[Marxism] Fwd: The Berlin Bulldozer and the Sack of Athens | Foreign Policy
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * en finalizing my book European Spring last year, I hesitated before describing the eurozone as a “glorified debtors’ prison.” After this weekend’s brutal, vindictive, and shortsighted exercise of German power against Greece, backed up by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank’s illegal threat to pull the plug on the entire Greek banking system, I take it back. There is nothing glorious about the eurozone: It is a monstrous, undemocratic creditors’ racket. Greece’s submission to the conditions that Germany demanded, merely to start negotiations about further funding to refinance its unsustainable debts, may stave off the prospect of imminent bank collapse and Greece’s exit from the eurozone. But far from solving the Greek problem, doubling down on the creditors’ disastrous strategy of the past five years will only further depress the economy, increase the unbearable debt burden, and trample on democracy. Even Deutsche Bank, one of the German banks bailed out by European taxpayers’ forced loans to the Greek government in 2010, says Greece is now tantamount to a vassal state. But this is much bigger than Greece. It is clearer than ever that Europe’s dysfunctional monetary union has a German problem, too. As creditor in chief in a monetary union bereft of common political institutions, Germany is proving to be a calamitous hegemon. Paris may have tempered Berlin’s petulant threat to force Greece out of the euro, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel undoubtedly calls the shots. The deal that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras capitulated to mirrored German demands, not the proposals he drafted with French help last week. By pointing out the futility of resistance if Greece wished to remain in the euro, Paris has, in a sense, acted as Berlin’s agent in securing Athens’s acquiescence. full: https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/13/the-berlin-bulldozer-and-the-sack-of-athens-greece-eurozone/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Obama helps screw Greek workers
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Yes, it is important to remember that Syriza has an actual right-wing, and by that I don't mean Tsipras, who, regardless of errors made etc, clearly did wage the unequal fight until the EU blood-suckers crushed him. Dragasakis is one of the few from the old right-wing leadership of Synaspismos, when it was a decrepidly reformist, anti-class-struggle, modernising party, who didn't quite alongside his co-thinkers to form the disgusting Democratic left (DIMAR). According to Kouvelakis, his faction were key to pressuring Tsipras throughout the negotiations. Anyone who hasn't read the Kouvelakis interview should. DRAGASAKIS SAYS AGREEMENT WASN'T A DEFEAT FOR GREECE. Sure wouldn't like to see what defeat looks like for this faction. -Original Message- From: Andrew Pollack via Marxism forgot to mention: Dragasakis is the right-wing economist who Kouvelakis mentions in the Jacobin interview as the leading force in pushing Syriza to accept troika et al. terms. On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 2:14 PM, Andrew Pollack acpolla...@gmail.com wrote: Greece’s deputy PM, Yannis Dragasakis, has credited Washington with helping to get an agreement with creditors which includes a commitment to consider debt relief: *DRAGASAKIS SAYS AGREEMENT WASN'T A DEFEAT FOR GREECE http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2015/jul/15/greek-crisis-mps-bailout-imf-debt-relief-alexis-tsipras-live#block-55a60e61e4b07f297df2ffb5 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/mkaradjis%40gmail.com _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Marxism] Varoufakis clause by clause critique
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Andrew Pollack notes that Varoufakis's analysis of the agreement Tsipras struck with the troika is excellent. It is, and it shows that Yannis has kept his principles intact. Another piece I read suggests that he thinks of himself as a modern-day Keynes, who opposed the Treaty of Versailles and predicted dire consequences for Germany that could lead to a second world war. There may be truth to this. It will be interesting to see what he does now. His outspokenness and considerable intelligence could prove useful to the Greek working class, especially if his politics move further to the left. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] What's new at Links: #ThisIsACoup; Greece and EU blackmail; Solidarity with Greece; Gramsci; Kurd cooperation with Arabs, Christians; BRICS bank
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * What's new at Links: #ThisIsACoup; Greece and EU blackmail; Solidarity with Greece; Gramsci; Kurd cooperation with Arabs, Christians; BRICS bank * * * Subscribe free to Links - International Journal of Socialist Renewal - at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373 You can also follow Links on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10865397643 Visit and bookmark http://links.org.au and add it to your RSS feed (http://links.org.au/rss.xml). If you would like us to consider an article, please send it to linkssocial...@gmail.com mailto:linkssocial...@gmail.com *Please pass on to anybody you think will be interested in Links. *Comments welcome on all articles *Return daily for new articles * * * Greek parliament's president: 'Nο to ultimatums, Nο to the Memoranda of servitude' http://links.org.au/node/4510 The following speech was delivered early in the morning of July 11, 2015, by *Zoe Konstantopoulou*, president of the Greek parliament, on the question of the government’s proposal to the creditor institutions. She voted present, in effect an abstention. * Read more http://links.org.au/node/4510 Greece's debt is immoral and should be wiped http://links.org.au/node/4506 By *Stuart Munckton* July 12, 2015 -- Socialist Alliance, posted at /Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal/ -- Greece's austerity-and-debt-driven crisis has prompted a humanitarian catastrophe. The https://australiagreecesolidarity.wordpress.com/Australia-Greece Solidarity Campaign says half of all young people cannot find work, there is a growing shortage of essential medicines and child malnutrition rates have reached levels not seen since World War II. Pensions, meanwhile, have been cut by 15–44%, with 45% of all pensioners living below the poverty line. Suicide rates have skyrocketed. All very sad, no doubt, but surely you cannot just allow reckless behaviour by the Greek people without any consequences? * Read more http://links.org.au/node/4506 Britain's Left Unity on the struggle of the Greek people http://links.org.au/node/4511 Left Unity (Britain) national secretary *Kate Hudson* writes. July 15, 2015 -- We unreservedly condemn the criminal attacks by the states and institutions of the European Union on Greece and its people. Not satisfied with the imposition of extreme neoliberalism and the destruction of the livelihoods and welfare of millions of people, these so-called European partners are now proceeding to strip Greece of its national sovereignty and self-determination. * Read more http://links.org.au/node/4511 Martin Hart-Landsberg: Lessons from a defeat in Europe http://links.org.au/node/4509 By *Martin Hart-Landsberg* July 13, 2015 -- The Troika are celebrating the end of negotiations with Greece, proclaiming that thanks to their tireless efforts the Eurozone remains whole. And why wouldn’t they celebrate. They have demonstrated their power to crush, at least for now, the Greek effort to end austerity and its associated devastating social consequences. Tragically, SYRIZA has not only surrendered, the nature of its defeat is likely to leave the country worse off, at least both economically and very likely politically as well. * Read more http://links.org.au/node/4509 #ThisIsACoup: a 'financial coup d’etat' against Greece http://links.org.au/node/4508 July 13, 2015 -- Twitter hashtag #ThisIsACoup https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ThisIsACoupsrc=tyahvertical=defaultf=tweetswas trending worldwide on Sunday night, July 12, as European leaders were pushing and kicking around and putting pressure on Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to either accept their deal or exit the euro club in an unprecedented collective action of EU/EURO-blackmail against a member state/./ * Read more http://links.org.au/node/4508 Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin: Treating SYRIZA responsibly http://links.org.au/node/4507 By *Leo Panitch* and *Sam Gindin*, Athens July 13, 2015 -- As against those on the international left so keen to put the boot in against the SYRIZA government with the charge that they had abjectly capitulated already with the plan passed in the Greek parliament, it is instructive to read this document from the German finance ministry. SYRIZA's unique capacity on the international left to build the type of party capable of both mobilising against neoliberalism and entering the state to try to actually do something about this has always hinged on the way it sought to find room for manoeuvre within a European Union that has neoliberalism in
