You WILL atone.
In the seemingly endless political shift to the left by the world's electorate at large, it finally seems that there is a significant push-back by a "new aristocracy" of 1%'ers. The best part is, the political left have set themselves up for their own "re-enserfment"*! How? By decades of piling on sovereign debt by piling on endless social programs (read: unproductive borrowing) with no thought to how the borrowed money would be re payed. Let the champagne of social assistance flow!
Aye...but there is the rub.
How do you pay back ALL the debt when ALL your money in the entire economy IS an instrument of debt? AND, since ALL the money is ALL of the debt, where does the money to pay the INTEREST come from if that money doesn't exist yet? Answer: You borrow it, of course...and here inlays the downward spiral of debt, every year you have just a little bit more to pay back than the year before. This part the political left could NEVER figure out...where DOES money come from? ...they're finding out now.
What does one have to do with the other?? Look at the example of Greece. The leftist Syriza Party has just been forced to capitulate financially to the wishes of "The Troika", a.k.a., The European Central Bank, The International Monetary Fund and The European Commission and their political actors working in concert with global banking interests namely Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank to name but two. Greece, through Prime Minister Tsipras, defying the results of a democratic referendum he, himself, insisted on has relinquished total control over Greece's sovereign finances to the Troika. PM Tsipras, has committed Greece to endless debt serfdom in order to save not Greece but the banks that have lent to Greece under the pretext of fiscal responsibility.
Why Tsipras would defy his own people's wishes to save banks that intend on "slam-dunking" the Greek economy for their own benefit is beyond the grasp of most logical people. Even worse, Greece had a way out! Tsipras could have listened to his electorate, followed their wishes as elected individuals are empowered to do and refused to repay an un repayable debt. If so, Greece would have been unceremoniously thrown out of the European Union, stripped of the Euro dollar and publicly shamed for their fiscal atrocity. The Greeks could have survived that. Tsipras could have gone the way of Iceland and cleaned the slate for Greece. He could have reintroduced the Drachma and restarted Greece debt free under a fiscal regime right for Greece. He could have been national hero. But, no.
Nevertheless, the Greek people are about to lose everything. Their bank deposits will likely be pilfered to a degree (such was recently the case in Cyprus) to keep Greek banks solvent and the Troika will slowly erode government pension plans of all stripes to "streamline" payments which the Greek economy can no longer afford to support. Eventually, the ever increasing debt load will soak up all pension payment monies as well as other social program funds. Also, national infrastructure that earns revenue for the Greek government has been pledged to support a 3rd financial bailout of Greece, a bailout for which the terms cannot be met by any logical standard! The Troika AND Tsipras both know this!
The Greek debt problem is "structural" and can only be sorted out by a major restructuring...this has NOT happened. Greece is set up for failure again and will default, relinquishing key infrastructure in the process. In the end, Greece will exist solely to pay the Troika, it's population harnessed by the yoke of debt slavery. The Troika is looking out for their own interests and the interests of their friends in global banking. Full stop.
Moreover, this is only the beginning. Global banking interests will make an example of Greece to deter other countries from even thinking about default as a way out. You see...the miracle of Keynesian economics has finally played out to its inescapable conclusion...insolvency! Larger countries can still afford to uncork yet another bottle of Champagne Socialism to "extend and pretend" the economy and keep it flowing as it continues to meet its obligations with borrowed money. In smaller countries the champagne is running out as it has just run out in Greece. One by one, financially vulnerable countries will slowly be robbed of their assets and their sovereignty by this new aristocracy.
But, what do we do about this problem? As a Libertarian, I advocate for "sound money" in opposition to money, created out of the Keynesian abyss of nothingness, as an instrument of debt. Our money should have value, goddammit! Real wages have been eroded while costs have risen on a tide of increasing commodities prices vis-a-vie monetary inflation due to decades money printing. People have stopped asking fundamental economic questions like, "Why can't I afford to buy a home even though I have university degree and full time career level employment?"
The world can no longer afford Champagne Socialism. The 1st world is finally primed to be ironed out by the steamroller that is the Keynesian economics of debt. I think George Orwell said it best when he said, "Don't let it happen."
(*quote: Paul Craig Roberts)
