by V N Gelis
With Greece before WW2 the same had occurred. Venizelos as well in the name of anti-inflationary targets latched the drachma onto the British pound and later onto the dollar. As a result imports made money instead of exports; the deficits grew alongside the debts. Venizelos (no relation to current Economics Minister!) responded with an intensification of direct taxation, with sackings, cuts, autarchy and violence. In 1932 the country was forced to declare bankruptcy, taking the drachma off the link with the dollar and devaluation. Due to the policy that he followed the Liberal party imploded and Venizelos was forced to junk in his political career. From his ridiculous insistence on the hard drachma the political duet of Glyxbourg (ex-King) – Metaxas whilst the dictatorship that followed led the borrowers that Greece would continue to pay its debts.
Like Argentina in our days, Greece not only did not destroy itself, as the pre-war Cassandra‘s predicted but with a weapon the national monetary policy and its refusal to continue to pay this odious debt, it added phenomenal rhythms of development taking on the third highest on the planet after Japan and the Soviet Union!
What is the difference of coming out of a link with whatever hard currency (or from the hard Euro – if that was the relationship) from the forced or chosen exit from the Eurozone? None whatsoever. Let them not say that there isn‘t a historical parallel that we don‘t have experience and we don‘t know what the consequences are going to be for a return to our national currency.
I have referred to two examples but there are tens of others. Let those who sell catastrophism sell it to those who have no clue. We will not allow Greece and the Greek nation to disappear so some can sell slavery to the Euro-Atlantic bosses defending either which way the condemned Eurozone.
Unfounded Catastrophist Syllogisms In the press and the internet one finds syllogisms against the return of the drachma, but one doesn‘t find many arguments. That isn‘t a coincidence. I haven‘t searched extensively but to the extent that I did, I found four paragraphs by Petros Dukas with which he tries to convince us that a return to the Drachma will be catastrophic. For all those that don‘t realise relatively that he was Deputy Minister in two New Democracy govts, he studied economics and international relations in George Washington University, company management and finance economics at Columbia University and economics in New York University, to which he became a doctor of Economics. He also worked for Citibank in New York and became the general manager for the same bank in Greece.
P. Dukas supports that:
―The discussion and the threatening dilemma for a return to the drachma are unintelligible and self-destructive for our country. Further down he posts the first attack we will be forced to accept as Greeks!
The points numbered are Dukas the answers are mine.
1) We will constitute acceptance that us Greeks have totally failed, that we are unable to compete and we are in the 3rd Division of Europe
As Greeks were never asked or questioned if they wanted Greece to become a member of the EEC. Any who had a basic understanding knew that Greece was being thrown into a wolves den, as without trade protectionism it was impossible to compete with the westEuropean mega giants, when essentially, without the nations being asked, the rule of common market preference on the basis which the Union occurred, never functioned as this is how the uncontrolled centres of power in Brussels decided. Even worse there never were any European trade boundaries. With the GATT agreements and later the WTO ones the European market was transformed officially into a united world market, without the nations being asked. The entrance of Greece in 2001 into the Eurozone was the last nail in the coffin of the Greek economy. The fate of the Greek economy had been judged and that was known by all our politicians (amongst which is Dukas) unless of course we are to accept they are chosen simply by the level of dumbness.
2) The ‗New Drachma‘ would unavoidably become immensely devalued in order to be able to aid the competitiveness of our exports. But never before has devaluation had anything more than medium term successes. It led to a cycle of inflation, a fear of a new devaluation, exit of capital and finally new devaluations.
Above the doctor of economics and deputy minister of economics (let us not forget that one) tells us that ―we failed totally, that we are unable to become competitive and we are falling into the 3rd Division‖ But in paragraph 2 we accepted that the devalued drachma will ―aid the competitiveness of exports‖ and consequently accepts that the overvalued for Greek measures euros will undermine our competitiveness. This doesn‘t stop him arguing (totally illogically) that the return of the drachma is destruction! He must assume that he is talking to idiots…
Fear Mongering Nonsense Where does it come from that the devalued drachma equal‘s inflation? Or that more inflation brings about more inflation and that is why we will have capital flight abroad? All of this isn‘t but nonsense with which our esteemed Dr. is trying to frighten the people.
