THE GREEN PARTY WAS RIGHT TO OPPOSE THE EURO FOR REASON OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
The Greek economic bailout may have been approved but the Greek people who the economy is meant to serve will see little of this. Rather it will go to its debtors, the banks, in order to keep Greece, and the Euro, afloat rather than allow default and for the Greek people to restructure its economy.
"The most important point is that the Greek situation is symbolic of the way we have lost democratic control over our economies to the financiers. As in Argentina after their defaut in 2000, once a country is out of the debt-austerity debt spiral and devalues its currency it can bounce back very quickly. Economic crisis means the powerful preserve the value of their assets while the vulnerable lose their - so a politically negotiated orderly default is better than a market-driven chaotic crisis." Molly Scott Cato, Green Economist
We, at the Green Party, believe that the Greek people need to be allowed a referendum and if they so choose, to default on their debt, and bow out of the Eurozone in order to take control over their own economy and restructure it to work for the people rather than the banks.
The Euro has proven itself as a currency not focused on the real economy of the people it is meant to serve but of private interests and these austerity measures are showcasing its real intentions; to protect the financial economy at any cost, even at the livelihood of the people.
European nations have done everything in their power to keep the Euro afloat, so much so that they have lost track of what is of real importance. With Greece's arms tied behind their backs austerity measures are being pushed upon them and are fought for by a former banker and "technocrat" PM, ignoring democratic principles as the people riot and the city of Athens burns.
Austerity measures aren't working. The way for them to build the real economy is to increase demand, encourage employment, and to revert to the drachma. At the moment the Greek people are being handcuffed into a system that sees their jobs flee, unemployment rise, and quality of life plummet.
Greece must not allow itself to be forced by the German Government and the private interests of European and American banks to be led down a road where the people of Greece are made to suffer decades of hardship, held prisoner to a currency its economy can not support and outside demands its government can not uphold.
The Euro has proven itself to be anti-democracy, pro-private interests, and willing to do anything it must to survive. We must allow Greece to leave behind the quagmire that is the Euro which has failed to create a united Europe but rather intensified its differences.