Strange irony: 2012 will be for many democracies, starting with ours, a very
important election year. And in all other countries subject to
dictatorships, peoples are yearning for free elections. The whole of
humanity thus seems to take control of its destiny.
In fact, this is not the case: markets are everywhere, on the contrary, in
the process of imposing their laws; while peoples only experience the
illusion and appearances of democracy.
In emerging countries, regardless of regimes, governments and citizens are
more and more at the mercy of price fluctuations in raw materials,
agricultural products and prices of major currencies, on which they have no
grip: what are elections for when the fate of the country can be challenged
at every turn by decisions taken thousands of miles away?
Similarly, developed countries, more indebted than ever, are more and more
at the mercy of their lenders, who can decide to continue or not in allowing
them to live beyond their means. And these lenders are more pressing every
day. Democracies have therefore almost no means of influencing their own
fate; they neither know how to control their spending nor their revenues; in
addition, they passed on their main responsibilities into the hands of
independent bodies; and finally, they have failed to develop ways to
counteract the markets’ forces, whose players move more and more freely
across the globe.
Also, the upcoming elections will not have much influence on the future of
voters. The peoples, feel this, who cling more than ever to nostalgic
symbols of power such as military parades (although, in France, on July
14th, one out of three soldiers marched down on credit).
Everyone knows, everyone guesses, that by living beyond their means, the
markets will impose on countries some very difficult decisions, that
everyone knows, but nobody wants to hear about. Not only about budgetary
decisions, but also about lifestyles, ways of thinking, learning, proper
health care, and insurance.
To escape this, nations will soon have no choice but to print money (which
will end in inflation, the ruin of the middle class, and the end of formal
democracy) or close borders, which will lead to the same result.
Then democracy would have been only one way of organizing the transition
between two forms of dictatorship: from that of princes to that of markets.
Yet it is still possible to escape this tragic slope. In particular, Europe
still has the means to remain a democratic continent. This requires setting
up powerful means against the markets. In particular, to decide in the next
EU summit, to endow the European Guarantee Fund with 2 Trillion Euros, which
can be collected easily by the Union, in the form of guarantees and Euro
bonds. If such a sum could be announced, the markets would know that
speculation is doomed to failure and countries would not even need to
collect it. Of course, to be taken seriously, such funds should be placed
under the control of a real European government, responsible before the
peoples and guarantor of the seriousness of each member country.
Democracy is nothing without the means to exercise it.