[Marxism] some socialist organizations on Greek resistance
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Creditors take control of Greece by Alan Thornett Socialist Resistance, Britain, July 15 http://socialistresistance.org/7601/creditors-take-control-of-greece . . . There are still major obstacles to the final ratification of this deal, of course. First it has to go to the Greek Parliament very shortly where there is no guarantee of adoption. It is highly contentious amongst Syriza MPs and will in any case have to rely on the votes of opposition parties. It also faces huge obstacles in the form of national parliament votes in Germany, Estonia, and Slovakia, which could all baulk at the extra €86bn offered to Greece in loans under the terms of the bailout. Finally of course it has to be said that if it is adopted it will have no more chance of success than the previous two bailout—probably less. These are all the same policies that had failed over the past five years and will inevitably fail again. As Larry Elliot says in the Guardian: “Greece is in a hole the rest of the eurozone will hand it a spade and tell it to keep digging”. The task for the left is to build opposition to the deal inside and outside Greece, to build on the 62% of the vote won in the referendum, much of its support coming from young people, and to challenge the implementation of the austerity package at every level. There has been a strike called for Wednesday, when the parliament considers the deal. The movement must be built both politically, inside and beyond Syriza, and within the trade union and working class movement, especially among the Greek youth whose future is under so much threat. Across the whole of Europe and beyond, we must continue to support for those affected by the austerity measures, stepping up our practical solidarity with the people of Greece while building a political and solidarity movement to challenge the EU elites and resist their vicious attacks on the working class in Greece and across Europe. Greek unions call strike to beat new austerity deal by Panos Garganas in Athens Socialist Worker, Britain, July 14 http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art/40930/Greek+unions+call+strike+to+beat+a+new+austerity+deal Workers had an immediate response to the Greek government’s surrender to its creditors—meeting within hours to call a public sector mass strike. They were set to strike on Wednesday of this week. That’s when parliament begins voting through the laws demanded by the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. Workers plan a mass rally in front of the Greek parliament in Syntagma Square. A meeting of around 200 public sector workers on Monday of this week, called by the Adedy union federation, decided on the strike. The rank and file was there as well as the leaders—and in a militant mood. This isn’t just a U-turn from the government. People voted no to an austerity agreement in the referendum—and the government agreed another that was even worse (see page 4). Working class families face an immediate loss of income from wages and pensions, and the threat of job losses. And workers who were rehired or promised their jobs back after being made redundant by the previous government face being sacked again. They include the workers at ERT, the state broadcaster, who were reinstated last month after two years under workers’ control. Their union was the first to call for the general strike, at a meeting of the Coordination Against Redundancies campaign on Friday of last week. They are not part of Adedy, but they will join the rally on the day. The Athens Metro workers’ union voted to join the strike. Other unions are under pressure to come out alongside what is set to be over 600,000 public and private sector workers. The ports are already being privatised, and the agreement says the state electricity company is to be chopped up and sold off too. Workers there want to fight and were making their decision as Socialist Worker went to press. Socialists in the unions are calling for another 48-hour strike next week, when a second round of legislation is due to be passed. Strikes have stopped cuts and closures in a number of places. They brought the previous government down, bringing the left to office. Striking now can protect jobs and wages—and go beyond the compromising left that’s in government to build a stronger, anti-capitalist left. People are angry, but there’s a question of who will give a lead. At first there was panic. Now the strikes and demonstrations are making opposition concrete. They are the way to make sure the No vote will be vindicated and the deal will not pass. Athens worker says unions will step up fight against rotten deal with
[Marxism] The Pacific war, racism and Hiroshima
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * As we head up to the 70th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/08/07/the-pacific-war-racism-and-hiroshima/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] 7pm today/Wed. July 15 international solidarity w/ Greece
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Call for solidarity to Greek people against the coup, all over the world. http://www.analyzegreece.gr/topics/this-is-a-coup-the-agreement/item/293-call-for-solidarity-to-greek-people-against-the-coup-wednesday-everywhere-at-19-00 Wednesday, everywhere, at 19:00 Athens, Greece * London, United Kingdom * Leeds, United Kingdom * Liverpool, United Kingdom *Bristol, United Kingdom *Manchester, United Kingdom * Belfast, Northern Ireland *Duns, Scotland * Berlin, Germany * Koblenz, Germany * Napels, Italy *Padua, Italy * Paris, France *Lisbon, Portugal *Barcelona, Spain *Graz, Austria * Vienna, Austria * Sofia, Bulgaria *Prague, Czech Republic *Belgrade, Serbia *Skopje, Macedonia * Ljubljana, Slovenia *Chicago, USA *Baltimore, USA *Oakland, USA *Los Angeles, USA *Buffalo, USA *Brantford, Ontario *Montreal, Canada * Sydney, Australia * Tel Aviv, Israel The Troika has succeeded in making the SYRIZA-government submit to their demands to implement more devastating austerity measures, by means of financial terrorism and threatening to push the country over the brink of economic collapse. Some would call this a capitulation by SYRIZA, some would call #ThisIsACoup by the Troika. Whatever it is, if the Troika gets their way, it would amount to a historic defeat for everyone fighting against austerity and for democracy. The only option left for us now is escalating the struggle to the streets and the workplaces. Forced by the Troika the Greek government will on Wednesday be effectively implementing legislation that the people voted NO against over little more than a week ago. All red lines have been crossed. It's up to us to defend them. So we call on everyone all over the world to take to central squares that day, to loudly say: OXI means OXI! OXI to austerity! OXI to capitulation! OXI to a third memorandum! YES to democracy and people's power. The only dividing line right now, in Greece and in those in solidarity is this: Do you fight or do you capitulate? We choose to fight. We hope to see you in the streets. For all the (solidarity) groups organizing protests in their city, we ask you to send us the eventpage-link by PM at Europe says OXI or post it here so we can make a list of the different (solidarity) initiatives: Solidarity4All http://greecesolidarity.org/?page_id=1112 Regional Solidarity is Our Weapon by Anastas Vangeli, Republic of Macedonia. July 15, 2015 http://www.analyzegreece.gr/topics/greece-europe/item/295-a-vangeli-republic-of-macedonia-regional-solidarity-is-our-weapon On July 15, Solidarnost, joined by other left-wing movements and activists from the Republic of Macedonia will take part in the global day of solidarity with the citizens of Greece. Below, I argue why regional solidarity matters more than ever. . . . At this juncture, we have a precious opportunity to reframe political narratives in the region and pay much bigger attention to the grand questions not only of identity, but rather the ways we do politics and economy. The deepening political crisis in Macedonia, just as the economic crisis in Greece, will further accelerate the decline of the Balkans. In an attempt to change course, the majority of the Greek citizens voiced their support for the new political actors and new forms of politics in the elections earlier this year, and now they will have to struggle to avoid a backsliding. Macedonian citizens, who were given hope by the emerging social movements, still must fight for a democratic opening. The political cartels the citizens of Greece and Macedonia battle are like the Lernaean Hydra - for each head cut off it grows two new. It takes a Herculean effort to slain it, one which takes regional and international solidarity as its weapon, and upholding the vision of a new time as its energy in the long battle ahead. We shall overcome! _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Greece: The Struggle Continues | Jacobin
