But European “solidarity,” moribund as it always was, is now receiving the ultimate fatal blow thanks to the expanding sovereign debt crisis that is unhinging the EU’s poorer members, like Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, and is threatening the euro currency with a searing Mother of All Crises.

In the case of Greece, in particular, the mood in “united” Europe is turning ugly and revengeful, with a hodge-podge of politicians, economic “experts,” central bankers, “investors,” and the rest of the leading elements of Europe’s casino capitalism demanding the complete long-term destruction of this country via “fiscal streamlining” as part of a “lesson” to be delivered to similar miscreants within the “union.”

Greece is now being openly attacked by the more “prudent” members of the “union” over its supposed carefree, goofy fiscal ways.

Dress rehearsal neo-Calvinists intervene, Soviet style, directly into Greek politics, with demands of the Greeks giving them assurances in writing that austerity will continue -- the only ingredient that’s missing is the drab presence of Soviet commissars in double-breasted military tunics reading ultimatums before the microphones and seen in black-and-white news reels.

These angels of the work ethic also take to the lectern to announce that, no, they are not prepared to continue the bailout scheme to Greece unless this and this and that term are met immediately by the Greek happy-go-lucky brigands:

--   First the Hellenes need to make sure that their entire population descends into abject poverty for generations to come through massive austerity that fulfills no purpose other than the satisfaction of creditors;

--  secondly, these Hellenes also need to promise upon penalty of eternal damnation that they will continue to disembowel their economy for as long as their barely breathing carcass allows so that “financial markets” suffer the smallest possible damage after Greece’s inevitable foundering;

--   and, thirdly, the Hellenes must also do this smiling and with the frame of mind of genocide would-be victims, who have no idea what awaits them other than noticing the long columns of men, women, and children being led away by the guards into the wilderness.

European “solidarity” now lies on the deck in starkly visible tatters -- and Greece’s tragedy signposts a repulsive vengeance phase emerging in European “union” policies, dotted with the threats of revenge that may buy votes in northern climes but finally and irretrievably defeat the “vision” of one and only Europe.
 
With Europe’s banks saddled with an estimated 1.3 trillion US dollars in unsound loans and other questionable “investments,” European politicians belatedly face the specter of a catastrophic fiscal crisis engendered by no other than the wunderkind of currencies, our own shared and beloved euro introduced as the “one currency for one Europe.”

No one really knows what to do next and few, if any, in positions of power, can grasp all the implications of the euro scheme’s developing failure. Launched in 1999 on the inane assumption that it would foster political unity as well as better economies, the euro has attempted to reverse the lessons of History -- and has disastrously missed the target. Right now, the whole debt crisis revolves around what has been described as “European leaders taking random walks through the minefield at the very heart of the European Experiment.” So much for Europe adopting “focused” policies that address the uncertainties of the future.

The halting realization, spreading among European elites, that the “common currency” is now the seed of common collapse does not help Greece any. She faces more pressing immediate crises, as, for example, how to protect the great majority of its population from falling off the chart into permanent poverty and despair.

Our predicament is infinitely worsened by the presence of a “government” at the Greek helm dedicated to safeguarding the interests of the creditors, pushing for our demise, rather than our own collective good.

Caught between the emergence of these “union” vengeance politics, so familiar to those who remember the dark parts of 20th century European history, and our own political ineptness and disintegration, we appear doomed to suffer a disaster that would dwarf those that crested over us throughout recent history because of wars, invasions, and direct foreign occupation.   

Is there anyone who can lead from the front and at least ensure that we don’t go down with just a whimper?

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