european movement

With Tsipras, against financial absolutism

Written by Franco Berardi Bifo, 12.02.2014
Alexis Tsipras represents the resistance of Greek society against the financial aggression, and for me this would be enough to declare my support to the political list which will have him as their candidate for the next European elections, and to vote for him.
But what are the aims of Tsipras' list? If the outcome of these elections will be merely the expression of an elderly and late-lefty minority (to which I belong) in support of the only young and not yet morally corrupt European politician, it won’t be a great result. Thus, as we take upon ourselves the task of creating the conditions for a success of Tsipras' list, we have to think both about the new horizons which could be opened by a campaign in favour of Tsipras, and about the effects of cultural and social recomposition to which we can aspire.
 
I don’t have any faith in representative democracy. The void left within democratic institutions by the automatisms of financial capital is now a matter of fact and of common sense. And the European Union is fundamentally a financial autocracy, since the decisions of the European Central Bank are removed from the sphere of influence of the Parliament.
European society is depressed, fragmented, rabidly aggressive. The process of disintegration of the European Union is now too advanced to be arrested. The identitarian egoisms which have been aroused by financial violence are destined to produce their devastating effects. We should have no illusions.
So, what is the point of getting involved, of voting at all?
 

El derecho a la insolvencia

Written by Franco Berardi Bifo, 24.02.2012
Austeridad en Europa

Los fanáticos del fundamentalismo económico dicen que “el trabajador alemán no quiere pagar las facturas del pescador griego” y, mientras tanto, enfrentan a los trabajadores entre sí, llevando a Europa al borde de la guerra civil.

La entidad que es "Europa" fue concebida a raíz de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, como un proyecto para superar el nacionalismo moderno y crear una unión no identitaria basada en los principios del humanismo, la ilustración y la justicia social. ¿Qué queda de este proyecto original, después del reciente colapso financiero que ha asaltado la economía estadounidense y ha puesto en peligro a la zona euro? Desde el comienzo de la Unión Europea, el perfil constitucional de la entidad europea ha sido débilmente definido, de manera que el objetivo económico de prosperidad y las limitaciones del monetarismo financiero han tomado el lugar de una constitución. En la década de 1990, el Tratado de Maastricht marcó un punto de inflexión en este proceso. Sancionó la constitucionalización de la regla monetarista y sus implicaciones económicas: una disminución del gasto social, reducción de los costes laborales y un aumento de la competencia y la productividad. Los efectos de una aplicación intolerante de las reglas de Maastricht se hicieron evidentes en 2010: aplastando a Grecia e Irlanda y poniendo en peligro otros países, la crisis financiera mostró las contradicciones entre los deseos de crecimiento económico y estabilidad social, y la rigidez monetarista. En esta situación, las reglas de Maastricht han demostrado ser peligrosas, y la concepción global de la UE, basado en el protagonismo de la competencia económica, ha revelado su fragilidad.

 

The Right to Insolvency and the Disentanglement of the General Intellect's Potency

Written by Franco Berardi Bifo, 05.12.2011
Austerity in Europe
 
"The German worker does not want to pay the Greek fisherman's bills," the fanatics of economic fundamentalism are saying, while pitting workers against workers and leading Europe to the brink of civil war.
 
The entity that is "Europe" was conceived in the aftermath of the Second World War as a project to overcome modern nationalism and create a non-identitarian union based on principles of humanism, enlightenment, and social justice. What is left of this original project, after the recent financial collapse that has stormed the American economy and jeopardized the Eurozone? Since the beginning of the European Union, the constitutional profile of the European entity has been weakly defined, such that economic goals of prosperity and monetarist financial constraints have taken the place of a constitution. In the 1990s, the Maastricht Treaty marked a turning point in this process. It sanctioned the constitutionalization of monetarist rule and its economic implications: a decrease in social spending, cuts in labor costs and an increase in competition and productivity. The effects of a narrow application of the Maastricht rules became evident in 2010: overwhelming Greece and Ireland and endangering other countries, the financial crisis exposed the contradictions between the desires for economic growth, social stability, and monetarist rigidity. In this situation, the Maastricht rules have been shown to be dangerous, and the overall conception of the EU, based on the centrality of economic competition, has revealed its frailty.
 

…And if they didn’t pay, they bloody ought to! Lessons from the Battle of Rome

Written by Paolo Mossetti, 01.11.2011

A disturbing trend has taken place in the aftermath of October 15th in Rome, shaped by mainstream media and multiplied by the social networks. For the first time in Italian history almost an entire country participated in the repression of violent dissent, in the segregation of spaces of alterity, using the same tools that were supposed to denounce the weakness of the turbo-capitalist system. Millions of young adults played the game of the Good Cop, at the expense of three or more decades of civil conquests. Class traitors, fucking police everywhere you turned, even and especially online, worse than in real life. What a depressing bore.

Paradosso del presente e diritto all'insolvenza

Written by Franco Berardi Bifo, 29.10.2011

Inefficacia delle forme di lotta in assenza di solidarietà

Il movimento di protesta si è diffuso durante l’anno 2011, e ha cercato di opporsi all’attacco finanziario contro la società. Ma le dimostrazioni pacifiche non sono riuscite a cambiare il programma di azione della Banca centrale europea, dato che i parlamenti nazionali sono ostaggi delle regole di Maastricht, degli automatismi finanziari che funzionano come costituzione materiale dell’Unione. La dimostrazione pacifica è efficace nel contesto della democrazia, ma la democrazia è finita dal momento che automatismi tecno finanziari hanno preso il posto della decisione politica. Se occorreva una prova definitiva del carattere illusorio di ogni discorso sull’alternativa democratica, l’esperienza di governo di Barack Obama ce l’ha fornita. Nessun potere democratico può nulla, nessuna alternativa è possibile nella sfera dell’azione democratica, dal momento che le decisioni sono già prese, incorporate nei dispositivi di connessione informatica, finanziaria e psichica.

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