Inflation develops when we have few goods in the market in relation with demand hence we have an increase in prices. Or when the country is forced to print money from air as it has created obligations where its actual government coffers aren‘t able to service.
The new drachma will be devalued in relation not to itself but from its original price 1Euro=340.75Drachma s which it was on 1st January 2001. Not because it is written in its DNA but because it is to the interest of the country. It must because Greece became an open border paradise and lost all its rights handed over to foreign centres of power with the Euro hanging on its neck and lost as a result 50% of its competitiveness.
There will be repercussion which will occur on life, but they will only be positive. If the German Euro can‘t be devalued for the Greek terrain, the quislings that rule us found the answer in devaluing our lives. How else are we going to feed the usurers and we save the Eurozone which is one step away from death! They are taking the last cent which is circulating in the country having provoked a depression, mass unemployment, they cut and cut again salaries, pensions, they have unleashed a fierce tax chasing mechanism, the make incessant and constant increases in fuel, the prices of all utilities, the prices of all the basic basket of goods, they destroy the welfare state, all the services linked to people, health, education, everything.
The ―New Drachma‖ which will replace the Euro will have the same form one euro = one new drachma which should become a paper note, with the same subdivisions and paper multipliers so as to avoid whatever speculation against the consumers. Whatever could be bought with one euro should be bought with one drachma. A wage of 800 Euros will become a wage of 800drachmas. The necessary devaluation is related to the relationship of the drachma with the euro and foreign currencies. In 2001 it was 1E=340drachma. Due to the economic meltdown which the country has suffered whose fault is due to the corrupt political personnel this relationship will change in defence of the drachma if we want to promote our exports and tourism. 1 Euro can become = 440.75drachmas. This devaluation in relation to foreign currencies is obviously going to influence to an extent the internal prices of the market, but not in a country where the govt will utilise all the possibilities internally and our relationships with abroad. We must add that a return to a drachma on its own does not satisfy for the country to stand on its feet. It must constitute the beginning of a new course, the independent and national domination of Greece, ready for new openings and open to fruitful co-operations with new peoples all over the planet, on the basis of mutual gain alone.
To proceed further: which exit of capital and fear of inflation is
Dukas talking about? There are around $350 billion euros and dollars in the bank of Greece. There are the trading reserves of the country and not one has the right to touch them. If the state has the will it is in the position of defending them. Let us forget about capital flight. Neither Argentina in our days nor Greece in 1932 confronted such issues with bankruptcy and will not confront them now. The planet as a whole is facing the most complicated the most explosive crisis in its histor
y and there are no areas which are now secure for any currency in any country. If capital flight occurs in Turkey which has its own currency the same will occur in Greece...
3) The massive debt in Euros should be paid in devalued drachmas. As a result our debt will increase to around 250% of GDP! Will the doctor of economics drive us mad: Given the fact that the ‗massive debt‘ won‘t anyway be paid back (everyone understands that) not only is the debt transformed into drachmas but so does the GDP. Therefore the relationship of debt to GDP, remains constant, it doesn‘t change because we change currency.
4) All the citizens with investments and deposits in our country would aim to avoid the losses incurred from a return to a Drachma and would take out quickly all the capital abroad with the result being the immediate collapse of the banking system and economic activity!
The respect and worth of a currency of a country is determined by the productivity of work but also by the quality of the productive goods. It improves or deteriorates from the development of these two factors. If they impose a currency on you like the Euro whose respectability and its price in the markets is very high as it is based on German competitiveness and quality, then it is truly illogical and an unnatural situation as it weakens severely exports, as he accepts in the 2nd paragraph and supports imports. With the Euro Greece has a permanent date with bankruptcy. We need a 180degree turn and one of the first measures for the country on the road to development is a return to a cheap drachma. When that occurs we won‘t have capital flight or investments from the country. The New Democracy ‗doctor of economics‘ deceives aims to influence the Greek people. With the cheap drachma capital will flood into the country. If the opposite occurred as is being alleged we wouldn‘t see American and European capital emigrating to China with the cheap Renminbi but Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese to be emigrating to Western Europe and the USA!
