So where are we now? And where will we go, since the notion of a European ‘Union’ was practically killed off on the weekend of July 12/13th? Unlucky for some, one might say. But then, who can say? No one is certain, and no one can be.
The papier mâché plaster which Angela Merkel placed on the bruised fingers of Greece is not waterproof and the coming deluge of debt will soon wash it off to reveal the real depth of the wound.
Over one angst-filled weekend, Germany managed to unravel the dream veil of Europe. The money it has lavished on the grateful bankers —via a crippled Greek people — will soon dissipate and they will be back for more. Bankers instinctively know their way to the hind tit.
One has to question the leadership and or the true motives. I suspect it is the motives one must first question. Did Merkel and Schäuble have their own agenda? After all, Schäuble might had aided the European economy much earlier by opening the piggy bank and spending a few Marks on what Germany really needs: a complete new infrastructural refit. (Most lesser Europeans might say, are you mad, did you see what they have? We are only in the halfpenny place when it comes to infrastructure!) But that’s only because there are really many grades of development in the European project. We pretend that this is not so, but it really is.
He might have bought the needed elements from hard-pressed neighbouring economies and commenced a real recovery trajectory, but would that have been in ‘Germany’s interests? He seems more intent on ‘saving’ his way to the great hereafter, and the hard-working German people don’t seem to have a say. Those I have spoken to are embarrassed at Schäuble’s ‘expulsion’ treatment meted out to Greece — though many place the blame squarely on the ‘lazy black-market Greeks who brought it on their own heads’. That’s another question, that brings me on to the one about leadership.
When, Oh! When, was the world so obviously bereft of half-decent leaders? The spineless, summit-to-summit dalliance of this lot is quite sickening. The first and last item on their agenda is the group photo. There is no semblance of policy focus, no eye-to-the-future about them. ‘Generic’ is the term and the problem. The will to act decisively is crippled. And why? Because there is not a shred of Social Justice to inform their lukewarm ideas and actions. The Europe of the people has been cast aside for the Europe of the corporates. The corporate money will enable them to buy votes; yet, if their policies and actions were people-centred, buying votes would not be necessary.
Perhaps, in terms of focus and leadership, Schäuble had displayed his prowess. And it would seem that Merkel does not have the balls to rein him in. What he has done, effectively, is driven a wedge between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ of Europe. The southern and western lesser-heeled members are feeling it and fearing it! Who will be next to be touched by the Chancellor’s icy stick? It’s effect has been to lessen Germany’s standing as a leader nation and call attention to the cracked edifice of the ’Union’ that not even the asset-coveted marble of the Parthenon might disguise.
The papier mâché plaster which Angela Merkel placed on the bruised fingers of Greece is not waterproof and the coming deluge of debt will soon wash it off to reveal the real depth of the wound.
Over one angst-filled weekend, Germany managed to unravel the dream veil of Europe. The money it has lavished on the grateful bankers —via a crippled Greek people — will soon dissipate and they will be back for more. Bankers instinctively know their way to the hind tit.
One has to question the leadership and or the true motives. I suspect it is the motives one must first question. Did Merkel and Schäuble have their own agenda? After all, Schäuble might had aided the European economy much earlier by opening the piggy bank and spending a few Marks on what Germany really needs: a complete new infrastructural refit. (Most lesser Europeans might say, are you mad, did you see what they have? We are only in the halfpenny place when it comes to infrastructure!) But that’s only because there are really many grades of development in the European project. We pretend that this is not so, but it really is.
He might have bought the needed elements from hard-pressed neighbouring economies and commenced a real recovery trajectory, but would that have been in ‘Germany’s interests? He seems more intent on ‘saving’ his way to the great hereafter, and the hard-working German people don’t seem to have a say. Those I have spoken to are embarrassed at Schäuble’s ‘expulsion’ treatment meted out to Greece — though many place the blame squarely on the ‘lazy black-market Greeks who brought it on their own heads’. That’s another question, that brings me on to the one about leadership.
When, Oh! When, was the world so obviously bereft of half-decent leaders? The spineless, summit-to-summit dalliance of this lot is quite sickening. The first and last item on their agenda is the group photo. There is no semblance of policy focus, no eye-to-the-future about them. ‘Generic’ is the term and the problem. The will to act decisively is crippled. And why? Because there is not a shred of Social Justice to inform their lukewarm ideas and actions. The Europe of the people has been cast aside for the Europe of the corporates. The corporate money will enable them to buy votes; yet, if their policies and actions were people-centred, buying votes would not be necessary.
Perhaps, in terms of focus and leadership, Schäuble had displayed his prowess. And it would seem that Merkel does not have the balls to rein him in. What he has done, effectively, is driven a wedge between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ of Europe. The southern and western lesser-heeled members are feeling it and fearing it! Who will be next to be touched by the Chancellor’s icy stick? It’s effect has been to lessen Germany’s standing as a leader nation and call attention to the cracked edifice of the ’Union’ that not even the asset-coveted marble of the Parthenon might disguise.
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