WHAT the people of Greece are going through is certainly a crime against humanity! We are seeing a human tragedy unfolding in front of our eyes where people are driven to suicide; ending up homeless; sleeping rough in the streets; banks repossessing homes while marriages and families are shattered.
There is the stench of desperation in the air…! Greek citizens are experiencing a national calamity that will take years to recover, if ever! Worse, this burgeoning economic tsunami will certainly wreck other EU countries; Portugal is the next likely victim; and all this, because of the Big Lie!
A worried man, the European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso declared that, “the present financial, economic and social crisis in the EU has resulted in a crises of confidence and trust not seen in decades”, and urged the European Central Bank (ECB), to “do everything in its power to maintain financial stability in the euro zone”. His statements confirm the public view, that banks today, control political, economic and decision-making policies affecting entire nations.
Never in the history of mankind has so much power been concentrated into the hands of so few institutions such as the banks, and yet, governments go along with this criminality at the expense of their own people. It seems that governments are for governments…and not for the people!
Could it happen in Cyprus?
Can a similar predicament develop in Cyprus? Most probably, yes! The signs are not only obvious, but they are written on the wall for everyone to see… A few years ago, Cyprus enjoyed zero unemployment, a good trade balance and had a surplus of funds in the kitty: all excellent indicators for a sustained growth! That positive economic climate has now evaporated into thin air. The government has accrued over 1.0 billion Euros in debt and is now looking to borrow an additional 2.5 billion to service its national debt – certainly a massive burden for the taxpayer.
To understand the Big Lie one has to look at the creation of the European Union. It is also necessary to make it abundantly clear, that the EU, it’s neither a country nor a nation, but a corporation aimed to control entire nations. A Frenchman named Jean Monnet, believed that Europe should be fused into one supra-corporation – like the Zollverein (1834) did for Germany. He set up his deceitful trap in motion: first came the Common Market, then it progressively changed into the European Economic Community and later to become European Community and finally European Union.
Promises of free trade and prosperity became the buzzword, but in reality, no government disclosed the hidden agenda behind the entire exercise of fusing independent nations together. This social and economic supra-corporation was to be controlled by bankers and a horde of inglorious politicians. To convince the public, they built-up peoples’ expectations with empty promises, until the trap was finally tightly shut; the EU had been transformed into a political entity rather than an economic community…and the ECB, has become the controlling master for more than 450 million Europeans.
So much for democracy
Cyprus behaved no differently than the rest of the European governments! Obsessed with an ungodly policy to secrecy and no transparency, the government colluded with the rest of the political parties to safeguard the real truth from the people. Consequently, the citizens of Cyprus were never offered the opportunity to vote on a Referendum for, or against joining the European Union. Petty-politicians decided for them. So much for democracy!
Sir Josiah Stamp, Director – Bank of England 1928-1941 and the 2nd richest man in England at the time stated: “The modern banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand ever invented. Banking was conceived in iniquity and born in sin. Bankers own the Earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create money, and with the flick of a pen they will make enough money to buy it back again…Take this great power away from them, for then, this world would be a better and happier world to live in. But if you want to continue to be slaves of the banks and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let bankers continue to create money and control credit”.
Across the Atlantic, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States, he too had something to say about banks: “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currencies, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of all their prosperity until their children will wake up homeless”. Plato also had some fine words to say about moneylenders – the godfathers of bankers: “If contracts for loans were made at the lender’s risk there would be a good deal less shameless money-making and evil”.
Banking greed and corruption
Greece’s problems can be attributed as the direct result of banking greed and speculators as well as corruption. To appease the EU and international banks to so Greece can borrow more billions and avoid bankruptcy; a lame government was compelled to introduce severe austerity measures never seen before. Greece’s economic affliction is spiralling out of control and the public is forced to pick up the tab. It is no wonder such criminal measures have triggered nationwide-riots and a national morbid depression and recession. If the present situation does not improve soon, a mass rebellion cannot be excluded!
