Why American conservatives should root for Greece's crazy socialists
Conservatives should recognize a Tea Party when they see one
![EU](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hfTyNL8z8z6PKFeohysjJf-415-80.jpg)
Conservatives in America are talking tough when it comes to the Syriza government in Greece, which just held a smashingly successful referendum rejecting the bailout terms set by the so-called troika of European creditors. "These are radical socialists — reality has never been their main concern," concluded Tom Rogan at National Review. The editors of that magazine described even "respect" for the vote of the Greek people as endorsing "the desire of Greek voters to help themselves to other people's money" and then offering "Greece more money on softer terms."
The conservative view is that Greece lied about its economy to get into the European Union, then lied on the term sheets for loans from stronger European banks. It only has itself to blame for a dysfunctional political culture that has resulted in big public pensions and crummy, corrupt tax collections. And to boot, it is run by delusional left-wingers who want to keep this Mediterranean kleptocracy going at the expense of the good German taxpayers. So why side with the Greeks?
This is just wrong. American conservatives should be able recognize a Tea Party when it happens. And Syriza is just that, a revolt of taxpayers against unbelievably corrupt cronyism in the European Union.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Much of the indictment of Greece's political culture is true. It is not Teutonic in its bookkeeping, or in its urge to make people industrious. Its political culture is probably incompatible with a European monetary union. But to be fair, its puny size means this makes little difference. Just as Detroit's woes don't make America a basket-case of the world economy, so Europe could subsidize Greece into infinity.
And there are two sides to a loan. Most of Greece's debt in 2010 was to private banking institutions based in Western Europe with large international profiles. Creditors knew loans to Greece were more risky than loans to Germans, and they did factor that into their deals. But because the crisis in Europe was then continent-wide, it was feared a Greek default could do systemic damage to European financial institutions.
So the solution went roughly like this. All the creditors were made whole, and European public institutions loaned Greece more money, on pain of implementing tax increases and spending cuts. Greece would pay back the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and a few other European states.
Greek debt was not forgiven, and in fact it has been made worse in the last five years, despite some insufficient creditor haircuts in between. Now that Syriza is actually demanding some debt forgiveness, the economic elites of Western Europe are warning about moral hazard.
That's a sick joke. The creditors are the ones acting without consequence. Essentially, the solution to asset bubbles and debt in Europe has been to abolish risk for multinational banks, by putting all of the debt on the heads of taxpayers in countries along the periphery of the union. In other words, the profits generated by the European Union are internationalized, given to elite bankers no matter how terrible their financial decisions were. The costs of these bad decisions are then nationalized, transferred almost entirely to some insecure country's taxpayers. First it was Ireland, now it's Greece.
American conservatives should see this system for generating elite profits and public liabilities for what it is: a recipe for endless asset bubbles, economic pain, and tax increases in less powerful European nations. It is cronyism that rewards the worst actors in finance, and punishes everyone else. It's everything the Tea Partiers claimed to hate about the Bush bailouts of major American financial institutions.
Conservatives may say that people get the governments they deserve. But the Greeks actually did something that was unthinkable in this country, kicking out both of the major parties that led them into debt-peonage. Syriza was their Tea Party, and like the Tea Party it boasts some grandiose and irresponsible rhetoric, flagrantly breaks Godwin's law, and is generally unruly.
But the European project, as it exists now, deserves nasty Greek intransigence. Its vision of currency and monetary union without fiscal union or any real feeling of fellow-citizenship was bound to be ruinous and undemocratic. And so in this case, I urge my fellow-right leaning friends to root for the crazy socialists. Send Syriza some tri-corner hats.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.
-
Magazine solutions - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
Magazine printables - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
'In a normal country, their activities wouldn't even be crimes'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published