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * There is no firewall or pay wall. I just clicked the URL provided by L.P. Works fine. --rod On Jul 14, 2015, at 9:34 PM, annette gagne via Marxism wrote: POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Looks like Jacobin has a firewall? Best Wishes, - A On Jul 14, 2015 10:44 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote: POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/tsipras-varoufakis-kouvelakis-syriza-euro-debt/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/adgagneri%40gmail.com _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/rholt%40planeteria.net _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] The Economist proposes a partial Grexit
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * The Economist suggests that Greece’s return to a sovereign, more competitive currency would not be as catastrophic as is widely thought - provided it is an orderly process done in conjunction with the eurozone powers, and the drachma is viewed as a parallel currency for domestic purposes while the euro is kept for imports and other external obligations. Neither is a new idea. They’ve been bandied about across the political spectrum, but events may now move in this direction. The present extortionate bailouts are not seen as sustainable - neither by the eurozone powers who want to see further loans tied to even deeper reductions in Greek labour and benefit costs as well the wholesale transfer of Greek assets to private investors, nor by the mass of working class Greeks whose living standards have been ravaged by austerity and who are steadfastly refusing to capitulate further. Allowing the euro to circulate for external transactions would presumably qualify Greece for continued participation in the Eurosystem and the continuation of an essential supply of euros from the European Central Bank. Aside from geopolitical concerns - the NATO powers need an economically and politically stable Greece strategically situated on Europe’s southeastern flank - the Europeans are still vulnerable to a Greek default, albeit not as heavily as a few years ago when Europe’s exposed private banks had to be bailed out. Official loans to Greece from the rest of the euro area are close to €185 billion ($204 billion); they would have to be written off. The Bank of Greece owes the European Central Bank (ECB) over €125 billion borrowed to finance capital outflows (“TARGET 2” debt) and to issue extra cash, according to Barclays, a bank. And then there’s €27 billion of Greek sovereign debt held by the ECB. The tally would be close to €340 billion, over 3% of euro-zone GDP”, the Economist notes. “If the Greek central bank remained part of the Eurosystem its debts to the ECB could simply stay on the books… potential losses could be fudged.” “A full exit looks bad enough for both Greece and the rest of the euro area that the search is on for alternatives.” Gradations of Grexit The Economist July 11 2015 ACCORDING to IMF estimates made in 2012, any currency with which Greece replaced the euro would quickly halve in value. Greece would lose a prompt 8% of GDP and see inflation surge to 35% as the cost of imports rocketed. Confidence would be battered and confusion would reign, exacerbated by the months it would take for the new currency to come into circulation. This is all probably as true now as it was then. For the rest of the euro zone the direct effect would be much less—but still appreciable. Official loans to Greece from the rest of the euro area are close to €185 billion ($204 billion); they would have to be written off. The Bank of Greece owes the European Central Bank (ECB) over €125 billion borrowed to finance capital outflows (“TARGET 2” debt) and to issue extra cash, according to Barclays, a bank. And then there’s €27 billion of Greek sovereign debt held by the ECB. The tally would be close to €340 billion, over 3% of euro-zone GDP. A full exit looks bad enough for both Greece and the rest of the euro area that the search is on for alternatives. Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, suggested in a recent interview that a “temporary” exit from the euro zone might be Greece’s best option. One way to do this, though not necessarily one Mr Schäuble would approve of, would be for all domestic assets and liabilities, including those of the banks, to be redenominated in “new drachmas” while external obligations remained in euros. If the new drachma were temporary, or simply treated as such, Greece might be able to stay in the euro area under such a dispensation. By continuing as part of the Eurosystem through which the ECB and national central banks manage the euro zone’s affairs, the Bank of Greece might retain credibility which it would otherwise lack. That would strengthen its hand in the fight against spiralling inflation which would surely follow redenomination. The Greek economy might not slump as far as it would otherwise, and the drachma might keep more of its value. The prospect of eventually returning to the euro proper—the Greeks may miss what they have forsaken—might give the government an extra incentive to control its finances and introduce growth-enhancing reforms. Doing things this way would also render moot worries about Greece falling out of the EU altogether and thus losing access to the single market and regional
[Marxism] Obama helps screw Greek workers
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * You can be sure liberals will be hailing this as proof of Obama's good will and progressive politics, rather than an interimperialist maneuver, or as a slicker imposition of austerity and misery. From the Guardian's live update: Greece’s deputy PM, Yannis Dragasakis, has credited Washington with helping to get an agreement with creditors which includes a commitment to consider debt relief: Speaking before tonight’s vote, Dragasakis said: “I have to publicly thank the U.S. government and Mr.(President Barack) Obama as without their help and persistence that the deal has to include the debt issue and development horizon we might have not succeeded,” — Stavros Kallinos (@StKallinos) July 15, 2015 https://twitter.com/StKallinos/status/621210031380426752 *DRAGASAKIS SAYS AGREEMENT WASN'T A DEFEAT FOR GREECE http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2015/jul/15/greek-crisis-mps-bailout-imf-debt-relief-alexis-tsipras-live#block-55a60e61e4b07f297df2ffb5 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Obama helps screw Greek workers
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * forgot to mention: Dragasakis is the right-wing economist who Kouvelakis mentions in the Jacobin interview as the leading force in pushing Syriza to accept troika et al. terms. On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 2:14 PM, Andrew Pollack acpolla...@gmail.com wrote: You can be sure liberals will be hailing this as proof of Obama's good will and progressive politics, rather than an interimperialist maneuver, or as a slicker imposition of austerity and misery. From the Guardian's live update: Greece’s deputy PM, Yannis Dragasakis, has credited Washington with helping to get an agreement with creditors which includes a commitment to consider debt relief: Speaking before tonight’s vote, Dragasakis said: “I have to publicly thank the U.S. government and Mr.(President Barack) Obama as without their help and persistence that the deal has to include the debt issue and development horizon we might have not succeeded,” — Stavros Kallinos (@StKallinos) July 15, 2015 https://twitter.com/StKallinos/status/621210031380426752 *DRAGASAKIS SAYS AGREEMENT WASN'T A DEFEAT FOR GREECE http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2015/jul/15/greek-crisis-mps-bailout-imf-debt-relief-alexis-tsipras-live#block-55a60e61e4b07f297df2ffb5 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Syriza CC rejects deal?
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * There is a report on the Guardian’s live blog that 107 of 201 Syriza central committee members have condemned the deal signed by the Tsipras government. Any confirmation of this elsewhere? _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Syriza CC rejects deal?
