Sunday, July 19, 2015

Not Yet Checkmate, But Close, Links

What's happening in Greece makes Crassus look dignified. Moderate citizens assuming they live in a European Civilization have now been disabused. A situation so fluid now exists that no one can say how it will resolve, but the bad faith with regard to representative government in the Euro zone is now on open display. Neither the electorates of Greece nor Europe, nor the emperor have had their final say, but that Finland can block a deal or that NATO can force one both belie all democratic pretenses.

It is not to late for Europe to save itself, but the precipice is near. If Eurocrats continue to terrorize the victims of corruption rather than the perpetrators, as they have done now in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece while threatening the Italians and French, men with guns will take from them such power as they have. At present it is the comparatively benign guns of NATO insisting on a civilizational deal, but should this fail more radical alternatives are preparing themselves in the wings.

The Eurocrats seem quite happy with the men with guns they've supported and who support them in Finland, Spain and Latvia, but at some point men with guns will not brook bureaucratic power and will turn. And this will complete the cycle. What Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Spain and Portugal all have in common is their recent military dictatorships. While this governmental structure has formally expired in each instance, it's residue of power constitutionally unscripted lives on and is what we like to call "corruption" when it is not found in our allies. Tariq Ali summarizes below.

Athens Dairy: Tariq Ali: LRB
Plus Ca Change: Neil Clark: RT

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Links

Greek Lives Don't Mater: Ed Walker: EmptyWheel
Setting Them Up For Slaughter: Raul Ilargi: The Automatic Earth
Neo-Liberal Seas: Ian Urbina: New York Times
It's Not Just Fox News: Thomas Frank: Salon
Fixing Money: Adrian Kuzminski: ClubOrolov

Money is an IOU from civilization. Those who would prefer gold would prefer that they owe nothing to the civilization that feeds them and wish they could extract the richness that is civilization and carry pieces of it away for themselves.

In their folly they cannot see that any piece they pull free and abscond with is worthless once absented from civilization.

Gold, art, real estate, and any financial assets are worthless without the dense network of human bonds that give them what value they have within consensual networks of exchange, only within the constraints of civilization does this so called wealth bear fruit.

War, an acute absence of civilization, is the perennial reminder that it is civilization that lends value to wealth, not the other way around, need we be reminded?