Weekend Economists Celebrate Harry Potter's 35th Birthday July 31st, 2015

[Demeter]

15. The big mistake admitted by Alexis Tsipras

http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2015/07/the-big-mistake-admitted-by-alexis.html

The most important statement came at the end of the recent interview with the Greek PM Alexis Tsipras. In the last question by the journalist Kostas Arvanitis, concerning his biggest mistake over the last months, Tsipras said:

"I said that in case of a collision with the dominant forces in Europe, it should be done soon. We were dragged into a negotiation which was a continuous attrition of our flesh. Of course, it was not an easy decision to say 'I will not pay', but we had always the hope that the democratic values of Europe, the solidarity, etc., would give an exit. Mistakes were made, but I feel proud for this battle. All the figures can be improved, we have a very hard road ahead of continuous struggle in order to achieve as much as we can for the popular interests."

Indeed, the hesitation to give the fight soon probably had a cost, however, no one can say surely how things would be today if the Greek government had chosen the conflict straight after the first contact with the creditors. For that reason, Tsipras may not believe one hundred percent that this was a big mistake, since all this process of the negotiations until today, despite the humiliating truce with the euro-dictatorship, resulted in a big gain: the change of attitude of the European people on Greece, as they started to realize that eurozone has become a financial dictatorship.

Additionally, this process brought the first "fractures" in the supposed solid and tough monetary union.

The biggest mistake by Tsipras was probably the fact that he didn't fully realize who was standing at the opposite side of the table. Therefore, he was not prepared fully to confront the opponent. We warned him through this blog that he was dealing with the most cruel representatives of the European plutocracy. That he should get prepared quickly for a big, tough battle. In any case, another big gain from the whole story of the negotiations was the Greek referendum which may inspire the other European people in the future. Despite the final defeat in the current battle, the Greek people marked a significant win against unprecedented propaganda and extreme psychological blackmail through closed banks. The Greek people inside such war conditions said a clear 'NO' to the neoliberal policies of destruction. This was a big defeat for the oligarchy already because it shows the road of resistance to the other Europeans who suffer from cruel austerity, but also exposed the real face of the eurozone as a financial dictatorship. This explains to a great extent why the plutocrats mobilized all their means inside and outside Greece, even to postpone the referendum, but they failed. The damage has already done for them.

On the other hand, the first clouds are gathering above the Greek government. Yesterday's SYRIZA conference showed that the radical part of Tsipras' party is very disappointed with the latest humiliating and disastrous agreement with the creditors. Many start to talk about the break up of SYRIZA which would make easier oligarchs' plans concerning the mutation of the Left. Everything will be clarified after the crucial conference of the party in September, probably after a final deal with the creditors.

The battle against the European Financial Dictatorship continues. The next battlefield will be the elections in Spain, Portugal, and, probably in Greece ...