The case of Greece
In recent times, Greece has come
to the attention of speculators.
They have, of course, just as we predicted
in the chapter "A
nightmare scenario",
as the real target another much more
valuable objective, the Euro.
But they need a "scapegoat" to carry the
responsibility for the disaster which they are
preparing for the entire European continent.
When you are planning a crime, your first
obligation is to
ensure the timely fabrication of a suitable
"guilty party".
The attempt to identify the "enemy"
in the person of the Greeks is obvious.
A huge wave of severe accusations rose against the
Greeks,
because they allegedly receive from their government
excessive salaries and pensions.
The first thing to say here
is that this is not true.
Neither the salaries of the civil servants in
Greece,
nor their pensions are larger than for other Europeans.
The "trick" of the Greek government of
giving them
two additional monthly salaries
as a gift, instead of giving an increase in salary,
should not be charged to them.
Even if we add the 14 salaries together and we
divide then by 12,
still the Greek incomes are lower than those of other
Europeans.
That Greece has too many civil servants,
and the Greeks retire earlier than
other Europeans, are the Greek civil servants
and pensioners to blame for that?
If the government offers a safe position
in the civil service and an early retirement,
do you know anyone who would refuse it?
And if irresponsible rulers borrowed money
to curry favour with the voters, are the civil
servants and pensioners to blame for the debts?
― But
while we have to work hard and save,
the Greeks are lazy and
let their debt grow
immensely by living
well on borrowed money.
But is this the case only in Greece?
Have the debts of other countries
not also grown tremendously?
Since Greece is regarded as an unreliable
and irresponsible state, it is worthwhile to
consider in
Figure 9 the course of public debt in Germany,
a reliable and reputable state.
Did you expect this?
Did you know that the economically
strongest country in Europe, the
"locomotive of the economy" owes six times
more than contemptible Greece?
Are the Germans to
blame for this,
because they are lazy and
they let
their debt grow immensely by
living
a good life on borrowed
money?
Did you know that this debt, just as the debt of
all other
countries, grows explosively, as shown in
Figure 9?
Because this debt is constantly increasing and has
already passed 2 trillion, it is worth watching how
the debt grows in Germany at any one time at:
http://www.staatsverschuldung.de/schuldenuhr.htm.
Exactly the same thing is happening to all lands
not only in Europe but all over the world.
Now all Europeans are giving money
(which they did not have and must borrow)
"to assist Greece and the
Greeks".
At least, that is what the peoples of Europe have
understood.
Or more correctly, what they have given them to
understand:
From now on you will have to work
harder and make sacrifices, so that
the Greeks can continue to live well.
For my part unfortunately I have not understood anything.
First of all, this money is not donated
to the Greek government, but it is lent.
It is lent at a higher rate than the European
governments themselves
pay. That means that they expect to profit from this
business. When
I borrow money at 1% and lend it to you at 5%, then I
put the difference
in my own pocket.
And secondly, what kind of help
are we really talking about here?
Greece owed some 300 billion that it could not pay
back
(as no state can any longer pay its debts)
and now after the European assistance
(... salvation of the fatherland
...
the Greek Prime Minister called this)
it owes some 400 billion.
Do you call this "Help"?
How will Greece ever be
able to pay off this debt?
Will Greece perhaps use the huge amount of the new
loan to develop a
great export industry, which will surpass in its dynamism
the champion of
exporters Germany, which already owes over 2,000
billion, and of course
does not see any way to pay it back?
Wrong. Far from it.
But the gigantic amount of this loan went
somewhere.
The Greek government gave the money somewhere.
Perhaps to the Greek pensioners, so that they
could continue
to live well at the expense of the European workers?
But the Greek pensioners
(along with all the other Greeks)
have been squeezed dry by
their government like no one has
been squeezed dry until now.
Then, what's happened to the money?
We really do not know?
Do we not know that the
Greek government got the money from
Europe one day and the next
day passed it on to its creditors?
Don't we know why all
the ministers (Greeks and Europeans)
were running around for
weeks to find the money?
Yes, we know that.
The reason was to
guarantee payment to the creditors of Greece.
We have not understood this yet?
We have not understand, that the whole operation
had as its sole objective,
not to help Greece, but to satisfy the financiers who
had put their money in
Greek government bonds, because they gave the highest
interest in the market?
If Greece could not pay its debts, then
would the Greek pensioners suffer?
But they cannot suffer any worse than
what they are already doing now.
Those who would lose are the financiers.
They would lose their profits.
Not their capital, as is wrongly stated:
"the small depositors in the
banks will lose their savings".
This is not something important; Greece could
repay this
(if it had
done it already long ago).
This is only a small part of the debt.
What financiers risk losing is the profit from the
interest.
And this is indeed a huge amount.
These are the exorbitant profits of the
moneylenders,
who demand devastating rates from needy people.
These amounts are about one 100 times greater than
the
amount which the Greek government borrowed 30 years
ago.
Just so that the capitalists don't lose these
profits,
the people of Europe must now be squeezed dry.