In the last few days, there have been two sophisms circulating among those who refuse to look reality squarely in the face and recognize the retreat that Syriza has been forced to make, as well as its possible consequences.

Or rather, two and a half. And I say “forced” with good reason, because the new government has been trapped by its mistaken strategy (though I wouldn’t say it was a “betrayal” or “capitulation,” since these are moralizing terms that are of very little use for understanding political processes).

The first sophism: “Syriza has no mandate to quit the eurozone.” If it had adopted such a position, it wouldn’t have won the elections. Putting it that way, we see how absurd this reasoning is. Yes, of course it had no mandate to quit the eurozone. But it certainly didn’t have a mandate to abandon the core of its program in order to hang onto the euro, either!