The Bewilderness

A strategy for growth in Greece: parachute in the tax inspectors

Next month, we will be able to read the results of a new strategy for growth in Greece. This is from the same set of countries that has decided to send a flood of experts to aid the Greek government. Would this be a charitable donation of professionals to plug the gap left by an unendng stream of migrants seeking better lives and lower taxes elsewhere? When one sees the rise in poverty and hardship, one sees the disconnect between the creditors and those suffering.

Europe is helping Greece out by sending tax collectors. This currently counts as the only growth industry in the entire country. If the bloodletting of recession is not sufficient, European vampires wish to siphon what demand is left by "identifying" tax evaders and seizing their assets. 

This is part of Greece's permanent subordination; from Member State to paralysis. More revolting is the lack of pride by the citizenry in their own country. Their abject servitude before unelected appointees who have effectively disenfranchised their voice and tax them without representation.

We see the limits of the model. Soon, Europe will have to narrow the choice of political parties, since Member States may vote in a way unhelpful to the Project. Thank God we are travelling towards the exit.

A Niagara of gush in a loveless relationship

Whatever the occasion, we can expect the same gushing PR on the 'special relationship' that usually suspends any thoughtful analysis on the occasions that the British Prime Minister visits their most important ex-colony.Hillary Clinton explained that "No matter what the issue, we stand together", except when we stand apart. The faux niceties do disguise genuine rifts between Obama's administration and the Coalition.

Even more ludicrous was Obama's assertion that the relationship is the strongest that it has ever been: that it would be, British diplomats are bending over backwards even more than they used to. But on litmus tests that attract popular attention, America fails:

Bruce Bagley, a Latin America scholar at the University of Miami, says the administration’s stance on the Falklands is not surprising as the United States tries to bolster its relationships in South America.

“The U.S. sees no benefit in taking a stance at this point,” he says. “There are claims on both sides, and (the U.S.) would like to see a diplomatic resolution rather than it to heat up and revert to the bad old days.”

I suspect that we should take the same stance over the next issue that arises with regard to the USA. A seasoned analysis based on our national interests leading to whatever stance is appropriate, not unthinking acceptance (even if it means misleading Parliament like the last Labour government).

The health bill gathers pace

The most contentious bill currently on the Coalition's agenda is the watered down health and social services bill. This anodyne, diluted echo of Blairite reform is now opposed by both Labour and left-wing Liberal Democrats ("we should be in Labour but ended up in the wrong party).

The bill has faced a series of motions set down by the Labour party ("Official Opposition") and Liberal Democrat party ("In power but opposing"), both in the Commons and, soon, in the Lords. All of the current motions against the bill have been defeated, quite comfortably. Liberal Democratic outrage at the activist edges is not derailing the government plans on health. 

Desperately seeking subsidy

There is a lot of confusion over the status of Scotland if the vote for independence were to achieve its goal. Scottish nationalists argue that Scotland and what dismissively is referred to as 'the rest' would both have equal rights as successor states. This is certainly a new one for me. Secession equals two new states: not an existing United Kingdom and an independent Scotland.

Such semantics and screwball definitions are par for the Scottish nationalists; their desperation to get European subventions to replace ours is cringeworthy. Scotland without Europe will leave the subsidy junkies without a fix. Not that the English are much better in supping from Nanny's teat.

The Liberal Democrat Shriek 2012

The Liberal Democrats faced a stormy Spring Conference. Activists were vocal in their antipathy to the health bill and wished to see the legislation withdrawn. They also wished to ram through the 'mansion tax': a tax on property over certain values, and a dealbreaker with the Tories. The collectivist base: a party rooted in the producer interests of public sector professionals, proved as reactionary as their Labour counterparts.

Since their entry into the Coalition, the Liberal Democrat activist base has shrunk and moved to the Left. Faced with electoral defeat, they are shouting at a higher octave on the values and policies that they belive people wish to hear. But they cannot square the circle between public services and tax: playing the envy card has not worked either.

The more that the Tory leadership provides Clegg with figleafs; the more will be demanded by the Liberal Democrat activist base. A fear of electoral defeat outweighs coalition needs and encourages this irresponsibility. Since the cycle of feeding cannot continue indefinitely, will a new dynamic sustain Coalition politics? Or will a leftist Liberal Democrat purge split the party between 'Yellow Tories' and 'Real Labour'?

Right now, the Liberal Democrats seem to be Labour as they used to be....

No secrets in Europe

Der Spiegel is running rampant with its report of a secret pact between Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy to snub Hollande, the socialist candidate for French President. This is the pact that was so secret everyone knew that Merkel was supporting Sarkozy. And their path to success: avoid meeting the candidate.

What leaves this reportage rather lean is the inclusion of Cameron. Some German reporter leapt on the studied neutrality of the British government and misread this as support. Not sure this can be seen as co-ordinated though  some have viewed this as a "hostile and reactionary" coalition.

If Cameron has joined such a short-sighted and idiotic campaign, then he deserves as much of a kicking as Sarkozy will receive from the irritated French electorate. Unless Cameron hinted, reverse psychology, to obtain revenge against the short-arse Napoleon.

Russia's Napoleonic phase

Various articles over the past months have drawn the conclusion that a Putin victory would provide clear evidence that his days were numbered. One heard similar voices in support of the Green movement in Iran. Protests are not necessarily evidence of the end of a regime. Popular discontent must go hand-in-hand with division in the elites and an unwillingness to rule without legitimacy.

Putin has quickly moved to defend his rule through unfair elections and ballot rigging. By the end of a vote which Putin won with 60%, avoiding a run-off, there were 3,500 reported instances of fraud, from subtle manipulation of voters to blatant bribery and ballot stuffing. Most of this actiivty was undertaken at a local level by municipal officials eager to keep their positions and influence by meeting the Kremlin's requirements for a winning vote.

A protest is planned for Monday in Moscow. With such outbursts and Putin's obvious move towards authoritarianism, are his current supporters happy with a backward move away from modernisation? Putin may have won the vote but his peers must be unhappy with his strategy. Wrapping himself in Russia's glory is not a substitute for stability.

Like Napoleon of the Second Empire, votes are there for the master, not the people.