It’s Sunday evening while I write this. I’ve just read the news: SYRIZA has again won the elections in Greece. I wonder what this could mean and if, after Tsipras’ defeat in June (or was it July?) there could be any effect at all, regardless of the outcome of elections.
Today or yesterday I’ve also read another comment about Greece. I can’t remember the newspaper, most likely it was the Austrian “Der Standard”, but like in so many comments the blame for everything that went wrong in Greece was put on Yanis Varoufakis.
I can’t hear it any more, it’s so stupid. Fact is, Varoufakis was outstandingly competent for the job, but what he said, although logically correct, was not what his peers wanted to hear. I guess exactly the same principle was at work, that a study from Duke University just described, namely that humans tend to deny a problem when they don’t like the solution. You’ve invested in oil or coal? Simply deny climate change! You’re opposed to a cut of Greece’s debt? Just pretend that another credit of a hundred billion Euros will magically fix the preoblem! I really grow tired of seeing so many decisions (in politics as well as in business) based on ideology and not on facts.
But let’s get back to Greece. Tsipras seems to have won his bet. SYRIZA is first, the left splinter group seems to have failed entirely, and although he’ll need a coalition, he will have at least one or two options.
But then? I think his biggest problem is, that he has lost every degree of freedom. He tried to negotiate a better and socially more acceptable deal than the conservative governments before, he failed, gave in, and I can’t see any further option.
If, on the other hand, we ignore the outcome of the elections and assume a victory for Nea Dimokratia, the traditional party of the old oligarchy, how could that have been a change? Therefore I suppose SYRIZA is regarded the best option in an election without real choice. At least they try to put up a fight.
All in all it looks real bad for democracy, with only one bright spot: at least the Nazis of “Golden Dawn” did not take over. It’s bad enough that they’re in third place again.