Time for the Greece of Europe

by Athanase Papandropoulos

That system might not have the typical characteristics of the East and Central Europe’s communist economies, but it has been ruled out from the same reasoning. In other words, every potential of “free” economic operation depended directly from the State and especially from the relevant political party and clientlist regime.

As professor Mr. G. Bitros points out in an impressive book entitled “Democracy and Economy”, that was written together with the deceased Anastasios Karagiannis, initiators of that system, which had deeper roots, were, after the Second World War, the professors Xenophon Zolotas, Angelos T. Angelopoulos and Konstantinos Tsatsos as well as the politician Panayis Papaligouras,. 

“Disappointed from the market’s operation and the crisis of 1929, with modern Greece as an example, Xen. Zolotas turned to a more intensive interventionism suggesting the economic policies to focus on the following directions:

*Aiming to lead to the diverse financial institutions centralization, and be controlled by the central bank, the credit flow and the rate interest, *To include the establishment of a state-owned bank for the channeling of appropriations to industrial investments with low interest rates, depending on their influence to the economic development, *To allow the extension of an industry only after state’s license (license expediency) and after the examination of the grade of each factor’s saturation, *The planning and monitoring of the implementation of the above, to pass under the control of a supreme advisory body, consisting of recognized high skilled members.

Thereafter, Zolotas model was about a state which has not any other difference from the communism of Stalin, except the point that the limited property would be allowed, as well as the controlled activity regarding the small businesses. It was about an economy which seemed closer to the Lenin’s New Economic Policy, than the western models of those times. Moreover, he was absolutely sure for the deadlocks in which the capitalist system was heading to. He was considering that liberalism was a vain attempt, limited to semi-solutions (1944, 72). And, finally, his assessment was that the capitalism was nearing to its definitive end. (1944, 72). 

Angelopoulos’ views on the issue of the socialistic transformation of the Greek society and economy were conceding very much with those of Zolotas. For example, he was also looking forward to an economy where heavy industry and financial institutions would belong to the state and small businesses to individuals”.

So, the postwar economy in Greece was structured based on this socialist model, having as its main pillars: the State, constructions and imports. At the same time, the inspirators of this economy delivered the ideological domain to the Left, applying literally the principles of Karl Marx, who believed that precondition for the creation of a socialist economy, is the collapse of the superstructure, to wit, of the ideas. 

Based on the above principles, the Greek economy was operating parasitically within the Western world, without following its economic rules. Also, from the point that it didn’t pursued, for political reasons, to be integrated into the European Economic Community (EEC) and later the Monetary Union (EMU), without having the intention to implement radical reforms, thus the collapse was about to come. Especially, after the dramatic economic choices that took place after 1975 and then, with main feature the unreasonable public lend and the support of the GDP formation to the consuming, without keen productivity and extroversion.

During the same period, the liberal ideas, literally, have been chased in Greece and the few politicians who expressed them, were marginalized (An. Andrianopoulos, Stef. Manos). The same of course happened both to the field of media and the field of book. Every liberal approach was impossible to penetrate both the wall of the leftist ideology and the unrestrained statism. 

So, today, the country is facing a dramatic deadlock and it is quite possible that it could not recover. Karamanlis’ theory according to which “if you don’t know how to swim, you will learn after you fall in the water” is not always effective. There are also examples regarding nations and many historical accidents which are confirming the opposite.

There is just one solution regarding the country’s exit from the deep crisis: the liberal social choice. And by liberal choice we mean nothing more or less than the adjustment of the economy, the education and the public administration to rules that are applying to all the EU member states, even in those which have been got out of the dark of communism. These rules, has been defined from the Treaty of Rome and the other European treaties, are now in a global level, the brightest example of political, economic, social and cultural liberalism, that some people are envying it. This is why they want to destroy it.

So now, it is the time of liberals for Greece. These liberals are called to reform a corrupted state and transform it into a European rule of law. And to be more specific, by talking about liberal choice we don’t mean nothing more or less than the liberation of economy from the chains of the clientlist system, the mafia style unionism, the rent-seeking, the plunder of the public property and the unceasing bureaucratic corruption.  

Finally it is time, during 21st century of knowledge, information and cyber intelligence, the byzantine-ottoman state and its Marxist ideology to end up forever, for everybody’s blessing.