“The extreme center is the political expression of the neoliberal state.” StatesPoliticalExpressionExtremes Author:Tariq Ali
“But I don't need to use politics as a way of making money.” WayNeedsUseSportsMaking Money Author:Imran Khan
“Economics and politics are so intertwined and interlinked that politics now, mainstream politics, extreme center politics, are little else but a version of concentrated economics. And this means that any alternative - alternative capitalism, left Keynesianism, intervention by the state to help the poor, rolling back the privatizations - becomes a huge issue. The entire weight of the extreme center and its media is turned against it, which in reality now is beginning to harm democracy.” MeanLittlesStatesHelpingRealityLeftPoorDemocracyIssuesMediaHugeCapitalismEconomicsWeightExtremesHarmVersionsAlternativesMainstreamRollingInterventionIntertwinedHelp The PoorPrivatizationKeynesianism Author:Tariq Ali
“I think Syriza and Podemos are very, very different from Sinn Féin in many ways, and so I wouldn't put all three together. I would say that Syriza and Podemos are movements which have come out of mass struggles. In the case of Podemos, directly out of tariqaliextremehuge mass movements in Spain, which started with the occupation of the square. In Greece, as a response to what the EU was doing there, punishing it endlessly, for the sins of its ruling elite.” ThinkingWayDifferentTogetherThreeSinCasesStruggleMovementMassResponseOccupationSquaresElitesSpainRulingGreece Author:Tariq Ali
“At the moment we have a critical situation in Greece. Even as we speak, where there is an open attempt by the EU to destroy Syriza by splitting it. There is a German obstinacy and utter refusal to seriously consider an alternative. The reason isn't even a lack of money, because money swims around the EU coffers endlessly, and they could write off the debt tomorrow if they wanted. But they don't want to do so, because of the election of a left-wing government. They want to punish Syriza in public, to humiliate it so that this model doesn't go any further than Greece.” IfsWantWritingReasonMomentsGovernmentWantedLeftSpeakSituationTomorrowModelsElectionWingsCriticalDebtAlternativesSwimGreeceRefusalLeft WingHumiliateSplittingObstinacy Author:Tariq Ali
“The European Union is a union of the extreme center. It's a banker's union. You see how they operate in country after country, appointing technocrats to take over and run countries for long periods. They did it in Greece; they did it in Italy; they considered it in other parts of Europe.” LongCountryRunningPeriodsEuropeUnionsExtremesGreeceBankersEuropean Union Author:Tariq Ali
“The European Union is effectively a union dominated by the German political and economic elite. Its main function is to serve as a nucleus for financial capitalism and to ease the road for that capitalism. The other functions just irritate everyone: it's undemocratic; decisions are not made by parliament; the European Parliament is not sovereign.” MadePoliticalDecisionEconomicCapitalismFunctionUnionsFinancialEaseElitesSovereignParliamentEuropean UnionNucleus Author:Tariq Ali
“The European Union has lost virtually all of its credibility amongst large swaths of the European population.” LostUnionsPopulationCredibilityEuropean Union Author:Tariq Ali
“Effectively, the EU is a very powerful bureaucracy, dominated now by the German elite, which is backed by the rest of the European Union members.” PowerfulMembersUnionsElitesBureaucracyVery PowerfulEuropean Union Author:Tariq Ali
“If you go to former Yugoslav states, the Balkan states, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, the situation is dire. Not to mention Bosnia, which is just run like a colony. The way they used to stand up and sing hymns to President Tito, they now salute the EU flag. It's a very strange transition that we're witnessing in most of Europe, and I don't think it's going to work.” IfsThinkingWayStatesRunningUsedPresidentSituationStrangeEuropeFormerTransitionFlagsGoing To WorkColonyHymnsSaluteBosniaSerbiaBalkansCroatiaTito Author:Tariq Ali