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * You probably saw the later messages from Einde and David (which i just read). There is a report at Socialist Worker http://socialistworker.org/2015/07/15/syriza-leaders-against-the-coup As you probably know, this is a sign-on type statement, not a vote at a meeting. They are demanding the convening of a Central Committee meeting. Tsipras had promised he would take the new deal to Central Committee before taking it to parliament but he is reneging now that he can't be sure of winning Central Committee. This is very important because apparently it is Syriza stricture (not governmental) that requires resignations from gov't positions when individuals defy party positions. This action raises the question that Tsipras' position is not the Syriza/party position. On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 6:19 AM, Marv Gandall via Marxism marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote: There is a report on the Guardian’s live blog that 107 of 201 Syriza central committee members have condemned the deal signed by the Tsipras government. Any confirmation of this elsewhere? _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Waiting for the U.S. Left
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * (This interview took place on the Emerge website originally.) David Finkel is a member of Solidarity’s National Committee and an editor of Against the Current. He graciously agreed to an email interview with Emerge where we discuss issues ranging from Solidarity’s regroupment efforts to whether the U.S. could produce something like Podemos or Syriza today. Emerge: Tell us first about Solidarity and its commitment to regroupment. David Finkel: Solidarity was founded in 1986 as a regroupment of three small organizations – International Socialists; Workers Power, a group that originated from a split in the IS in 1979; and Socialist Unity, a group of comrades who had been expelled from the Socialist Workers Party in a series of ideological purges in the 1980s – and a socialist-feminist collective in Madison. full: http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=12348 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] New book on Raul Castro
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * An interesting footnote on the Cuban Revolution. ken h http://en.granma.cu/cultura/2015-06-22/the-story-of-a-man-in-revolution Raul Castro met the author, Nikolai S. Leonov, in 1953 on board ship in the Mediterranean. Castro was on his way home from a meeting in Bucharest and Leonov was taking up a junior post at the Soviet embassy in Mexico. He was also pursuing advanced studies in Spanish at the Autonomous University. In 2003 Leonov was elected to the Duma as a member of Rodina which Wikipedia describes as a coalition of 30 nationalist and far-right groups https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodina_(political_party) _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Yves Smith's comment
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Yves Smith July 15, 2015 at 6:02 am 1. It took ten years of planning and three years of execution for the euro launch to go smoothly. 2. Badly planned and executed IT projects cannot be fixed. They generally have to be terminated. The failure rate of large IT projects is over 50%. 3. The performance standards for payments systems are extremely high. This is mission critical levels of accuracy and uptime. If you get it wrong, you are out of business very quickly. And from a national perspective, payments systems that are not up to scratch are not permitted to connect to the international “grid”. The Vatican is a noteworthy example. 4. As we have explained at considerable length in earlier posts, getting the drachma working from an IT standpoint does not just involve Greece doing its part, which is considerable, but lots of other independent parties doing their part, such as participants in the fragmented credit/debit card business. 5. Tell me how Greece survives if it has to carry on as it does now, with effectively no payments system. Importers can’t pay for imports unless they truck cash to the border, dump it into foreign banks, and then wire it to importers, or alternatively, bring it to the premises of their foreign suppliers (and some literally are doing that now). And what happens when they run out of cash on hand, as in euros? Plus even if Greece gets drachma into circulation, which is a twelve to eighteen month project (it’s not just the printing, the physical distribution, as in getting it into ATMs, is a huge task, and you also have to have the coding done to support that), foreign suppliers will want euros, so you’ll also have foreign exchange risk. Greece is not self sufficient in food and supplies will start getting tight as of the end of July. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] About Yves Smith
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * (from Wikipedia) Naked Capitalism is an American financial news and analysis blog that claims to chronicle the large scale, concerted campaign to reduce the bargaining power and pay of ordinary workers relative to investors and elite technocrats”.[1] Under the pen name Yves Smith, Susan Webber principal of Aurora Advisors Incorporated and author of ECONned, launched the site posting the first article in December 2006. She focused on finance and economic news and analysis, with an emphasis on legal and ethical issues of the banking industry and the mortgage foreclosure process, the worldwide effects of the banking crisis of 2008, the 2007–2012 global financial crisis, and the aftermath of all related events. The site has amassed over 60 million visitors since November 13, 2007, and earned it a place in CNBC’s 2012 top 25 The Best Alternative Financial Blogs, calling Yves Smith “a harsh critic of Wall Street who believes that fraud was at the center of the financial crisis”.[2] Personal Background Prior to the blog, Webber/Smith had graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School and had close to 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. She had worked for Goldman Sachs, McKinsey Co., and Sumitomo Bank.[3] She has written articles for the New York Times, Bloomberg, and the Roosevelt Institute.[4][5] _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tsipras: 'vote deal or i won't be PM tomorrow'; Varoufakis will vote No; unionists march against deal; if deal passes, immediate money from EU
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Greek PM Tsipras Sends Ultimatum to SYRIZA MPs: Accept the Deal or I Won’t be PM Tomorrow by Anastassios Adamopoulos The Greek Reporter, July 15 http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/07/15/greek-pm-tsipras-sends-ultimatum-to-syriza-mps-accept-the-deal-or-i-wont-be-pm-tomorrow In anticipation of the decisive vote at the Greek Parliament, the SYRIZA Parliamentary Group convened on Wednesday. The country’s governing party is facing one of its most crucial moments since its inception in 2004 with a significant number of lawmakers set to vote against the bailout deal Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to with international creditors in Brussels on Monday. “I am the Prime Minister because I have a Parliamentary Group that I depend on,” Tsipras told SYRIZA lawmakers at the meeting. “If I do not have support from the Parliamentary Group, it is difficult for me to be Prime Minister the following day.” . . . Panagiotis Lafazanis, leader of the so-called Left Platform, a sub-group within SYRIZA that is likely to vote down [against] the bailout deal in Parliament on Wednesday, said that the presented dilemma between a deal or a catastrophe is not true. “There has been and always will be an alternative solution. It is a matter of political choice and political decision. It is not a technical issue,” he told reporters after the meeting and added “It is unacceptable for the government to succumb to the creditors’ deplorable choices, in the name of blackmail.” Despite his vehement opposition to the deal, Lafazanis has not resigned from his post as Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister. Following the meeting, he said that SYRIZA’s unity and support toward the government are guaranteed. Varoufakis Attacks Greece’s New Bailout Agreement by Philip Chrysopoulos The Greek Reporter, July 15 http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/07/15/varoufakis-attacks-greeces-new-bailout-agreement Former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said in parliament that the new bailout agreement proposed to Greece is doomed to fail, calling it ” Versailles Treaty,” and stated he will vote against it. Varoufakis accused German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble of working hard to bring back harsh memoranda because the Greek people voted “no” in the referendum. “The troika, in cooperation with Schaeuble, was waiting to drag Greece back into the catastrophic clarity of the memoranda,” Varoufakis said. . . . Varoufakis also expressed the opinion that the agreement will not materialize because the International Monetary Fund “refuses to participate.” Also, because the European Stability Mechanism will refuse to proceed without the involvement of the IMF. “Unfortunately, once again, we are dragged to debt restructuring after the failure of the program… Everything will depend on the restructuring of the debt,” he said. ['rioters' appear after reported 13,000 unionists march] Rallies Held in Athens Ahead of Bailout Vote – Rioters Clash With Police Outside Greek Parliament by Anastassios Adamopoulos The Greek Reporter, July 15 http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/07/15/rallies-held-in-athens-ahead-of-bailout-vote-rioters-clash-with-police-outside-greek-parliament Clashes broke out between police and rioters around the Greek Parliament in downtown Athens on Wednesday. Greek lawmakers are now convening in parliament to vote on the provisional bailout deal that would bring more austerity measures and reforms in exchange for an estimated 86 billion euros. 13,000 people reportedly participated in Wednesday’s rallies in protest of the bailout deal. Clashes broke out after unionists marched and arrived outside Greece’s parliament. Police then clashed with people who were reportedly not part of the rallies. Riot police used tear gas against 100-150 people who threw small objects as well as molotov cocktails toward them. [EU preparing immediate financial aid if proposal passes in Greek parliament] Syriza splinters ahead of crucial vote on Greece bailout deal by Christian Oliver and Henry Foy in Athens and Peter Spiegel in Brussels Financial Times, July 15 http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/db4d2f04-2b05-11e5-8613-e7aedbb7bdb7.html . . . If the Greek parliament approves the measures on Wednesday night, EU authorities are close to a deal that would immediately disburse €7bn to Athens so it would not default on a bond due to the European Central Bank on Monday. If Greece were to default on the ECB, Frankfurt would probably be forced to pull emergency loans to Greek banks, which are the only support keeping the financial sector alive. Under a compromise being worked out in Brussels, a long-dormant EU-wide rescue
