Politics and Austerity: Modern Tragedy in Greece

I’ve written here and there and there on the ongoing economic struggles of Greece, the broader European Union and the role of austerity politics in the area.  As the situation remains somewhat depressing it seemed a reasonable time to check in on the often uncomfortable interplay between resources and democracy.

The ongoing drama of the search for a unity government and the demoralizing realities of the October 26th agreement paint a bleak picture for the nation’s politicians in the days ahead.  With good reason no one appears interested in leading a government that will essentially have to force unpopular measures on its populace.  Even if economic changes are clearly necessary for the long term good of the nation, when the strongest demands for said measures come from outside governance, the pill becomes that much more difficult to swallow.

Perhaps more importantly however the nature of the agreement suggests some unfortunate trends throughout this period in the interplay between democracy and economics.  More and more leaders within the European Union have pushed against approaching these issues in a democratic fashion for fear (likely reasonable) that the public of states within the union would balk at many of these demands.  Given the already lukewarm public stance on the region’s supra-national government, these seem to be ever more bold moves in managing Europe’s economic woes.

The reaction to PM Papandreou’s desire to present a referendum to his nation on whether or not to accept the agreement though perhaps understandable was certainly nothing healthy for the state of the union.  Though there would doubtless have been public resistance, opportunities to educate the populace and make clear why hard decisions are sometimes necessary might serve well to create some modicum in public trust of politicians and societal elites.

At this point it is fairly evident that nothing is going to make austerity measures palatable. The populace is aware of the changes coming and the political maneuvering over who is not going to run the country should be more than a bit embarrassing.  Greece would certainly be well served by a leader, any leader, willing to handle the current unpleasantries with some manner of dignity and move on toward assisting in the nation’s recovery.