Exit from the Eurozone:
the difficult but necessary
road ahead.

Panagiotis Sotiris[1]

There are moments when political questions take their real form instead of their usual metonymic manifestations. This is taking place today in Greece. The real choices ahead of us are beginning to dominate the political scene we are facing new elections in June. The one choice it to accept the embedded neoliberalism of the euro as a single currency and all the policies dictated by the monetary and institutional framework of the European Union in its current configuration. Alternatively, the exit from the Eurozone is the necessary condition, if we want to get rid of the austerity measures, the extreme neoliberal reforms and the erosion of popular sovereignty inscribed in the loan agreements with the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.

Representatives of the EU-IMF-Troika have insisted that if a Greek government attempts to reject the terms of the loan agreement and any stoppage in debt payments, it will face an immediate stoppage of funding from the European Union, the IMF and the ECB. This will make the public sector virtually bankrupt and lead to the collapse the banking system which depends on constant liquidity from the ECB in order to avoid being insolvent. This is the threat we are facing if we choose to abandon austerity.

It is true that a sovereign Greek government could indeed fight this danger on two fronts. On the one hand, it could ask solidarity instead of economic aggression from other European countries. However, this is far from sure, since although there are changes in the political landscape of Europe, we are far from an abandonment of the current course and it would be far surer to suppose that Germany and its allies, along with ECB and European Union bureaucracy, will insist on austerity. On the other hand, it could attempt to turn towards domestic income redistribution, mainly through higher taxation. However, it would soon be faced with mass flight of capitals abroad, various forms of asset hoarding and of course even greater recession. Moreover, the worsening of the crisis in Greece, especially if it takes the form of a collapse of the banking system, will mean that Greece will become a risk for the whole Eurozone, a contagion that must be contained. This will lead to a forced exit of Greece from the Eurozone. It will be a punitive exit, as if a society is being punished for its rejection of austerity. This will entail the danger that a progressive or Left government will eventually be associated with economic collapse and social devastation leading to conservative and authoritarian solutions.

Contrary to all these, it is possible to choose a different path. The exit from the Eurozone, on sovereign and democratic terms, on our initiative, and the immediate stoppage of debt payments, combined with the immediate imposition of capital controls (in defiance of EU ‘fundamental freedoms’) can reverse the current disaster. It will make possible to continue socially necessary public spending, to have forms of income redistribution, and to increase domestic production. In sum, it will make possible the democratic control of economic and social policy.

This path will not be easy. Especially at the beginning, we are going to face important difficulties. It will be necessary to get used to new and extraordinary forms of transactions until the transition to the new currency is completed. We will have to get used to reduced consumption of imported products. It will be necessary to fight price hikes or artificial shortages. However, it will also be possible to see the exit from the Eurozone as the beginning of a better future for Greek society. Improved performance in crucial public functions and services (education, health system, social security) will manifest the possibility of quality of life. The nationalization of the banking system and strategic infrastructure plus the regained sovereign control of monetary policy will ensure public expenditure, public investment, salaries and pensions.  The flight of capitals and the closure of businesses can be countered by a mass movement of self-managed enterprises. The decision to actually tax accumulated wealth and put an end to all forms, legal and illegal, of tax evasion, will make income redistribution possible. Above all, if such a policy is based on the initiative of social movements and various forms of self-organization, if it depends on solidarity and struggle, then we will able to have a collective ethos of social responsibility in the fight for survival and justice.

This means that the Greek Left must fight not only for a parliamentary majority but also for hegemony. Basing this on the phantasy of an easy way out of the crisis, one that will end austerity while remaining within the Eurozone may seem like a way to avoid coming in conflict with the public’s insecurity regarding the return to a national currency associated with inflation and insecurity. However, it will endanger popular support when the actual confrontation begins. On the contrary, openly calling for the exit from the Eurozone, despite the ideological terrorism of mainstream parties and corporate media, and openly speaking about both the necessity and the difficulties of this process, is the only way to galvanize popular support not simply for the elections but also for the collective effort that will follow.

The problem is that SYRIZA until now refuses to include the exit from the Eurozone to his program for a government of the Left, insisting that it will create more problems. At the same time, KKE insists that unless we have ‘people’s power’ (its metaphysical conception of revolutionary change) both the euro and the national currency are equally disastrous. Consequently, the main currents of the Greek Left seem to agree with the current ideological blackmail from the part of pro-austerity forces that it would be disastrous to exit the Euro.

Nevertheless, the exit from the Eurozone on sovereign and democratic terms has entered the public debate as a viable option. More and more voices insist that it must be the center stone of any attempt to reverse austerity. These include influential figures of the Left, such as Alekos Alavanos, the former leader of SYRIZA, currents within SYRIZA, such as the one represented by Panagiotis Lafazanis, well known economists and intellectuals such as Costas Lapavitsas and Stathis Kouvelakis, and ANTARSYA, the front of the anticapitalist Left.

Crucial historical crossroads always imply difficult choices. We do not have the luxury of easy solutions. The road of hope is always the difficult road…