Sneering at Greece

Attac: Merkel erpresst Griechenland Neues Deutschland 19.06.2015 features this photo of an Attac activist in a Greek costume eating catfood.

US opponents of Social Security aren't the only let-them-eat-catfood advocates in the world.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is framing Monday's summit as a decisive moment in the negotiations over Greek austerity (Greece's Varoufakis wants 'clear decision' from Merkel at summit Yahoo! News AFP):

Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said German Chancellor Angela Merkel must make a clear decision at a eurozone summit Monday on whether to negotiate a rescue deal with Athens or heed populist calls to jettison the debt-wracked country.

Merkel can "enter into an honourable agreement with a government, which has rejected the 'rescue package' and is seeking a negotiated solution, or follow the calls from (those in) her government who want her to throw overboard the only Greek government which has been faithful to its principles and which is able to take the Greek people on the road to reform," said Varoufakis.

Meanwhile, even the "quality press" in Germany is widely echoing the hostile tone set by Angela Merkel's ruling coalition of the CDU/CSU and the SPD.

Thomas Eipeldauer in Ein "beispielloses Maß an Solidarität" Hintergrund 18.Juni.2015 writes:

Erstaunlich ist, mit wie wenig kritischer Distanz sich die deutsche Medienlandschaft in die Debatte einbringt. Das Gros der veröffentlichten Meinung bedient Ressentiments, im Falle der "Berichterstattung" Springers kann man von einer permanenten Gratwanderung an der Grenze zur Volksverhetzung sprechen. Die Bild-Redaktion schreibt der Kanzlerin im Vorfeld der Regierungserklärung eine Rede, die sie "von Ihnen gerne hören" würde ("Die klare Botschaft: Es reicht!") und ergeht sich seit Monaten in Beschimpfungen von griechischen Regierungsmitgliedern. In der Süddeutschen kanzelt Stefan Cornelius Tsipras und Varoufakis ab, die FAZ haluziniert nicht nur in grotesker Verdrehung der Tatsachen, dass die griechische Regierung Europa erpresse, sondern atttestiert ihr gleich noch "ideologische Realitätsverweigerung".

[It is astounding with how little critical distance the German media landscape plays a part in the debate. The major part of public opinion appeals to resentments. In the case of the Springer "coverage," one can speak of of a permanent tightrope walk on the border of incitement. The editorial board of [the popular Springer tabloid] Bild writes a speech for the Chancellor {Merkel} prior to the government's explanation {that Merkel gave on June 17} that they "would like to hear from you" ("The clear message: It's enough!) and continued for months with invective against Greek government ministers. In the Süddeutsche {Zeitung}, Stefan Cornelius dissed [Greek Prime Minister Alexis] Tsipras and Varoufakis. The FAZ {Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung} not only hallucinates in a grotesque contortion of reality that the Greek government is blackmailing Europe, but also even attests to them "ideological denial of reality."]

The Bild article referred to is Frau Bundeskanzlerin, diese Rede wollen wir von Ihnen hören 16.06.2015.

The Bild-Zeitung is a tabloid that has been notorious for decades for its shrill headlines and bigoted editorial demagoguery. But the Süddeutsche and FAZ are very much considered part of the "quality press."

Apparently the Stefan Kornelius article to which Eipeldauer refers is Die eigentliche Schuld der Regierung Tsipras 18. Juni 2015. Which is a particularly obnoxious piece of work. It calls to mind some star American columnist's appeal to the Democrats for Bipartisan when the Republicans are on some hard right rampage over whatever issue they're pounding at the moment:

Es ist unendlich schwer, die rhetorischen Sticheleien eines Yanis Varoufakis zu ertragen. Der Finanzminister und am Ende auch Ministerpräsident Alexis Tsipras haben für eine Aufladung gesorgt, die inzwischen das fundamentale Prinzip aller europäischen Zusammenarbeit gefährdet: den Kompromiss. Die Europäische Union ist eine Gemeinschaft, die keine Verlierer kennen darf. Gäbe es stets Triumph und Demütigung - Europa würde nicht existieren können. Hier liegt die eigentliche politische Schuld der Regierung Tsipras. Sie hat das Maß verloren, sie kennt nur schwarz und weiß.

[It is infinitely hard to take the rhetorical gibes of a Yanis Varoufakis. The Finance Minister and in the end also Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras have worked up a charge that winds up endangers the fundamental principle of all European cooperation: compromise. The European Union is a community that should know no losers. If there are always triumph and humiliation - Europe would not be able to exist. Here lies the true political guilt of the Tsipras government. They have lost all measure, they know only black and white.]

The examples could be multiplied. The quality press in Germany seems to be failing their domestic public on the euro crisis as badly as the American quality press failed on the buildup to the Iraq War in 2002-3.

The attitude of nationalistic hostility and contempt toward Greece and the Greek people that the CDU, the SPD and far too much of the German press have promoted not only inhibits any realistic understanding of the crisis. Which in any case would be incompatible with the Merkel government's Herbert Hoover/Heinrich Brüning solutions to it.

It also much increases the likelihood of nasty domestic political consequences in the aftermath of a Greek default.

On a historical note, a Facebook friend, Christian Rieck, flagged this brief historical sketch of Europe and the Greek struggle for independence against the Ottoman Empire: Berthold Seewald, Geschichte vor Tsipras: Griechenland zerstörte schon einmal Europas Ordnung Die Welt 11.06.2015.