To be sure, the austerity mongers around the world want to throttle and silence the new Greek government lest the revolt against austerity spread to other countries. But, in this fight, the Greek government--in particular, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis--are really waging another campaign: against right-wing racism and xenophobia. And there's something to be learned about this for politics in the U.S.
So, in these very hours, the negotiations are still intense in today's meetings between Varoufakis and the austerity mongers, principally Germany, who want to continue the austerity policies that have caused deep misery in Europe. Per The Wall Street Journal:
Greece submitted a request to extend its bailout program by six months in a letter on Thursday that was quickly rejected by the German finance ministry as insufficient. Speaking in Paris after a meeting with French President François Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood by her government’s stance that the proposal was too vague.
.....
The new Greek prime minister, and his left-wing Syriza party were swept to power on pledges to scrap the deeply unpopular bailout, which they blame for pushing the Greek economy into a deep recession and causing soaring unemployment.
As he arrived for the meeting with his eurozone counterparts, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he believed that a deal would still be struck.
“The Greek government has gone not the extra mile, the extra 10 miles,” Mr. Varoufakis said. “Now we are expecting our partners to meet us not halfway, but one-fifth of the way.”
“I most certainly hope that there is going to be an agreement and I trust that we are going to have one,” Mr. Varoufakis said.
But, what caught my eye are these
two graphs courtesy of the well-known left-wing journal...The Economist:
What do these graphs tell us?
First, there is a clear upsurge in a number of European countries in the support for left-wing AND right-wing parties. This is no surprise.
In my opinion, that surge of support is largely because of the hammer of austerity and deep economic misery that the elites have imposed through a whole set of economic policies, principally the obsession about deficit reduction. In the second chart, you can see that what unites the left-right positions is mostly opposition to austerity.
Second, where the left is united, in contrast to the right, is in SUPPORT of immigration and, continued participation in the European Union and, somewhat less, in keeping the Euro. You can make a reasonable progressive argument why the European Union and the Euro are bad things on the economic side--mainly, it allows a brutal allegiance to deficit reduction. But, I see it as much a vision that unity of purpose is preferable to nationalism and the fear of others.
What the Greeks are saying is, in my view, straightforward: the people have had enough of this brutal economic "free market" immoral regime. And, not as explicitly, the message is: the revolt against austerity can take either a progressive direction, or it can veer in a far more terrifying direction of hate, racism, and targeting of people.
Before he became Greece's finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis gave a speech in 2013, which was just reprinted in The Guardian (the whole thing is really worth reading). He clearly saw, then, what he is trying to avert now:
In 2008, capitalism had its second global spasm. The financial crisis set off a chain reaction that pushed Europe into a downward spiral that continues to this day. Europe’s present situation is not merely a threat for workers, for the dispossessed, for the bankers, for social classes or, indeed, nations. No, Europe’s current posture poses a threat to civilisation as we know it.
If my prognosis is correct, and we are not facing just another cyclical slump soon to be overcome, the question that arises for radicals is this: should we welcome this crisis of European capitalism as an opportunity to replace it with a better system? Or should we be so worried about it as to embark upon a campaign for stabilising European capitalism?
To me, the answer is clear. Europe’s crisis is far less likely to give birth to a better alternative to capitalism than it is to unleash dangerously regressive forces that have the capacity to cause a humanitarian bloodbath, while extinguishing the hope for any progressive moves for generations to come.[emphasis added]
This is why Greece must be successful in blunting the austerity mongers who don't give a damn because, in their minds, the walls they live behind will always shield them from the consequences of the economic repression they inflict. If the Greek government--led by the Syriza party--can give some measure of hope and relief to its people, it's a message to other angry citizens around the world that the enemy is not immigrants or people "not like us", which is the basic, underlying message of the right.
True, too, here when it comes to the Tea Party. I have argued before that progressives here often criticize the elites and the economic robbery in similar terms, and passion, to some rank-and-file elements of the Tea Party. Everyone hates the bankers and Wall Street. People across the spectrum are sick of a government bought and sold, whether it's by the Koch Brothers or by the corporate insiders who fund the Clinton Foundation.
But, we should not be surprised when we bow and thank the Wal-Mart company for throwing a few crumbs at workers and call that progress, or lose elections because the Democratic Party pimps for pathetic economic changes--like a poverty-enforcing $10.10-an-hour minimum wage--when, then, a lot of people who are hurting and who we think should be with us, instead, turn to the Tea Party.