Very’ very important documentary about the pulverizing of Greece under the annihilating austerity measures imposed by its European allies. It is an important reminder, during the fantastical wash of diseased fecal outpour churning forth from the US in its new found, Trump-infested, steroidal-surplus-shit-spray along with Brexit related frantic-self-wounding, – the European Union, as a political device, can also be the conduit or capacitator for immense societal harm & corporate/fiscal predation.
Oh they carved Greece up man! A merciless act & experiment of extrajudicial dismantling & rabid asset stripping… bled & cleaved whilst still alive by a mob of suited pirates on a pillage of privatization sadism. Unconstitutional & undemocratic in the extreme with the well-worn cover story of ‘debt’ as the obliging induction for the remorseless bloodletting & savagery that would follow (& continues now). This is why some people voted for Brexit, knowing what the EU entity is capable of. & don’t confuse my assessment, it will be way’ way’ way worse with any kind of American involvement (the ‘quick n’ easy’ trade deal that is being touted to the British turkeys by the Chump Disintegration & the rabid shower of excrescent toxic filth that writhes beneath his sewage grate), & the US remains by far the greatest offender, but the fact remains that ultra-draconian strip-down & sell-off coerced-catastrophe by immoral external creditors within the European entity (Germany being the nastiest in Greece’s case) has been indelibly tried & tested.
This is a great doc – well shot, decent soundtrack, some excellent critique which includes Naomi Klein, Ken Loach & Slavoj Zizek & shocking details of some of the obscene privatizations that have transpired under these extraordinary conditions. The IMF have been causing this kind of economic terrorism in the majority world for decades under the whole ‘structural readjustment’ camouflage. Reagan & Thatcher’s domestic mutilations coupled with the vicious extermination & witling of safe-guards under the ‘deregulation’ pretext paired with growth obsessed perversity also ushered in such barbarity in the developed world (America of course being the worse offender in just about every available category & by a considerable margin). As is remarked on in this documentary (& more & more these days), the third-world exploitation & flouting of western standards that multi-nationals would forgo when operating abroad in climates with less legal or economic resilience is now becoming more common practice at home within their own borders.
The game is given away, irretrievably, by the curious dissonance that ‘austerity’ aka ‘extremism’ (with the probability of added cruelty) is only applied to the poor/the majority. If cash is the necessary commodity & one section has way’ way more than the other, you definitely would not want to exclude the ‘moneyed class’ from the “rescue operations”. The second anyone even suggests the absence of the affluent from such ‘belt tightening’ endeavors, you know it’s a stone-cold ruse & that what is actually happening is plutocracy & kleptocracy on a plundering offensive.
Catastroika begins with the event that coined the name, the dissolving of the Soviet Union & the fiscal policies that were past when the western, chiefly American, advisors rushed in to “offer their advice” on the convenient disaster. The kind of depredation that is passed on Russia frequently today, warranted as much of it may be, is inextricably linked to the western economic envoys that interfered, advised & directed during such vulnerability. They briefly talk about the extreme poverty & hardship that immediately followed such disastrous meddling. Lowered life expectancy, prostitution, alcoholism, immiseration & the typical coinciding curses. Opportunity in obliteration.
Very fine work here. If you have not seen it, now is definitely the moment. Capitalisms crown is a complete sham. Clear & current examples of its continued herculean threat, surpassing any drug, spin-off crime, terrorism sideline or secondary occurrence (well, something has to take your attention away from the largest proponent of doom & misery) are graphically & indisputably demonstrated by the Greek tragedy & the bastards that are responsible.
Katerina Kitidi & Aris Chatzistefanou – Infowar – 2012