Greece’s Left and the European Union: On the Need for an Anti-Euro and Anti-EU Position | Global Research

Greece’s Left and the European Union: On the Need for an Anti-Euro and Anti-EU Position | Global Research

What has been happening in Greece, since the beginning of the
austerity packages in 2010 can only be described in terms of a giant
experiment in neoliberal social engineering. In terms of magnitude and
scope it well surpasses the effects of the notorious IMF ‘structural
adjustment programs,’ especially if we take into consideration that all
these take place within the context of a European liberal democracy and
not some Latin American military dictatorship of the 1970s. One might
say that it is the European Union’s attempt to prove that it can be more
efficient in implementing violent austerity programmes than the IMF. 

The Greek economy has suffered a cumulative contraction of almost 25
per cent, a major economic recession that can only be compared to the
Great Depression of the 1930s or to the consequences of major warfare.
The official rate of unemployment is close to 28 per cent – in reality
it is bigger and there is a large number of employees who are not paid
regularly – with youth unemployment at 60 per cent, a situation of a
‘lost generation,’ with a haemorrhage of more than 100,000 young
university graduates who have migrated abroad to find work. The average
reduction of real wages well exceeds 25 per cent, and in many sectors is
even bigger. The dismantling of the public health infrastructure – the
last measure being the temporary shutdown of all public primary health
facilities except hospitals – along with the health effects of increased
insecurity and socio-economic stress have already created the
conditions of a humanitarian crisis.

A complete pillage of public assets is under way, accompanied by
complete disregard for environmental concerns, exemplified in the
disastrous projects for gold-mining in the Chalkidiki region, which have
been facing the heroic struggle of local inhabitants. On 30 March yet
another set of sweeping changes. In the new European architecture Greece
is being pushed more toward sectors like tourism and renewable energy
rather than high value-added sectors.