitive and buying their way in perhaps.)
However, let us take a closer look at was has happened with the Eurozone crisis where this difference was at the root of things. Germany set the rules and Greece was forced to follow them and in the end these rules would achieve an efficient, competitive vibrant economy not only in Greece but throughout the whole of the Eurozone.
Has this expectation panned out?
Klaus Kastner in his Observing Greece blog has this to say: “When I started this blog 3 years ago and for the first couple of years, I was an adamant supporter that Greece could and should make it with the Euro. Nearly 28% unemployment and nearly 60% youth unemployment after 4 years of adjustment prove me wrong.”
In fact what has been achieved in the Eurozone and perhaps for the EU as a whole is that this obsession with rules and targets and those horribly misnamed “reforms” (which is just a Euphemism for destroy all workers rights and welfare) have really only achieved one thing at the end of the day. Chaos.
The Greek economy has completely collapsed (see Wolfgang Munchau and Yannis Varoufakis on this), the Eurozone economy is teetering on deflation, Unemployment is up, living standards down and every little tiny indication of a slight , ever so slight fall (in the under 1% range) in unemployment, or any equally tiny rise in say the PMI say, is pounced upon as EVIDENCE! That Yes! The plan worked! Europe is on the mend!
Which of course it is not
So why not? Why hasn’t following the Rules not only not worked, but actually led to the one thing they were supposed to avoid? Chaos.
Well, rules are Man made… oh sorry woman made too. And no human brain (or even computer) has the ability to foresee every single factor and contingency and every single unpredictable or unforeseen event or occurrence, therefore no perfect set of rules can ever be compiled. And in any case if you add the utter inflexibility of the German mindset to these rules, there you have it. A blue print for disaster. Wise and intelligent politicians and decision makers of all sorts know very well that one has to adapt, reassess and in any case, play it by ear. Otherwise you’re a goner.
Now the Greeks, from ancient times, have known that Chaos rules and that you go against it and try to tame it at your peril. In fact Greeks function best in chaotic situations (which is why I have recently become optimistic). They knew that man made rules were very dangerous and had a name for this: Hubris. The man (okay, or woman) who decided he or she knew best and would lay down the rules was committing hubris. Something that appears to have been quite forgotten now that the Classics are out of the syllabus.
And so we have achieved the Euro crisis paradox. German rules have achieved Greek Chaos. Perhaps it is time to start bending and swaying and YES! Being flexible…? And NOT exclusively with regard to labour relations!!! Think about it.