As for the banks we say going bankrupt one after the other from the epidemic in the USA and Un Kingdom that occurred not because of capital flight abroad (so as to find safe ports, where truly?) but because we have a lack of liquidity, as their reserves are ‗toxic‘ they are obligations by debtors who cannot pay. That is why every now and again states are making injections of liquidity in the banks so as to keep alive the money of its citizens. That occurs because it is in the nature of the market (which has been deliberately deified) cutting things down to size or increasing as it sees fit. The market is a creation of man and his creation; it cannot regulate the life of its creator. The creator man will tomorrow regulate the market and thus his life.
www.patari.org August 2011
Appendix: Historical Background Editor’s Note: Two historical articles which encapsulate both the history of the region, in particular the last great occupation of Greece and the recent machinations of the New World Order in the Balkans with Yugoslavia once at the epicentre
The Last Great Speech of Aris Velouhiotis Leader of EAM-Greek National Liberation Movement against the German Occupation of WW2
WHY I FOUGHT
On 19th October Lamia is liberated. The forces of ELAS, representatives of PEEA and EAM arrive in the city. On 29th October after the celebration of the NO (Greek repulsion of Italian invasion of 1940 into Albania) a meeting is held in the main square, Freedom for EAM to celebrate the victory in WW2 with a presence of the whole district of Pamfthiotida.
Aris gives his most famous speech ever from the balcony of a hotel. Brothers— Greek men and women of Lamia and the region — I bring warmest greetings from the General Headquarters of ELAS. As you will have observed, I am about to make a speech. But this speech will not be like the speeches you have heard before from the old party chiefs; I will not promise, as they promised, to build bridges or make rivers flow. I cannot promise you the world, and I do not wish to ply you with rhetoric; I wish only that you hear what I have to say. I will begin with a fairytale. The immortal Greek race.
Once the part of this land called Greece in which we stand was glorious and happy. It produced a culture which for two-and-a-halfthousand years has been admired all over the world. Never has a word been written by the wise or the unwise that is not first attested in the works left by the creators of this ancient Greek civilization. Once, therefore, our country was glorious; but it was later enslaved and its former glory lost. After many years, our country found its feet again. After a hard struggle against slavery, it was liberated once more. With the era of slavery came hardness and darkness. For many years 'intellectuals', among them a certain, Fallmeyer claimed that the Greek race had been extinguished and that its place had been usurped by other peoples who held nothing in common with the ancient Greek race. But this claim was proved false. The proof was Hellenism, and with this proof our country rose again victorious and free. Neither foreign kings nor local landowners wanted a free and victorious Greece . Afraid of the French Revolution and its consequences, foreign kings created among themselves the Holy Alliance to suppress insurrection. The local landowners were in alliance with the Turks, and together they robbed the Greek people. Reaction screeches The Greek people would not be Greeks— the people of these lands of freedom and civilization — but a people of the jungle if they failed to produce leaders who would lead them to freedom. Knowing this, oppressors foreign and local fought against the Greeks to prevent them from rebelling and so gaining their freedom. During the years of slavery the struggle— on a scale great or small, under arms or without— was waged unceasingly.
From the Greek people emerged a sweeping revolutionary movement lent impetus by its songs, by the idea of the insurrection of the nation and by Rigas Feraios, precursor of the Friendly Society. Slain by the forces of reaction before he could bring his principles into action, the seed Rigas Feraios sowed grew rapidly; before long the Friendly Society became a fact. It had thousands of Greek followers.
And the forces of reaction screeched! They signed deceitful treaties such as that which emerged from the Congress of Vienna in 1815; Ioannis Kapodistrias was one of these signatories. Under this treaty, the forces of reaction would first support the national liberation struggle if it broke out in Greece , only to strangle it later.
