Sometimes, Making A Lot of Noise May Actually Get You Somewhere: Greece's latest media stars, Tsipras & Varoufakis

Alexis Tsipras, the newly elected prime minister of Greece.




Greece's new government has spent much of its time since it was sworn in, end of January, in creating noise and stirring a lot of media content about Greece's debt renegotiation.
The ploy worked in Greece where many good willing voters, hoodwinked into believing they are being oppressed by the bad guys (who are foreign and probably speak German), see the prime minister & his corollary, the finance minister (Varoufakis) as so many David putting up a fight against Goliath.

Except that here, Goliath is the one who saved David for 4 years in the running...

So, after walking the walk, now is time for the two indigenous Greek heroes to come to some serious talk.

Which they won't of course, because they probably have no idea of what to ask for; The plan stopped at the media show.

Fortunately for them, and especially for the Greeks they (and other Greek politicians as well) duped into voting for into power, Greece's europartners know what to do. And, fortunately for all, they will show the way and everyone will be happy: lower the weight of servicing the debt, maybe reschedule (i.e. erase) parts of it in the future, and rename the troika, and forget about the programme and rename it as growth programme instead... but there is more.


What Greece's two media stars have achieved is no less considerable:

a) Greece is in the news and for some time now, and we all know there is no bad publicity. If Greece where a free business country, this would have been a business growth opportunity of unprecedented potential. But it isn't, so too bad.

b) Also, they have stirred some life -- albeit, by discomforting -- into Europe's somewhat stuffy, conservative governance. And that is never a bad thing: it gets the blood flowing. And it is a kickstart for the future, where Europe will have to wake up, big time!
Not that Greece's currently ruling party are staunch and flexible democrats, themselves -- they aren't. Syriza proponents have publicly declared that whoever is not for their beliefs is against them...

c) In a perverse fashion, they may help Germany get some of its good will back: Germans have been sticklers for austerity and austerity has not worked in Greece mainly because Greece never implemented the reforms (reduce public payrol, open closed professions, simplify business start-up, allow business funding, etc) that could have helped the country improve its situation as a whole. But then, Greece's governments have been more prone to support cronyism and pressure groups rather than  the nation.

d) In an even more perverse way, Greece's new government envoys have done a very basic and simple thing: they talked to their partners on normal terms, at arm's length. Which is not a bad thing: it seems that previous Greek government envoys felt unable to put together a coherent sentence that puts forth some request on behalf of their nation.

e) They seem to be enjoying themselves: finally out of mother's crutches, they can let themselves go! It is a positive attitude, and thus being preferable to gravitas.


So, in what must be the most perverse twist, it is Marxists (does "marxist" sell under vintage or antique??) that have made the most successful noise for Greece! This probably says as much about Greece's other politicians as it says about anything else!


However, now is the time for David to stop shooting himself in the foot and wherever else the stone hits him.
If they want to do something useful for their country -- which will not cost them anything after all -- Messrs Tsipras & Baroufakis are well advised to:
* quickly conceive and fine-tune their agenda. Baroufakis will have to do that, the other gentleman being little more than decorative;
* listen to what the others have to say, and judge wisely. Now is the time to negotiate well and in a firm but friendly manner;
* take a deep breath and implement some reform in Greece. The country will never become a real adult unless it sheds its pestilential mismanagement and scapegoat attitude to its own inadequacies.

Again, the result hinges upon Mr Baroufakis' ability to act. All mr Tsipras has to do is smile politely and support his colleague, even if he doesn't quite understand what it is all about.

Listen to the guy on your left.

And for goodness sake, kill the sartorial failure!