In recent weeks Greece has experienced a significant escalation of class struggles, in opposition to the policies of the government in Athens, the “Troika” and “the Memorandum.” It is clear that the German bourgeoisie and its government, along with other performers in the EU, play a major role in these policies. This is not surprising because the interests of European — and thus above all of German — capital are at stake for well-known reasons. From this viewpoint, the presentation of the “Greek debt crisis,” of “bankrupt Greece” etc. in the German mass media makes sense. The press, from the Bild newspaper to the magazine Focus, started its racist campaign last year, accompanied by the “balanced” and “objective” reporting in newspapers such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, TAZ, Frankfurter Rundschau, SPIEGEL-online, etc. This continues until the present day. The bottom line is well known: Greece and possibly other countries in the European periphery, characterized as countries PIGS or PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) since last year, are economically weak (or for various reasons unreliable or deceitful or irresponsible) and could drag other EU countries, which conduct their business on a “more serious” basis (especially Germany, of course) into the vortex of economic downturn. It’s all painfully familiar, a line disseminated in thousands of printed pages and other mass media. This could all trigger a serious crisis, even affect or destroy the savings of ordinary citizens, or of Germany’s total population, as a leading FDP politician warned.

One should add that this propaganda is “objectively” based, on “indisputable facts,” and therefore distributes twisted half-truths in a way that strikes a chord in the consuming public, appeals to legitimate and deep-seated fears in Germany—and not only there as the electoral success of right-wing parties in Holland, Finland, Austria and elsewhere show. These fears are clearly being directed toward certain goals. This is the best and most convincing way to identify the scapegoats on whom the deepening and ever more threatening capitalist crisis will be blamed.

Particularly striking is the fact that it appears impossible to successfully resist this bourgeois posturing, that there are hardly any counter-voices speaking out against such propaganda — especially in Germany. It is, therefore, of particular importance to oppose this monolithic barrage, to point out consistently that the real causes for the crisis must be sought in the exercise of power by international finance-capital and big business. It is precisely German capital and its governments which produce, reproduce, exacerbate, and mercilessly exploit the weakness of the European periphery to their own advantage. This must be explained again and again and disseminated as widely as possible. Only the left, particularly the anti-capitalist and internationalist revolutionary forces, can conceivably take on this task, and it is therefore incumbent upon them to do so.

 Reformist concepts and the real situation

In Germany there is “The Left Party” (PDL) and various other organizations—such as the DGB unions, ATTAC, etc.—which sometimes deal in a relatively sympathetic way with the issue of Greece. E.g. Gregor Gysi has stated that the so-called help for Greece will not support, but destroy the country. That is absolutely true. Therefore a solution should be proposed that would not create suffering for 85-90% of the Greek population, but weigh instead on the profits of the German, French, Greek etc. banks and financial institutions. The central idea of ATTAC, but also of the PDL leadership, seems to be the so-called “participation of private banks and other financial institutions” in the “rescue packages for Greece.” This has failed so far because such participation must be “voluntary,” while a more determined reformist approach might be to force these institutions to involve themselves in assistance of this type. That would constitute a “socially responsible” policy in the sense of a “limited” rescue of bank profits, compatible with a plan that starts from the fundamental stability of the international capitalist system. It reflects an effort to reform a system which—from the point of view used by a left-reformist party to think about and design its policies—must not be called into question.

We should not rashly reject or ignore such solutions. All proposals that might improve the situation of the workers and of the oppressed in Greece are welcome. It is obvious that such approaches are endorsed by the reformist left in Greece, particularly by SYN / SYRIZA and by economists belonging to this camp, for example Kostas Vergopoulos. It cannot be ruled out that they will reach some popularity at a certain point, even though these reformist forces are not considered “responsible” enough by the ruling elites to participate in government. In the future, however, one cannot exclude that government coalitions of a “popular front” type (i.e. left-wing governments that operate under the existing state and social order, do not point to any real way out of the capitalist crisis in the direction of socialist transformation and are therefore doomed to fail) could appear under certain circumstances. KKE (the Greek CP) also operates with slogans such as “people’s power,” “popular front,” and “popular economy.”

It is somewhat problematic, however, that articles appear even on the leading website of the 4^th International (International Viewpoint - IV) with a similar line of reasoning, and are presented as “our” (semi-) official opinion on the debt problem in general, also specifically about Greece. Comrade Eric Toussaint recently published the contribution “Core vs. Periphery in the EU” [1]. He correctly points out that the dominant economic mechanisms within the EU—along with the “neo-mercantilist” policy pursued by the richer states (namely Germany, the Netherlands and Austria) for the creation of a low-wage sector through wage cuts— have increased their competitiveness and current account balances at the expense of other countries, especially of southern and eastern Europe. One also has to take other factors into consideration, such as the increasing penetration of German capital, especially in Greece, since the introduction of the euro. Moreover, previously existing barriers for capital exchange between the countries have been removed.

