Well, lack of Democracy! The Nomenclatura decided what was best and drew up the five year plans and so on, without ever consulting the people because they, of course, the Politburo always knew best. And then of course property rights were abolished. No one was allowed to own their own home or anything terrible like that, and wherever a Communist regime took over, the first thing it did was confiscate all private property. Right? Right And all this was despicable. Right? Right.
Then why have we so docilely agreed to a Communist regime through the back door? For Politburo read European Commission, For Chairman Mao, the Great Leader, read Chancellor Merkel. As for property rights, here is where the hardest laughs of all come shrieking out.
One of the most stringent measures imposed in Greece under the troikan Great Austerity Plan (you know, like those infamous five year plans), is the despicable and exorbitant tax on all property indiscriminately and irrelevant to any income or lack (usually the case by now) thereof, on pain of having your electricity supply cut off. And this in addition to at least twenty other different taxes on property already being paid.
Nevertheless, the European Commission decided that Greeks were not paying nearly enough tax on their property and have proposed an extra one should be slapped on us, a tax penalising you for living in your own house. The Irish went out in protest against a property tax amounting to about 100 Euro per annum. Now, the extra Greek tax through the electricity bill, comes to the hundreds and the thousands of Euros annually. But no. It’s not enough.
Well, given that unemployment has soared to over 20% and that anyone still lucky enough to be working has seen their income slashed by an average of 40%, it is quite obvious that the sole object of the exercise is to confiscate all private property through exorbitant taxation. This has been done before. Ceasescu’s Romania if I am not mistaken?
As for the Great Austerity Plan imposed unilaterally and dictatorially by The Frau on the whole of Europe. Well, it seems to be working about as well as the Communist Five Year Plans ever did. But no, Mario Draghi (ECB) says. It’s not the austerity that isn’t working, but lack of competitiveness! Meaning uniquely that wages must be slashed to below subsistence level.
Okay. So, no say at all in what should happen to your country. Leave it to the Politburo. No property rights, because your property is being slowly and painfully expropriated. Oh, and no more of this frivolous, decadent consumption either! Since you will be gaining barely enough to keep yourself alive.
You know, in the coming elections here in Greece, I think I might vote for the Communist Party. Its program sounds far more benign compared to the Merkel/Lagarde recipe after all! And welfare, at least, they DID provide!