Pass the ouzo

Be careful what you vote for ...

By Clive Hal

The voters have spoken; well 65% of them in Greece and 80% in France; a lot better than the mayoral junket in London. In none of the locations were the voters given a candidate worthy of the name. In France the “anyone but Sarkozy” vote squeezed in at 51.6% of the valid votes cast; hardly a resounding victory. Nearly 6% of the eligible voters turned up but spoiled their ballot papers – in effect saying “what choice have you given me?” So only 38% of France went for hollandaise sauce.

 How they will be able to afford this (g)astronomic libation to the Gods of “Equalité” was not sufficiently discussed other than the mob appeal of taxing the rich bastards, who no doubt will have already arranged their affairs to pay far less than the 75% imposition. It reminds me of Denis Healey, before he himself became part of the landed gentry, saying he would tax the rich “until the pips squeak”; thus begetting the UK’s supremely efficient tax avoidance industry.

 In Greece it was even more divisive. With 32 parties standing they have three days to cobble together the Big Fat Raving Monster Euro Moussaka coalition which will be in charge of ouzo production. Growth in this part of the economy is essential as there won’t be any anywhere else and as it slowly dawns on the rag bag of ultra left and right that there is no more money, “austerity”, as defined by the Bundeskanzlerin, will seem like a golden opportunity missed; so pass the bottle Spyros oblivion beckons…

All this talk of promoting growth rather than austerity misses the point entirely. Who is going to give the Greeks, or the French for that matter, the amounts of money they would need to fill the almighty hole in which they find themselves along with most of the rest of Europe, the UK and dare I say it the US? If your answer involves a central bank don’t pass Go and head straight for jail which is where the banksters and their politico/media fan club should all be anyway.

 It is quite extraordinary that the propaganda machine allows people to vote against austerity but yet somehow to think that the answer lies within a single currency regime run by a group of deluded politicians who think they understand the laws of economics, which, by the way, aren’t working for anyone right now and arguably never have. It’s not just a “dismal science” it is not even a science at all!

 In the days to come the pressure on the new governments from the axis powers in Brussels, Frankfurt and Berlin to toe the line will be hard for them to resist. The voters may not have understood entirely what they were voting for nor how they would achieve it, but they will be less than happy to find their democratic voice silenced.

 History doesn’t repeat itself but it does rhyme and Harry Truman understood the issues we face when he said, “Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic rivalry and social injustice.” Be careful what you vote for, because you may get it. Hard and good.