[Marxism] Greece: the scissors trap
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * (This was posted on FB by Jeff Richards. It overlaps with my article on the drachma conversion issues.) Greece: The scissors trap. The story of why Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras changed his mind in the July 2015 negotiations with the European Union will, I am sure, be revealed by memoirs and investigative reporting in the future. At present any political assessment must be provisional. I am not one of those on the radical left (and the radical right in the case of Nigel Farrage) who are now letting off a lot of steam with cries of ‘treachery’ or ‘betrayal’ etc. etc. etc. Former Finance minister in the Syriza government Yanis Varoufakis, in a wide ranging interview with Phillip Adams on the radio programme Late Night Live alluded to one of the reasons why Tsipras recommitted himself to negotiations with the EU. Grexit would have required a new currency, a new Drachma. The task of creating a new currency is a very big organisational undertaking. Adams reminded the listener the vast logistical operation that was required to implement a new currency in Iraq following the invasion of that country by the Bush and Blair administrations. Varoufakis said in the interview that the new Syriza government did have plans to opt for a new currency and they had assigned a special committee to look into the matter. That committee consisted of five members, whereas Varoufakis said that they would need to have a minimum of 500 personnel to take the process of a new currency to the next level. The reason why the finance ministry (which Varoufakis was leading at the time) did not take it to this next stage was the fear that setting up such a government department would harm the negotiations with the EU ministers. So the Greek government was caught in a trap, on the one hand trying to negotiate with intransigent ministers and hoping to exploit internal divisions within the EU -between Germany and France- and on the other hand not trying to do anything that might harm the negotiations with the EU (like being seen to be creating a new currency). Greece exiting the European Currency Union (which is not the same as the European Union) is not an impossibly difficult task. It is however, a major logistical operation that would require the full mobilisation of the resources of the state, and the backing of the citizenry to implement. Syriza have alway indicated that it was their intention to try to negotiate and remain in the Euro with improved conditions. Plan B would have been to create a new currency. Syriza were simply unprepared for plan B, and were left with no option but to swallow the poison and hope they will survive without the country descending into a nazi revival. In many ways, it is an understandable why Syriza were caught unprepared. The relative newness in government, the enormity of the problems they were faced with, the urgent need to focus on meeting the needs of those left destitute by the policies of previous right wing governments. Most speculatively, I wondered if the lack of party cadres with limited experience in managing governments and state bureaucracies also played a role in the ‘turnaround’ by Tsipras. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Tsipras Stunner: Creditors Said There Is No Point In Holding Elections In Bailed Out Countries | Zero Hedge
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-14/tsipras-stunner-creditors-said-countries-under-bailout-there-no-point-holding-electi _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: McKinsey Report Highlights Failure of Large Projects: why it is better to be small, particularly in IT - Mark McDonald
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * McKinsey Report Highlights Failure of Large Projects: why it is better to be small, particularly in IT by Mark P. McDonald | October 29, 2012 | 37 Comments A recent set of studies published by McKinsey Quarterly provides further evidence that the bigger they are the harder they fall. Given that the McKinsey Quarterly’s audience is predominantly business executives rather than IT professionals, it’s important that CIOs are aware of the findings and have a reasonable response. Large projects not only fail more often they deliver less. According to the McKinsey/Oxford study half of IT projects with budgets of over $15 million dollars run 45% over budget, are 7% behind schedule and deliver 56% less functionality than predicted. That means that: At least half the time — achieving at least $15 million in benefits, requires spending $59 million full: http://blogs.gartner.com/mark_mcdonald/2012/10/29/mckinsey-report-highlights-failure-of-large-projects-why-it-is-better-to-be-small-particularly-in-it/ _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] ANSWER Coalition alternative birthright trip
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * So this landed in my inbox. W. T. F. - Amith -- Forwarded message -- From: Brian Becker, ANSWER Coalition i...@answercoalition.org Date: Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 11:06 PM Subject: A unique opportunity to travel to North Korea To: Amith Gupta amithrgu...@gmail.com [image: ANSWER Coalition] http://www.answercoalition.org/?e=b660e8971109f232942a778914b5143futm_source=answercoalitionutm_medium=emailutm_campaign=kp_announcementn=1 Dear Amith, I am writing to tell you about an exciting opportunity for people in the United States to travel legally to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea, to see, experience and learn for themselves about its people, politics, culture, geography and history. The best way to learn about any country is to experience it firsthand. This is especially true for the DPRK, Cuba, Vietnam and China. Relying on the demonized images presented by the corporate-owned mainstream media and government mouthpieces is only a recipe for ignorance and hostility. We have seen in one week's time: a historic agreement with Iran and the opening of U.S. and Cuban Embassies. It's also time time for a change in U.S. policy toward North Korea. If you want to see the DPRK firsthand you can join us in participating in what will be an amazing eight day / seven night tour that will arrive on October 6 in Pyongyang, the capital city of the DPRK. Travel to the DPRK from the United States is legal. An ever-larger number of tourists from around the world have been visiting the country, with more than 100,000 making the trip last year. An exciting *October 6-13 trip is being organized by Korea Peace Tours* http://www.answercoalition.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fkoreapeacetours.com%2Fe=b660e8971109f232942a778914b5143futm_source=answercoalitionutm_medium=emailutm_campaign=kp_announcementn=2 in partnership with Glocal Encounters tourism company. Korea Peace Tours has been established by U.S. peace activists to facilitate more people from the United States and elsewhere visiting the DPRK and experiencing the country, the culture and its people directly. [image: kpt_graphic.jpg] We in the ANSWER Coalition are encouraging people to participate in the *Korea Peace Tours' October 6-13 trip* http://www.answercoalition.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fkoreapeacetours.com%2Fe=b660e8971109f232942a778914b5143futm_source=answercoalitionutm_medium=emailutm_campaign=kp_announcementn=3 since nothing takes the place of a firsthand experience in learning about another country and another people. Please let us know quickly if you are interested since space is limited to approximately 50 people. If you are interested in joining the October 6-13 trip or simply requesting more information about the trip, just *fill out this form* http://www.answercoalition.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fkoreapeacetours.com%2Foct-2015%2Fe=b660e8971109f232942a778914b5143futm_source=answercoalitionutm_medium=emailutm_campaign=kp_announcementn=4 (located at the bottom of the linked page). *How it Works* The *itinerary* http://www.answercoalition.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fkoreapeacetours.com%2Foct-2015%2Fe=b660e8971109f232942a778914b5143futm_source=answercoalitionutm_medium=emailutm_campaign=kp_announcementn=5 for this trip is dazzling in its scope. We will visit different cities, both large and small, centers of learning and historic cultural sites; travel to the Panmujon and the DMZ, which still separates the Korean Peninsula into north and south; participate in and witness Pyongyang's celebrated mass performances as the country officially marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea; visit the historic city of Kaesong, an UNESCO World Heritage Site that was the capital of the Koryo Dynasty and is today known both for its stunning mountains and landscape, and as a commercial and political point of contact between north and south Korea; and experience the gorgeous scenery of Mt. Myohyang, an important cultural and historic site due to it being the birthplace of King Tangun, who founded the first Korean kingdom of Gojoseon in 2333 B.C. The cost for the tour is $2,480, which includes a round-trip Air Koryo ticket from Beijing to Pyongyang; seven nights of hotel accommodations in the DPRK, six of them at various 4-star hotels (double occupancy) and one at the 5-star Hyangsan Hotel (double occupancy); three meals per day; transportation throughout DPRK; DPRK Tourist Visas and Handling Fees; DPRK Guides; and the waiver of admission fees for Special Events and Concerts. Participants in the tour are responsible for their own air ticket to Beijing and will need to pay the cost for one
Re: [Marxism] Syriza CC rejects deal?