It is also been suggested that by borrowing so heavily to sustain the unsustainable, this decision will cause many years of misery for the Greek people. World- renowned economists, such as Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, believe that Greece should have pulled out of the Euro altogether. A more humane and economically sensible approach is to allow Greece to default on its obligations and to devalue its way back to competitiveness by leaving the euro. Argentina and Iceland did precisely that: they defaulted by turning their back on the banks that were bleeding their countries to death.
If that was the case, Greece could then devalue its Drachmas currency and let it float – as it did on numerous occasions in the past – to overcome its economic crisis. However, being part of the euro, Greece is trapped; it does not have the flexibility to manoeuvre out of its quandary! The only alternative available to them is to borrow billions from banks, but as a failed economy, Greece cannot determine the terms or conditions of loans raised. Banks thrive on calamities. They have been known to provide loans to warring factions to purchase weapons to kill one another, as long they guarantee the loan repayment of the loser!
Not too long ago, Argentina faced a similar economic predicament; the IMF and American banks strangulated the nation while its GDP was free falling, dropping by an annualized rate of 20%. Under those terms, it could never catch up to repay the ever increasing exorbitant costs of its loans and reluctantly decided to default. The move to float did not lead to hyperinflation as some scaremongers were predicting, instead, the move to a floating currency rate, boosted the economy and started to grow at very rapid rates.
It is a known fact that a country that does not control its own currency, it’s an enslaved nation! In economics, the rule of thumb has always being very simple: control one’s monetary system; have a flexible currency to devalue if necessary; be competitive; increase exports; seek out new markets; never be complacent and be thrifty at home. This well and tested philosophy has always worked in the past and still does today. Many governments unfortunately, are controlled by international banks and have lost sight of this formula.
Banks must be accountable for their devious practices
This may well be a lesson for Cyprus and take measures to avoid the fate of Greece. If not, the alternative would be much worse. Most importantly make banks accountable of their devious practices, for they have now become the masters of the state. The United States recently has begun to make the right moves by prosecuting banks for their bad practices and the exploitation of the public in the name of profit. In real terms, banks should be treated like all other enterprises and not be given special preferential treatment, for they are drones that “make money out of nothing at the enslavement of the people”, as Sir Josiah Stamp stated.
The bottom line is quite simple: People have the ability to make good things happen, and the misfortune to allow bad things to happen! All considered, the question arises… which government dares to do the right thing?
Andreas C Chrysafis is the published author of:
Who Shall Govern Cyprus – Brussels or Nicosia? -Political analysis
Andartes – a revolutionary riveting novel
Porphyra in Purple – a metaphysical spellbinding novel
All books are available from: Bookshops, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Waterstone’s, Kindle and the Internet.
Other published articles can be found on Google under “Vanishing Cyprus” or under “Andreas C Chrysafis”.
Editor’s note
In his article, Mr Chrysafis refers to now looking to borrow €2.5 billion to service its national debt. Yesterday the Council of Ministers approved an agreement with the Russian Federation for a €2.5 billion loan with a yield of 4.5%, which is valid for 4.5 years.
Go on Alex!
Leave Bankers alone, everyone else! Their job is to make money (just like a baker’s is to make bread, or a Cyprus property developer’s is to rip people off). If they can make money with no risk, great. If you can make more money with greater risk, again great – you do the risk reward calculation and you forge ahead. I’ve also never heard a derivative product referred to as an IOU. I always thought they were a way of shielding investors from direct exposure to various markets, at the risk of the derivatives product provider….
If, as a banker, someone (say, a whole nation) lies to you about their debt position, their GDP, basically all the info on which you rely to make an accurate risk reward decision, is it your fault (after you’ve done your due diligence, which the EU apparently deliberately did not) when they screw up?
I mean, come on people, the whole principle of business is to get money from somewhere to do something from which you obtain a higher rate of return than the cost of the capital. You can’t borrow the money, knowing full well the terms and conditions, then when you can’t afford to pay (cos you lied about how much you were earning) call the lenders greedy for enforcing their terms. Or even lending it to you in the first place!
