by Dror Eydar
While the Left doesn't trust human nature when it comes to economic matters, the opposite is true when it comes to foreign relations. When dealing with foreign issues, all wariness disappears and we are asked to blindly trust nations that openly call for our destruction.
1. In these complex
times, I am focusing my attention more on economic issues. The deeper I
investigate, the more I find a fascinating link between the Left's
diplomatic and economic ideas.
The Left promotes
massive government intervention in the economy, oversight over prices
and taxes, raising minimum wages, etc. Last weekend, demonstrators
against the emerging agreement between the government and natural gas
developers called out "only nationalization will save the nation."
God help us. In other
words, the Left doesn't trust the power of the free market. The Left
doesn't trust anyone whose natural human inclination is to make a profit
to understand that in order to do that they have to compromise and
ensure that others profit as well. As far as the Left is concerned,
basic human nature is evil and moral economic choices must be imposed on
mankind by way of economic laws.
But here is the
question: Is it moral to violate agreements and contracts? How does
doing that help the economy? There is not a lot of drilling underway off
Israel's shores. In light of massive recent natural gas discoveries
there, we should be seeing investors lining up to explore our territory,
but we are not. They look at how we abuse the companies that have
already discovered natural gas and they keep their distance.
In response to a recent
column I wrote on the topic, a friend of mine who works with very rich
Jewish investors wrote to me, explaining their response to Israel's gas
controversy. According to him, their attitude is "contributions (to
Israel) -- yes. Investment -- absolutely not." Imagine a contractor who
signs an agreement with the residents of a building to renovate the
existing apartments in exchange for the right to add two new floors that
would belong to him. After renovating the building and investing a lot
of money in the existing apartments, the residents come to him looking
to renegotiate the deal. The roof is ours, they say to him, you are
making too much profit.
While the Left doesn't
trust human nature when it comes to economic matters, the opposite is
true when it comes to foreign relations. When dealing with foreign
issues, all wariness disappears and we are asked to blindly trust
nations that openly call for our destruction. We are asked to blindly
trust jihadi terrorist organizations and pieces of paper that they sign.
Wasn't that the case with the Oslo Accords? Isn't this how they keep
trying to lure us? The temptations of "peace" include the promise of an
economic paradise, but the reality has taught us that peace made of
paper actually requires building a bigger army than ever. It is enough
to think about the economic implications of a terrorist pointing a
shoulder-mounted missile at Ben-Gurion International Airport from the
hills of Samaria to dash the fantasy of an economic paradise. In the
event that their lofty ideas actually fail, the response among the Left
is similar in both economic and diplomatic cases: denial.
The Right and the
conservatives, incidentally, hold the precise opposite view: Trust the
citizens and the market forces and try not to interfere with economic
processes, but on the other hand, mistrust the enemy and make them fear
you. This view may appear to be simplistic, I know, but it has proved
itself. And by the way, isn't "Peace Now" simplistic too?
Just like magical
solutions in the diplomatic arena ("make love not war"), socialist
solutions are also an easy sell. We all want to help the weak and the
foreign and the poor and we all want to make an honest living. The
question is how we do it. Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah, from the first
century C.E., already taught us that there is a short way that ends up
being long and there is a long way that is ultimately the short way
(Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Eruvin 53b). In short, there are no
shortcuts.
* * *
2. This week, the
citizens of Greece voted against paying back their debt -- a massive,
nearly unimaginable debt. To receive a bailout, the Greeks were asked to
submit to a list of austerity measures in an effort to improve their
economy. The measures include raising the retirement age, revoking tax
and salary benefits, dismissing some employees from the bloated public
sector, increasing competition and more. But Greek Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras was voted into power after promising the exact opposite, as
socialists are wont to do, as they increase government spending.
Tsipras was elected on
Jan. 25 this year. More than two decades ago, the young prime minister
was a member of the Communist youth in his country. While he served in
the opposition, during a meteoric rise to the leadership of the radical
leftist coalition known by the collective name "Syriza," he opposed the
Greek government's austerity program, which was part of the European
plan to extricate Greece from its immense debt.
Three days after he was
elected, Israeli MK Dov Khenin (a member of Israel's Communist party,
part of Hadash and now the Joint Arab List) wrote a Facebook post full
of glowing accolades for the Greek prime minister: "This is how the Left
should behave. Note what they have managed to achieve in only three
days: They raised the minimum wage to 750 euros; halted the
privatization of government companies and public resources; raised
pensions for low income earners; reversed the dismissal of public
workers; revoked the co-pay requirement for doctors' visits and
prescription medication," and on and on. That is all well and good, but
where does the money come from?
Three months later, at
the end of April, German paper Bild reported on a phone conversation
between Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in which Tzipras
asked for more financial assistance and European flexibility. In other
words, he said to Merkel: We're out of money. Oh, right.
In their defense, say
the disciples of the Greek socialism, the current government is dealing
with the poisonous fruit left over by the rightist leadership. But that
argument simply doesn't hold water: With the exception of five years
between 2004 and 2009, Greece has been ruled by socialist or
socialist-majority governments for the last 22 years.
Between 2003 and 2007,
Greece enjoyed an impressive economic boom (Athens hosted the Summer
Olympic games in 2004) of an average of 4%. My friend Eran Bartal wrote
this week that part of this growth was based on a lie, because the
growth of the public sector was linked to the growth in the business
sector: "Say I earn 1,000 shekels and I give my children 500 shekels for
behaving well or for cleaning the house or the car. Technically, my
children and I have earned a total of 1,500 -- I earned 1,000 and they
earned 500. That is the model for Greek growth."
Every country needs a
strong public sector, but it is the business sector that finances it. In
Greece, the business sector was expected to generate massive,
unrealistic profits in order to fund the monstrous public sector. That
would have been possible only in the beautiful socialist fantasies.
True, Germany is also guilty of the original sin, allowing Greece's
failed economy to join the eurozone. What bank would lend money to
someone who is clearly incapable of paying off his debt?
* * *
3. Speaking of the
results of the Greek referendum, it is rather entertaining to see the
Left here in Israel praise the Greeks for proudly standing up to
European coercion. Is it not the same Left that always chides the rest
of us for confronting Europe and the U.S. on fundamental issues on which
Israel thinks differently than they do?
But the result of the
referendum vote does not indicate that the gods of socialism have
revealed themselves to the Greek masses. It is simply the result of the
fundamental national nucleus that exists within any nation, and
certainly a nation as ancient as Greece. It turns out that national
pride is more important than paying off debts. That is kind of funny
considering the political nature of the current Greek government.
We encountered a
similar phenomenon here in Israel during the last election. The Likud
party won a resounding victory of 30 Knesset seats precisely because of
the tremendous pressure by the left-wing parties and the media to defeat
it. Quite a few people voted for Likud not necessarily because they
love the Right, but because they hate the Left, or, more accurately, its
way of trying to dictate to the people how to vote and what to think.
Let us hope that the Greek financial fiasco will serve as a warning sign
for us.
Dror Eydar
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=13129
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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