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * On Jul 15, 2015, at 3:12 PM, Dayne Goodwin daynegood...@gmail.com wrote: You probably saw the later messages from Einde and David (which i just read). There is a report at Socialist Worker http://socialistworker.org/2015/07/15/syriza-leaders-against-the-coup As you probably know, this is a sign-on type statement, not a vote at a meeting. They are demanding the convening of a Central Committee meeting. Tsipras had promised he would take the new deal to Central Committee before taking it to parliament but he is reneging now that he can't be sure of winning Central Committee. This is very important because apparently it is Syriza stricture (not governmental) that requires resignations from gov't positions when individuals defy party positions. This action raises the question that Tsipras' position is not the Syriza/party position. On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 6:19 AM, Marv Gandall via Marxism marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote: There is a report on the Guardian’s live blog that 107 of 201 Syriza central committee members have condemned the deal signed by the Tsipras government. Any confirmation of this elsewhere? Isn’t the logical outcome of these internal party tensions the expulsion or departure of the Syriza left and the formation of a coalition between Tsipras and the rest of the Syriza leadership with some combination of To Potami, New Democracy, and Pasok = before or after a general election? It’s impossible to believe the Tsipras leadership wasn’t anticipating this outcome when it struck the deal with the eurozone - in fact, the day after the referendum when it issued that joint statement with the opposition, or even well before that. If the Tsipras faction thinks the left is an annoying encumbrance and that they can carry most of the party cadre and - more important from their POV, the country - with them in the next election, they won’t be too bothered about whether their current actions are in conflict with the formal party program, wouldn’t you think? _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Yves Smith's comment
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * These are all very real potential problems. With the accent on potential. Some will require temporary workarounds - which is what governments of all kinds due during natural disasters, wars, sanctions, etc. (Perhaps the biggest/quickest changeover ever - the US conversion of auto et al. to ship/tank/etc. building - happened with no assistance from computers. Some will require reorganizing production and distribution to lessen the amount of changeover needed. Some will require negotiations with foreign businesses to cut exporters slack (which brings us back to the monopoly of foreign trade I mentioned yesterday). And eventually finding trading partners who don't want to exploit you (how dependent, by the way, is ALBA on computers? I suspect not much). I'll mention again the story told in Eden Medina's book about how the most primitive computers - and even pen and paper - were used to coordinate production and distribution during a boss lock-out in Chile. Don't get me wrong, as I've shown in my articles on computers and socialism, the more we can use computers efficiently, the better. But efficiently means finding social changes to decrease the amount of computing required. On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 4:08 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote: POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Yves Smith July 15, 2015 at 6:02 am 1. It took ten years of planning and three years of execution for the euro launch to go smoothly. 2. Badly planned and executed IT projects cannot be fixed. They generally have to be terminated. The failure rate of large IT projects is over 50%. 3. The performance standards for payments systems are extremely high. This is mission critical levels of accuracy and uptime. If you get it wrong, you are out of business very quickly. And from a national perspective, payments systems that are not up to scratch are not permitted to connect to the international “grid”. The Vatican is a noteworthy example. 4. As we have explained at considerable length in earlier posts, getting the drachma working from an IT standpoint does not just involve Greece doing its part, which is considerable, but lots of other independent parties doing their part, such as participants in the fragmented credit/debit card business. 5. Tell me how Greece survives if it has to carry on as it does now, with effectively no payments system. Importers can’t pay for imports unless they truck cash to the border, dump it into foreign banks, and then wire it to importers, or alternatively, bring it to the premises of their foreign suppliers (and some literally are doing that now). And what happens when they run out of cash on hand, as in euros? Plus even if Greece gets drachma into circulation, which is a twelve to eighteen month project (it’s not just the printing, the physical distribution, as in getting it into ATMs, is a huge task, and you also have to have the coding done to support that), foreign suppliers will want euros, so you’ll also have foreign exchange risk. Greece is not self sufficient in food and supplies will start getting tight as of the end of July. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/acpollack2%40gmail.com _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Greek parliament votes bailout plan 229 - 64; 124 from government coalition
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Snap summary: Bailout plan passes, but Tsipras is bruised Greece’s parliament has taken a crucial step towards a third bailout, by approving the economic measures required by its lenders. Guardian, July 15 http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2015/jul/15/greek-crisis-mps-bailout-imf-debt-relief-alexis-tsipras-live With 229 MPs voting yes, and just 64 voting no, Athens has now given the green light to the plan -- even though the prime minister himself admitted many of the “harsh” measures would hurt the Greek economy. This means that other European parliaments can now vote on the plan too. And it should encourage the eurozone to finalise a $7bn bridge loan later on Wednesday. Tsipras has also suffered a serious rebellion among his own ranks. Almost 40 MPs weren’t prepared to support measures which ran counter to their election pledges in January. Prominent No voters included energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis (cue uproar) and Parliamentary speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou. It’s not immediately clear how Tsipras will handle this rebellion. It could have been worse, but it’s certainly a challenge to his authority given his government only holds 162 out of 300 seats. Deal with lenders approved despite strong SYRIZA opposition I Kathimerini, Athens, July 16 http://www.ekathimerini.com/199591/article/ekathimerini/news/deal-with-lenders-approved-despite-strong-syriza-opposition Greek Parliament passed the prior actions demanded by lenders to pave the way for bridge financing and a third bailout in a vote during the early hours of Thursday morning. A total of 229 MPs voted for the measures, 64 voted against, six voted present and one was absent. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras saw 32 of his MPs vote against the measures, while another six abstained. All of the deputies from coalition partner Independent Greeks backed the legislation. This means that the number of coalition lawmakers supporting the bill remained above the 120-mark, which is the level below which the government is considered not to have a mandate to continue. . . . The opposition delivered harsh criticism against SYRIZA, and against Tsipras for his absence in the early part of the debate but also indicated they would back the bill. The leader of the centrist Potami, Stavros Theodorakis accused Tsipras of intentionally delaying an agreement with creditors as “he was afraid of his party.” He called on the premier not to keep in his government those MPs who break ranks. As for Potami, he said it would back the government on the deal “even though a much better one could have been reached.” New Democracy’s rapporteur Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Parliament that Greece “is paying very dearly for the political coming-of-age of SYRIZA.” “We believe in the depoliticization of the public administration. I strived for that as minister,” he added. “We will vote for the measures due to political conscience not due to party-imposed discipline,” he said, specifying that ND will vote for the prior actions this week and next week but that the government cannot rely on an “a la carte governing majority in which MPs can vote for some measures but not others.” _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Greece: Austerity bill passes despite SYRIZA rebellion, street protests
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * The Greek Parliament voted http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Greek-Parliament-Backs-EU-Deal-20150715-0044.html in the early hours of July 16 to back the deal agreed to by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the tough economic measures demanded by Greece's creditors. https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/59501 -- “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man Under Socialism “The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] at Jacobin: Kouvelakis on intra-Syriza developments; Gourevitch you can't be pro-euro and anti-austerity