Labelling all Greek politicians and bankers corrupt, gamblers and racketeers also seems a tad harsh…
The problem though, as identified above, is the Euro. The bit about being an enslaved nation if you don’t own your own currency is particularly poignant – no wriggle room to devalue, set interest rates, do a whole load of “readjustment” stuff. Poor Germany is probably suffering the most: all these poor southern cousins with their caps out, and if you don’t supply a constant stream of pennies, your shared currency collapses! C’mon, it IS funny, seeing that the thing was mostly their idea in the first place.
Also, as far as the banks are concerned, their new-fangled ways of mitigating risk (credit default swaps) in the mortgage market just don’t work. They should be allowed to play with these toys as much as they like (hey, why not?) but these investment banking activities (hugely risky but potentially hugely profitable) should be kept COMPLETELY AWAY from the normal retail banking activities (more hassle than it’s worth), which is what many countries are starting to propose.
The simple solution should be (a bit like Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae in the US), a government savings and loans bank. No hugely risky swaps, no large potential losses depending on movements in a whole host of different markets, just straight-forward, bog-standard deposit accounts and mortgage loans.
Nah, a license to LOSE money over time, like a slow death… No government in their right mind would countenance such a thing!
As long as we live in a democratic state, every adult person is responsible for what goes on in the country. It was not banks who took mortgages they cannot afford in order to build a house to outshine his neighbour. It was not banks who evaded taxes. It was not banks who tried to benefit from everything provided by the state for free. What we see now is a huge hypocrisy. Most of the population in Greece is employed by the government and simply do nothing in their working place. Now they claim some bad guys (Germans, government, banks) are guilty. Who demonstrates in Greece?? Public sector workers. Because those in private sector work 12 hours for a meagre salary and fear losing even this precarious job. 10 years ago Greeks were on strikes and demonstrations as frequently as they are now, so it has nothing to do with current economic situation. Greeks want to work like in Zimbabwe and live like in Germany. That’s the problem. They were forgiven so many sins in the past, that simply assumed this would go on indefinitely because they are so very smart.
As for Christofias, I have a feeling he fell down to Cyprus from the moon. Now everyone blames him for everything, but he got 55% of the votes 3.5 years ago, by the way. 55% !! Where are those who voted for him?? Did not they now what can be expected from a LONG-TIME PRESIDENT OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY?? Where were their brains 3.5 years ago? Probably busy imagining more things “for free” from the communist government. Who’s to blame now, banks again?
People simply do not want to bear responsibility for their own actions. Always someone else is to blame. Crisis, bankers, foreigners, etc. The whole thing reminds me of an alcoholic who blames his condition exclusively on the shopkeeper selling spirits. Come on, it is not sold to those under 18! And if you are over that age, you are supposed to be a reasonable person.
I’ve read with interest the article and the comments. I think the blame (and the solution) lies in a much wider net.
First off – the crisis. Over a period of decades – the US (through Alan Greenspan, Hank Paulson and a raft of others) ‘softened’ legislation put in place by F.D.R after the great depression to protect ordinary citizens money from being gambled in the open markets via such things as derivatives (very posh I.O.U’s in short). Gov’t allowed it because it helped them paper over the cracks of the problems being faced and look like the economy was doing well. The EU just followed their lead.
The banks responded well to this (why wouldn’t they)? If you were a banker – you would too. You’d know if you didn’t – your competitors would. Trouble was – it all got out of hand. The risk analysis got worse. The ‘respectable’ people at the credit agencies like Moody’s and Standard & Poor started to succumb to ‘influence’ and rate junk @ A2 & AAA. Madness!
The consumers did too – and people (I’m sorry to say) are many times lazy and greedy. Need a huge loan at low cost? No job? No problem! Most people should have looked at this – and thought – hmm, how can this be possible? The old adage – if it’s too good to be true – then it most likely is. It was.
So – that’s the crisis out of the way. Fluff economies, propped by lies, run by gamblers and racketeers for large numbers of the unwary, the greedy and the stupid.