Kapodistrias, who is presented in schools as a great and important man through the display of his portraits and speeches, was the first destroyer of Greece. However, he did what he did not as Kapodistrias but as a representative of Greek reaction. It was in this role that he screeched alongside international and local reaction; it was in this role that he signed deceitful treaties.
The people advance Nothing was able to contain the fire of freedom that burned in the hearts of our people. In 1821, after many trials and tribulations, they followed the flame of Papaflessas — who used all means, even lies in declaring an insurrection. So it was that the revolution began in the area of Morea in 1821. At the declaration of this insurrection the powerful of the earth, foreign and local alike, became frightened. The local traitors, seeing the impossibility of containing the people and frightened by their rage, were forced to end their collaboration with the occupiers and to take part in the popular national liberation movement with the aim of corrupting it. The movement against the revolution took on an international character. The powerful of the earth were frightened. They used all their trickery to try to crush the revolution. But they failed. For seven whole years our forebears fought, despite the fact that twice— in 1823 and 1825— the forces of reaction in Greece organised a civil war in an attempt to break the struggle. Thus it was that our forebears forced all our enemies to suck where once they had spat; to recognise our struggle and our independence. Previously no one had believed that this miracle could be achieved by our own forces and our own people. Some waited for freedom to come from Russia ; others put their hope in the benevolence of the kings of Europe . But the revolution proved that it and it alone was capable of providing freedom for our country. The myth of Philhellenism, through which we are alleged to have achieved our freedom, was invented so it would appear that our country was freed not by
dint of its own native strength but by that of foreigners. There were, of course, those friendly to the Greeks —Philhellenes — who fought and spilt blood for the freedom of our country. Honour and glory are due them for their aid to our nation. But they were isolated individuals acting on their own; the theory of organised Philhellenism is a myth.
THE POPULAR CHARACTER In the midst of the victory of the revolution, traitors still dominated our country. The forces of reaction, domestic and foreign, used all available means in their attempts to corrupt the popular character of the revolutionary movement and impose a new regime of slavery. In the end they achieved this. The initiator was Ioannis Kapodistrias, the man I spoke of earlier; but later, another Ioannis — Ioannis Metaxas — would attempt to finish the work that Kapodistrias had begun.
The people believed that once they had achieved the revolution years of brilliance would follow; the whole of humanity would be on their side and our country would again guide humanity down new paths of civilisation and progress. Instead, local and foreign forces of reaction imposed themselves, bringing with them Kapodistrias and the Bavarian Dynasty in place of the Ottomans
Many years of deceit and corruption held us back from progress and civilisation and threw us instead into desperation, hunger, immiseration and distihia. Thus Greece, which was once the source of light and civilisation, sunk to the lowest level of economic and social and cultural development not merely in the Balkans but in the whole of Europe .
THE BETRAYAL OF THE ALBANIAN EPIC The essence of this backwardness is to be found in the fact that the forces of reaction directed their energies towards the torture and exploitation of those who organised popular movements, the cultivation of conflict within those movements and the propagation among the people of the idea that it was their lot to live in poverty. Taking their cue from Kolokotronis, who said that that our country is an 'impoverished beggar', the reactionaries managed to convince the Greek people that they could not stand on their own two feet; that they must be governed by foreigners. So the reactionaries called upon the Powers — the Russians, the English and the French. It was to this that our rulers had brought us. Later, we were to achieve democracy, but only because of the struggles of the people. The snake may shed its skin, but it remains a snake. The forces of reaction found democracy at fault for the misery of the people and turned once again to the monarchy. They brought back the king and commenced more brazenly to exploit the people. To silence the people's screams they imposed upon us Metaxas, who had been an agent of the German High Command ever since he studied at the German military academy. Thus it was that after 120 years we fell into slavery again, so badly had we been governed during those years. It was in this situation that we found ourselves when a war against the two colossi began to threaten.