People power put to the test in Greek elections

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/31/people-power-test-greek-elections

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With the radical left Syriza coalition tipped to form the next government in Greece following the announcement of early elections in the new year (The future has begun, says leftist Tsipras as he scents power, 30 December), liberal democracy is under scrutiny as it has never been before in the very heart of Europe. Will the Greek people and their democratic constitution be respected and upheld by the European and US establishments which have committed billions to foreign interventions in the name of democracy and human rights, or is Europe poised to experience the overthrow of a democratically elected government within its union?

In connection with the possibility of Syriza forming the next government, one cannot help remembering US president Lyndon Johnson’s hubristic disregard for Greek democracy when he expressed himself with regard to the Greek ambassador’s concern with the US’s preferred solution on Cyprus: “Then listen to me, Mr Ambassador, fuck your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. If these two fleas continue itching the elephant, they may just get whacked by the elephant’s trunk, whacked good … We pay a lot of good American dollars to the Greeks, Mr Ambassador. If your prime minister gives me talk about democracy, parliament and constitutions, he, his parliament and his constitution may not last very long.”Russell CaplanLondon

• The size of the Greek economy being minuscule in comparison to the major economies in the EU, the only threat to world finance of a Syriza victory is political. It is a threat of the loss of grip on the narrative of the financial crisis, that the crisis is caused by the profligacy of the poor, in the hands of the plutocracy of global finance.

If Syriza is allowed to retain the euro on its own terms, people elsewhere might begin to question the benefit of continuing with the particular programme of poor-bashing austerity, even if they accept the need for austerity, preached by the union leaders, the troika, of this governing plutocracy. The governing classes ask for decades of sacrifice from citizens, holding out at best only the prospect of low-paying, insecure jobs.

If the received narrative comes into question, workers like those in Germany might begin to doubt their masters. Workers there have accepted low wages for decades without questioning the narrative of competitiveness ensuring their financial security. They would see that their sacrifice has, paradoxically, contributed to their economic insecurity by allowing for a glut of money in trade surpluses to be built up in a banking system that has developed innovative techniques of financial engineering which only reward the plutocracy in corporate boardrooms and banks, and contribute to the instability of the economic edifice that delivers jobs and prosperity to the masses.SP ChakravartyBangor

• You state (Editorial, 30 December) that if the left-leaning Syriza wins the January election, it will ask the EU for debt forgiveness. Perhaps you should have pointed out that Germany too asked for such macroeconomic mercy after its defeat in the second world war, which was duly granted by the allies under the postwar London debt agreement, thereby paving the way for West Germany’s economic miracle.

A debt write-off for Greece, however, although affordable, will not please German voters, as they will have to bear its cost. But such a prescription, if agreed upon, will go a long way towards lessening the growth of extreme pathologies that invariably ensue from stagnating incomes and declining living standards.Randhir Singh BainsGants Hill, Essex

• Syriza is being disingenuous in repeatedly declaring its intention of keeping Greece in the European economic and monetary union (Syriza can transform the EU from within – if Europe will let it, theguardian.com, 30 December). If you belong to a club, you have to play by the rules; which doesn’t include having your debt written off by the other member states. In order to avoid deceiving the electorate, Syriza should do the honourable thing and advocate Greece leaving the EU.Stan Labovitch Windsor, Berkshire

• The people of Greece now have a stark choice: more brutal austerity in return for EU and International Monetary Fund bailouts for the banks, or a rejection of austerity altogether. With the party of the radical left, Syriza, now topping the polls, it is clear which way Greeks are leaning. If the Greeks can vote to reject austerity, so can we – we need to break the pro-austerity consensus of the main parties. Let’s make 2015 the year we put people before profit and public service before corporate greed.Jenny SuttonTrade Unionist and Socialist Coalition parliamentary candidate, Tottenham