Where now?
A HUGE dose of change. Many ‘corporations’ cannot be trusted. Many Governments don’t have the necessary skilled people to do the jobs they hold (mainly as a result of them being ‘career’ politicians and good at politicking but little else). Technology connecting up many people and creating transparency and something Government’s have long feared – a ‘spin’ by-pass process (ask Mubarak).
People now starting to use said technology to create real opportunity for themselves. Most people (and if I didn’t believe this – I’d be in a real bad place) want to be self-sustaining and authentic. That’s good – you’ll need to be.
Banks have to wake up to the fact that ‘other sources’ of funding are emerging. I know this as I’m involved in them. If they do not adapt – they will – just like Charles Darwin said 200 years ago: “die out having failed to adapt to their surroundings”. They need to change.
Politicians can no longer be ‘self serving’. We need statesmen – not gesturing buffoons controlled by corporations frantic to hold onto their power. They need to engage – get their hands dirty – be part of the solution actively.
And finally us – we need to look at what we need – not what we think we’re entitled to. If we are able to create ‘real’ wealth then we must – not fluff – real, sustainable, wealth. And wealth that is a bit more evenly spread across the planet. That’ll be hard – that’s our hardest, biggest, toughest challenge.
One element missing in the last half century? BALANCE!
That’s what is needed now – balance – pure and simple. The human race is a volatile old commodity on Mother Earth right now. If we can’t strike balance – I fear there are big big problems heading not only for Cyprus and Greece – but for all of us.
Before the World War 2 and for a time afterwards, organised crime derived its income through drugs, prostitution, illicit booze, protection rackets and gambling. The last named led to the creation of whole cities like Atlantic City and Las Vegas.Then the gangs realised that legitimate business and politics could be infiltrated and corrupted to provide ostensibly legitimate wealth creation made untouchable by use of democracy through support from ignorant and gullible voters. The critical faults of Communism were exposed more than 20 years ago and in most of the world it is now a laughing stock. We are currently witnessing the same scenario for democracy because the crooks and gangsters are beginning to be exposed for what they are. Now we call them politicians, developers and bankers. Nowhere is this situation more clear than in Cyprus, where Mr Christofias and his boys take very good care of their pals in the property development gangs.
Sir,
I read with interest Mr Chrysafis article in which he seems to blame the banks for Greece’s present predicament.
My understanding of the situation is that Greece actively sought membership of the eurozone, and went as far as using debt swaps to hide the actual amount it owed in order to meet the budgetary requirements of that membership. Whilst it is true Greece must have been aided in this by the banks, it is hard to see how this was not undertaken without the governments full knowledge and consent.
Further it appears the this deficit has been amassing over recent years due to some very bad house keeping, which seems to be unacceptable on both sides of the equation; tax evasion robs the country of much income and an unsupportable system public sector costs (wages and pensions) forces the country to spend way beyond what is sustainable.
I think Mr Chrysafis would do well to stop blaming everyone but Greece for its present predicament, which is wholly of Greece’s own making.
If the Cypriot government is now taking on debt, that is it’s own decision. If the Cypriot people do not wish to become indebted then they have to make a simple decision… pay more taxes or accept less social benefits.
The choice is simple, but please do not choose a path and then blame someone else.
PS… Can I have my title deeds please?
An excellent article.
If you wish to know more about how money is created out of nothing, how we are all slaves to the banking system, and how countries are deliberately broken financially, watch the “Zeitgeist Addendum” video on Youtube.
The first hour is real enlightenment about what goes on in the financial world. The second hour is what we can possibly do about it.
Our lads and lasses lost their lives in Iraq, they are doing so now in Afghanistan and they will do so again in future “wars”. They are fighting proxy wars on behalf of banks and giant corporations, in the guise of Governments.
People need to take a more pro active approach towards politics and democracy . Sadly history always proves that the majority end up being oppressed by the minority. Sometimes it is by the force of war and often it is by sleight of hand and deception, or the simple ineptitude of those half heartedly elected to govern.