[lbo-talk] refuse

Max Sawicky sawicky at verizon.net
Fri May 7 13:48:55 PDT 2010


I've read that even if you set aside interest on debt, the Greek gov budget is still deeply in deficit (what's called the 'primary deficit'), so the underlying issue is not foreign debt but domestic under-taxation. With adequate taxation there would be no need to borrow at excessive levels.

On Fri, May 7, 2010 at 3:40 PM, Eric Beck <ersatzdog at gmail.com> wrote:
> [here's something from those anarchists who Somebody claims are
> missing the point. This sound pretty right on target to me.]
>
>
> The Greek working class is angry, and with good reason, with the
> attempt to load responsibility for the bankruptcy of the Greek State
> onto their shoulders. We maintain instead that it is the international
> financial institutions and the European Union who are responsible. The
> financial institutions have plunged the world, and Greece in
> particular, into an economic and social crisis of historical
> proportions, forcing countries into debt, and now these same
> institutions are complaining that certain States risk not being able
> to repay their debts. We denounce this hypocrisy and say that even if
> Greece - and all the other countries - can repay the debt, they should
> not do so: it is up to those responsible for the crisis - the
> financial institutions, not the workers - to pay for the damage caused
> by this crisis. The Greek workers are right to refuse to pay back
> their country's debt. We refuse to pay for their crisis!
>
> Instead, let us shift the capitalists into the firing line: Greek
> capital generates some of the biggest profit margins in Europe due to
> its investments in the poorer Balkan countries, the absence of social
> protections, collective guarantees and a minimum wage for Greek
> workers, not to mention the country's gigantic black economy in labour
> and an even greater exploitation of immigrant work. Greek capital is
> also very lightly taxed, due to the weakness of the State (with regard
> to the rich) and major corruption which permits fraud and tax evasion
> on a massive scale. So it is equally up to Greek capitalists to pay
> for this crisis.
>
> [...]
>
> http://www.anarkismo.net/article/16525
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>



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