Furthermore, the results of interest-profiteering at the expense of the indebted countries in the periphery (Germany, France and Austria take on loans at an interest rate of 2%, but they award them to Greece at 5.2%) lead to a huge value or surplus value transfer from the economically weaker countries to the center of the EU. In short, “there is indeed a drain of resources from the periphery to the center,“as the article states. Since last year, in particular German financial and big business started benefitting from the increasing exploitation of Greece. Certainly, the IMF plays, in the context of the”troika," an important role, but the main carriers of the debt policy in the case of Greece are the ruling classes of the major EU countries. Particularly outrageous is the fact that this transfer of resources is paid for by a severe curtailment of wages, salaries, pensions, and with a massive loss of jobs, also with the closure of schools and hospitals and thus with a rapid depletion and the imminent and already ongoing impoverishment of broad layers. One should also keep in mind that the average standard of living in Greece has always been much lower than e.g. in Germany. (The fact that the solutions suggested by comrade Toussaint, however, are not very convincing, is to be explained further below.)

 Peculiarities of the German-Greek relations

The economic, political and human relations between Germany and Greece, as they have developed in the 20^th century and after 2000, could hardly be closer. German companies and German capital are massively represented in Greece. Germany is the main trading partner for Greece, as they say. Hundreds of thousands of Greeks worked in Germany or continue to live there. It goes almost without saying, however, that the above-mentioned situation has a direct impact on the image of Germany and of the German people in the eyes of the majority of the Greek population. Since the views of the German mainstream mass media generally encounter very little and only an inadequate response, this critical attitude in Greece does have a real basis. In addition, the years of German occupation of Greece (1941-44) have, understandably, not been forgotten and will not be, while the details of the atrocities of the occupying power are little known in Germany.

One of these details is not only outstanding reparation payments from WW II but also claims arising from the “Credit Agreement” dated 14/03/1942. The occupying powers of Germany and Italy forced Greece to accept this agreement that meant nothing but an unscrupulous pillage of Greece, making it even pay for the costs of occupation, among other things. The governments of (West) Germany after 1950 and after 1990 have done everything in their power not to recognize and to ignore the legitimate claims of Greece. An article by T.M. Iliadakis, published in the June issue of the Sozialistische Zeitung (SoZ), refers quite rightly to this scandalous situation. A few days ago, the French economist Jacques Delpla also discussed the same topic, for whatever reason, and assessed the amount of incurred claims of Greece to Germany at € 575 billion. Whether this number is accurate or not there can be no doubt that the legitimate demands are immense.

The German left would do well if it took serious this historical issue and drew public attention to it whenever possible—no matter what people in their favorite pubs may think about it or whether this issue is electorally “opportune” for the PDL, e.g. Apart from this peculiarity of the German-Greek relations left over from the past, at least for the internationalist Left it has always been clear that debt claims, with interest and compound interest on the part of the IMF and international finance capital, need to be rejected in principle and completely. Therefore our demand has always been the complete debt cancellation for all countries concerned.

The main slogan of the resistance movement in Greece (“We owe nothing, we do not sell, we do not pay!”) is consistent not only with the known facts about recent years and decades, it is also absolutely justified — because it means nothing less than the defense of social rights, of the working conditions and of the living standard for the vast majority of the population. These things were won in oftentimes bloody struggles of the workers’ movement and are now to be bulldozed. It is not the fault of the Greek masses that this slogan is inconsistent with the rule of Greek and international finance capital/big business. This fact simply reveals that it is the capitalist system of the EU, largely controlled by the ruling class of Germany and its governments after 2000 which is bankrupt, and not Greece.

 Is there an alternative?

Thus the question about the alternative to the economic, social and other European policies currently being carried out is posed. Comrade Toussaint suggests in his article to revise the current financial policy in principle, since the political power “set the ECB over the governments and thus above the peoples,” so that “the EU made a disastrous choice: it subjected man to money instead of the other way around.” Comrade Toussaint draws the following conclusion: “The neo-liberal logic has resulted in the crisis and proved a failure. It pushed social indicators down: less social protection, fewer jobs, less public services. . . . More than ever we must strive toward another Europe based on cooperation between the states and solidarity among peoples. This new, democratized Europe must strive to establish non negotiable principles. It must uphold and improve social and fiscal justice, and make decisions that will raise the living standards of its inhabitants.” Comrade Toussaint adds some other anti-military, environmental, and immigrant demands, so that Europe “can become a partner trusted for its fairness and true solidarity towards the peoples of the South.” (Asia, Africa, Latin America)

It appears that the reasoning of Comrade Toussaint has certain weak points. It is very doubtful whether the misery of the EU - governments and the ECB has to be attributed only to the “neo-liberal logic.” It seems more likely that the functioning of the capitalist system itself inevitably leads ever deeper into crisis. In this sense, the analyses of the Marxist “classics” (especially of Marx himself) are of high relevance to the present situation. “Another" better capitalism will hardly be achievable, especially since the capitalist crisis erupted openly in 2008. So it would be about time to put a challenge to the system on our agenda—at least analytically, but also programmatically and in our propaganda. And thus an updated version of the transitional program should move to the center of the political approach particularly of the internationalist, anti-capitalist and revolutionary left. This would be a promising way for the European workers’ movement to prepare for the coming class struggles.

Andreas Kloke, Athens, July 5, 2011