The meaning of Europe is likely to be determined today.

Is Europe about solidarity, democracy and social justice, or is it about punishment, servitude and blackmail?

If you are in any doubt about the high stakes in today's referendum in Greece on whether to submit too or resist European elite power, just ask Angela Merkel. In a speech to the Bundestag last Wednesday, the German Chancellor said: "This is not about several billion Euros - this is fundamentally about how the EU can stay competitive in the world."

This is not about the money then, and this is not just about the Greek debt. This is about power and values. Europe's elites are finding it very difficult to hide their unwillingness to negotiate with a government that dares to question the dogma of austerity.

It was their ultimatum that forced Alexis Tsipras to turn to the Greek people. And what we have seen since the announcement of the referendum goes well beyond unwillingness to negotiate with a radical left party. It shows - not for the first time - that financial capital and its political allies will not hesitate to openly undermine a democratically elected government.

How else can we explain the Eurogroup's rejection of Tsipras' request for a few days extension to the bailout programme, so that the country can carry out its democratic decision making with its banks open and its pensioners at home rather than queuing to take their money out of the ATMs? How else can we interpret statements such as those made by high ranking European officials like the President of the European Parliament Martin Schultz, who openly wished for the Syriza era to be over and for a more responsible 'technocratic' government to take power? And how else can we make sense of the corporate media consistently utilising their position of power to prompt fear of a No vote with propaganda and disinformation campaigns?

A No vote will also have a resounding impact on European politics beyond Greece. It will speak to the people of Spain and to other European peoples who will be electing their own governments in a few months time, telling them that they need not be afraid of seeking radical change.

It is widely known that Germany's belligerence towards Athens is partly due to its determination to avoid dealing with Podemos in Madrid after October's Spanish election. The rise of the radical left in Europe is a threat to the cosy neo-liberal consensus of centre-left and centre-right, both of which have accepted the inevitability of the poor and vulnerable paying for a crisis of the rich and powerful.

Its the centre-left who pay the price electorally, with millions of working class people moving from Pasok in Greece and SWP in Spain in favour of parties like Syriza that are not part of the political establishment and are willing to stand up to the likes of the IMF and the European Commission and say 'No'.

It is in many ways a similar phenomenon to historic events in Latin America, where IMF programmes brought countries to the brink of collapse - while privatisation and restructuring brought recessionary effects, governments became ever more indebted and ever more incapable of paying the debts back, leading to a cycle of more cutbacks, more recession, more debt.

The people rose up across Latin America and now the IMF is the equivalent of a swear word on the continent. Indeed, governments in Argentina and Ecuador have been keen to express their solidarity with the Greek Government - they know how difficult it is to resist debt servitude.

Even the IMF now accept Greece needs debt relief, and a leaked European Commission analysis paper never revealed to the public shows the elite in Brussels know Greece's debt is not sustainable even if they do everything 'the Troika' demands of them. So why do they insist on the measures? Punishment, servitude and blackmail.

There is an alternative. A No vote can serve as a platform for a Europe wide movement on a mass scale, a movement that will claim radical change, solidarity and democracy across the continent. We have seen the signs in the solidarity demonstrations, rallies and marches for Oxi that have taken place in Europe and across the world.

Scotland is very much a part of this, and is already viewed with much interest after the independence referendum transformed the national political debate into a face off between the austerity consensus in Westminster and a social alternative to cuts and privatisation. We have a simply massive role to play in developing anti-austerity politics given how embedded it is into our political landscape. .

We know all to well about how the politics of fear can be used in a referendum to quell a nation into submission. Like our referendum, Greeks are deciding to embrace hope or collapse into fear. A No vote will be just another step on the long road to building a peoples Europe, but it will keep us on the road. That is why it is so crucial for us all.

Dr. Myrto Tsakatika is a Senior Lecturer in Politics for School of Social and Political Sciences at Glasgow University and co-ordinator of Syriza Scotland.

Jonathon Shafi is a co-founder of the Radical Independence Campaign and supporter on the Scottish Left Project.