Debt and Usury, The Greek Example

A couple of weeks ago, htpcl wrote a fine piece concerning the current Greek political situation and the rise of the extremist parties in the face of economic collapse and chaos. He made some excellent points, noting how the far-left Alexis Tsipras and ultra-nationalist Panos Kammenos have been making political points demonizing the centrist parties New Democracy and PASOK:

Tsipras . . . sensed the pulse and the big pain of the Greeks and, together with the far-right Kammenos, he said the old big parties like New Democracy and PASOK should be punished for all the evils they've brought upon the country. Now, obviously those really did fuck up big time in the recent decades, but meanwhile some of their achievements are being conveniently omitted in the Tsipras and Kammenos speeches. Like the EU entry (1980, New Democracy's achievement), the Euro-zone entry (2001, PASOK), the well organized Olympic games (2004, PASOK and then New Democracy), and the rising living standard overall. Unsustainable living standard though, and that's the main problem.

(I added emphasis)

I emboldened that phrase because, the more I delve into this whole economics thing from what some are calling a "post-Keynesian" perspective, the more I stumble on to the fact that those very achievements "being conveniently omitted" ( might be a proximal actual cause of Greece's troubles today. )

X-Posted to talk_politics.