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Cracks in the Deal? The majority of Syriza’s central committee members opposes the proposed agreement with Greece’s creditors. by Stathis Kouvelakis Jacobin magazine, July 15 https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/syriza-debt-tsipras-left-platform-kouvelakis The scene in Athens is explosive. A mass rally is being held this evening in front of the Greek Parliament, where members are voting on the proposed agreement with the country’s creditors. The majority of Syriza’s central committee members (109 of 201) say they oppose the deal. Syriza’s local and regional branches have been issuing a wave of statements calling on the leadership to withdraw the agreement. And these statements have been approved overwhelmingly, often unanimously. Yesterday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras acknowledged in an interview with the public broadcaster that the accord was bad and that he “didn’t believe in it,” but that there was basically no other solution. He also said that he was not going to jump out of the boat. In the most recent meeting of the party’s political secretariat, only a small minority backed the agreement and favored supporting the government. Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, who reported on the accord, admitted that it wasn’t politically sustainable. Many members asked for the government to resign and that a “special task” government be constituted as a transition to snap elections in November, which would coincide with those in Spain. The Left Platform of Syriza disagreed with this proposal, explaining that it would mean that Syriza MPs would condone for months a technocratic cabinet applying austerity. It instead called on the government to immediately rescind the agreement. The Left Platform also announced that it will not vote for the agreement today. In an internal meeting, impressively attended yesterday and widely reported on by the media (journalists came en masse although it was made clear that they were not welcome), Left Platform leader Panagiotis Lafazanis categorically rejected the agreement, explaining that exiting the eurozone (“Grexit”) is the only solution and that the government should prepare for it. The Left Platform will hold a public meeting next Monday in Athens to present its alternative proposal and call for Grexit. The trade-union sector of the party, overwhelmingly supportive of the Left Platform, is playing a leading role in organizing protests against the agreement. In the first test on the social mobilization front, the Civil Servants’ Confederation (ADEDY) is on strike today against the accord. While participation seems rather low, the real metric is this evening’s gathering outside parliament. — Athens, Greece, 2 PM local time You Can’t Be Pro-Euro and Anti-Austerity The horrendous proposed agreement between Greece and its creditors lays bare the euro’s anti-democratic core. by Alex Gourevitch Jacobin magazine, July 15 https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/tsipras-eurozone-varoufakis-syriza-debt Alex Gourevitch is coeditor of the Current Moment and an assistant professor of political science at Brown University. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fwd: Convert to the Drachma – Piece of Cake. Right… | naked capitalism
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Turns out that Yves Smith is a Goldman-Sachs alumni like me. She agrees totally with my drachma automation post and put it up on Naked Capitalism. Lots of interesting comments there even if most are uninformed. Columbia University, which had a pretty good IT infrastructure for a nonprofit, spent a year analyzing Y2K conversion tasks and then a year testing it. And all that was involved for the most part was looking for program code that was in an mm/dd/yy format and modifying to mm/dd/. http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/07/convert-to-the-drachma-piece-of-cake-right.html _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Damning Revelations Prompt Social Science to Rethink Its Ties to the Military
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Chronicles of Higher Education, July 15, 2015 Damning Revelations Prompt Social Science to Rethink Its Ties to the Military By Paul Voosen Subject. Patron. Source. Siren. For social scientists, the state can play many roles. As long as researchers have studied humanity and the systems we create, they have struggled to define their relationship with power. And in the United States, since World War II, that tension has centered especially on the military and its spy agencies. The dangers of that relationship came into high relief late last week, with the release of a report detailing how the American Psychological Association, a century-old scholarly group, had colluded with the U.S. military to shield practitioners of torture a decade ago. The report painted a small group of leaders as beholden to its military patrons, eager to curry favor, whatever the long-term cost. I’ve never seen anything like this, said Joy Rohde, a historian at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor who studies government and its relations with social science. Yes, personal coordination happens. Yes, orchestrated decisions happen. What is so shocking in this case, she said, is that you’ve got all of these things combined, and they’re so systemic. This should put researchers on notice, added David N. Gibbs, a history professor at the University of Arizona who studies the CIA’s influence on academe. The surge of financing that attended, especially, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan might be alluring, but it can come with a cost. I’d like to hope that this would be a wake-up call about the dangers of collaboration with intelligence services, he said. The APA’s misdeeds join a list of controversial interactions between social scientists and the military since the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the wars that followed. Most notably, they include: the Pentagon’s Human Terrain System, recently ended, which saw anthropologists deployed in war zones to study the local population; the Minerva Research Initiative, a grant program for university social scientists to study regions of strategic importance to the United States; and the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program, which finances the education of future spies. But while those programs have provided rallying points for protest, they are only the most visible manifestations of the deep ties between social scientists and the government. It’s a relationship that has been collaborative, confrontational, or often both at the same time. But at its base, it balances on a simple tension: Modern democracy believes that good policy should rest on expert knowledge. But how can that knowledge be conveyed, and employed, without biasing researchers or undermining democracy? It's not an easy question, though researchers sometimes attempt easy answers. University professors are a cosmopolitan, polyglot group, often suspicious of the exercise of U.S. military might. Debates turn political and ideological, resorting to metaphors of cancer, rather than remaining on ethics, said Ron Robin, a historian and senior vice provost for global faculty development at New York University. I don’t think that ties with government necessarily corrupt, Mr. Robin said. They can corrupt. Risks attend the fallout from the APA report, added Joseph S. Nye, a former dean of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. If you have academics saying, ‘Don’t do anything with the government, keep it at arm’s length,’ you won’t have that kind of scandal, he said. You will have something else instead. Psychology’s Allure The Cold War ushered the social sciences into the national-security world. Bolstered by the Popperian view that neither democracy nor science was possible without the other, academics shuttled down from Cambridge or Princeton for two decades, advising the Defense Department or CIA on their operations. In 1956 the U.S. Army opened its Special Operations Research Office on the campus of American University. The patronage helped legitimate social science within the academy, making it less a junior partner to the hard sciences: By 1961 a physicist told Robert McNamara, the defense secretary, that World War III, if it came, might well have to be considered the social scientists’ war. Psychology presented a particular allure to the military. Most prominently, given the nature of war, the military has a vast need for the services of the discipline’s practitioners in caring for its troops, a truism that has grown only stronger over time. But beyond that, nearly every aspect of psychologists’ remit could be seen
[Marxism] Greek deputy EconMin Valvani quits
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Deputy finance minister resigns over Greek bailout It’s official. Nadia Valavani, deputy finance minister, has resigned from Alexis Tsipras’s government just hours before the parliament votes on the bailout package. As flagged earlier, Valavani has told Tsipras that it is “impossible” for her to keep serving in his government, given the austerity measures he had agreed to. In a letter released by the finance ministry, Valavani warned that Greece faced a “crushing” capitulation at the hands of its creditors in Brussels. The bailout terms were not a “viable solution” to Greece’s problems, she insisted, warning: The solution imposed today in such a depressing way is not sustainable for the Greek people and for the country. http://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2015/jul/15/greek-crisis-mps-bailout-imf-debt-relief-alexis-tsipras-live#block-55a63c95e4b07f297df30084 _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Convert to the Drachma – Piece of Cake. Right… | naked capitalism
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Yes, I remember when all those separate currencies made the transition *TO* the euro, how entire societies fell into chaos and barbarism, dogs were fighting humans for flesh from rotting corpses, and how all the economists agreed it should never have been attempted. On Wed, Jul 15, 2015 at 8:27 AM, Louis Proyect via Marxism marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu wrote: POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * Turns out that Yves Smith is a Goldman-Sachs alumni like me. She agrees totally with my drachma automation post and put it up on Naked Capitalism. Lots of interesting comments there even if most are uninformed. Columbia University, which had a pretty good IT infrastructure for a nonprofit, spent a year analyzing Y2K conversion tasks and then a year testing it. And all that was involved for the most part was looking for program code that was in an mm/dd/yy format and modifying to mm/dd/. http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/07/convert-to-the-drachma-piece-of-cake-right.html _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/acpollack2%40gmail.com _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Panitch gets some crucial things right
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * His new column, The Denouement. http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/1143.php 1. Were Tsipras to call instead for Grexit today there might finally be a small majority of the population who would respond positively to this. At the least, as one very knowledgeable political scientist who has been closely involved in Synaspismos and Syriza since the beginning assured me last night, there would be a million people chanting Tsipras's name in Syntagma tonight. This would obviate the no less palpable anxiety among such people that Golden Dawn will be the beneficiary of this denouement. 2. While speculating on the (very real) dangers that could flow from a grexit, he adds: But above all, could the ingenuity and resourcefulness shown by the more than 400 Solidarity networks that blossomed in the course of the crisis really be quickly enough expanded and built upon to convert patterns of production and consumption on a broad enough scale to counter these negative developments? YES! Those networks - one of whose leaders the Greek Solidarity movement recently toured in the US - are an invaluable place to begin putting workers, pensioners, women and youth in control of the grexit and reconstruction process. http://www.cpdweb.org/events/Greek-solidarity-tour.shtml _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Convert to the Drachma – Piece of Cake. Right… | naked capitalism
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * On 7/15/15 9:21 AM, Andrew Pollack wrote: Yes, I remember when all those separate currencies made the transition *TO* the euro, how entire societies fell into chaos and barbarism, dogs were fighting humans for flesh from rotting corpses, and how all the economists agreed it should never have been attempted. No, that did not happen but then again it took a number of years to design and implement new systems. Speaking of which, I got a chuckle out of one comment at Naked Capitalism: Edward Qubain July 15, 2015 at 8:14 am Can Greece survive for a while with a non-IT currency? That is how countries operated 100 years ago. He was answered by Nathan Tankus who is *for* a Grexit but who recommended my article to Smith, who is also *for* a Grexit. I should mention that Nathan's dad has worked in IT for many years at a higher level than me and probably knows the terrain from conversations with his dad. Nathan Tankus July 15, 2015 at 8:24 am a currency is internationally useful because it lines up with the standards of that society. An IT system transported back 100 years wouldn’t be all that useful for a currency in international terms because all these IT systems are designed to interact with IT systems around the world. Without electronic trading of the currency (which requires an IT transition) no one will transact in Drachmas internationally because the FX risk is literally incalculable. It would of course be used domestically and there would be a cash exchange rate with the Euro but not much beyond that. if you’re a Greek who consumes food to survive, uses electricity and/or has some basic medical needs you may question your ability to survive in that case. _ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tsipras will rely on opposition to beat Syriza rebels in vote
POSTING RULES NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. * FT, July 14, 2015 11:10 pm Tsipras will rely on opposition to beat Syriza rebels in vote Henry Foy and Eleftheria Kourtali in Athens Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, will rely on opposition lawmakers to shore up his fractious Syriza party in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday where fresh austerity measures must be passed to unlock €86bn of crucial financial support. However, the process could leave his government in tatters. Locked in his Maximos Mansion for a day of meetings with senior party officials, Mr Tsipras spent Tuesday attempting to suppress a rebellion within Syriza and drawing up plans for Wednesday’s hastily arranged vote; the outcome will be a litmus test of his leadership, and of the allegiance of MPs within his mutinous anti-austerity party. Since returning from a bruising weekend in Brussels with his country’s creditors, culminating in a 17-hour meeting in which he agreed to stomach the intrusive EU package, one of his MPs has resigned and another has vowed to do the same once he has voted against the deal. A further 28 MPs from Mr Tsipras’s coalition government have vowed not to vote in favour of the measures, which have been condemned by some as a betrayal of their party’s beliefs. “I took crucial decisions . . . I will not allow anyone to judge whether my decisions suit the left,” Mr Tsipras said in a television interview on Tuesday evening. “The text we brought back from Brussels is very bad,” he said in a wide-ranging defence of his decision to accept the package. “[But] we had on the table a deal or Grexit.” The resulting rebellion will force the Greek prime minister to rely on votes from his centrist and centre-right opposition, who have pledged their support for the package but appear unwilling to entertain the idea of a national coalition government. Mr Tsipras will therefore have to either dump his non-compliant lawmakers after the vote, and risk having a minority administration, or tolerate their disobedience. Mr Tsipras also faces a difficult time with the country’s parliamentary speaker, Zoe Konstantopoulou, one of Syriza’s most outspoken anti-austerity figures. Ms Konstantopoulou, known for her vicious verbal attacks on opposition MPs in parliament and her heavy-handed attitude in the chamber, did not support the prime minister’s plan to negotiate a new bailout package last week. She has the power to disrupt or delay the crucial vote, and can be removed only by a no-confidence ballot. Mr Tsipras said late on Tuesday that expelling MPs from his party was “not in his culture”, and that fresh elections were not in his “immediate intentions”, suggesting that he would seek to soldier on despite the backbench dissent. “I will do everything in my power to keep Syriza together,” the prime minister said in his interview with ERT, a pro-government channel. “I respect the position and attitude of every MP . . . Everyone from an institutional role decides how they will respond to their responsibility based on conscience. The fact that we are institutional leaders does not mean we are dictators. Details of the bill, named the “Emergency measures for the negotiation and agreement with the European Stability Mechanism” were released on Tuesday. They spell out the numerous tax, social security and pension reforms that Greece’s European partners have said must be passed on Wednesday if they are to open talks on a fresh €86bn bailout to save the country from bankruptcy. Panayiotis Lafazanis, the energy minister and a fierce critic of Mr Tsipras’s attempts to strike a new deal with creditors, urged his fellow Syriza MPs on Tuesday to block the package. He described it as “unacceptable and unworthy of being credited to a radical party like Syriza and a fighting government which pledged to abolish the memorandums and austerity”. Describing the country’s creditors as “financial assassins” and accusing them of treating Greece “as though it were their colony”, Mr Lafazanis said in a statement: “The government and the prime minister himself, even in the final hour, have the right and the opportunity to reposition themselves, and take back the deal before any final and conclusive decisions are taken by parliament.” The leader of the Independent Greeks, a nationalist party that Mr Tsipras relies on to give his coalition a parliamentary majority, said on Tuesday that its 13 MPs will not back any measures agreed by the prime minister in Brussels that were not part of a pre-summit agreement struck with Greek lawmakers before Mr Tsipras met the country’s creditors. “The deal that Tsipras went to accept
