Greece has been suffering by a brutal socio-financial war instigated by the Troika which invaded and took over the management of the Greek state in 2009 in collaboration with an extremely corrupt cadre of local politicians and a handful of cleptocrat oligarchs. We're talking about illiterate mafiosi scum and corporate puppets. Quite literally, a coup d' etat. During the devastatingly destructive last six years, these local mafias have been absconding with billions of euros and hiding them in their private Swiss accounts and off-shore companies, in full knowledge and total conjunction with their equally ruthless counterparts and corrupt collaborators in the German government, EU and the IMF. This international crime ring and money laundering scam is blamed on 11 million innocent Greek citizens who are living in conditions of abject poverty, extreme levels of unemployment, and gross social injustices, not to mention facing a desperate situation with the tens of thousands of refugees arriving from Syria and other European war zones. The dire situation in Greece is nothing less than a crime against humanity, and has reached rock bottom, so, naturally, people are revolting and saying NO to this genocide masquerading as austerity or even more ridiculously a resque plan, to be solved by a debt which has been proven by multiple international institutions, independent experts and financial scientists of Nobel prize level, as unsustainable, unconstitutional and downright odious. The Greeks are holding a democratic referendum to determine if they want to even continue any kind of talks with what has become a particularly nasty version of Europe, reminiscent of the darkest ages of its already quite disturbed history.
I think it would be a real coup for the U.S. to pay off Greece's debt (1.6 billion euros is not a lot of money) and bring it into the "American Union".
Why the hell would we want anything to do with that corrupt and absymally run country? No, thanks I am perfectly happy and content watching Greece implode and Germany chasing after its own tail trying to save its precious EU zone. Besides if we bail out Greece then we would have to do the same thing for Italy and Spain which are next on the list for collapsing economies and their economies are far more important than Greece's. Also that $1.6 billion is just the payment, not the entire debt. They actually owe over $200 billion. And yes I know its in euros and not dollars but I don't have a "euro" key.
why should we support a nation that borrows $250 billion to pay for their decades of fraud, tax evasion, lies, theft,....and then refuses to pay it back? we shall show Greece tough love, and let them go.
Because there are people who live in that nation that will suffer, most of whom had nothing to do with the problems they face and could not have done anything to prevent it. It's time we stop holding the masses accountable for the crimes of the elite. - - - Updated - - - Because there are people who live in that nation that will suffer, most of whom had nothing to do with the problems they face and could not have done anything to prevent it. It's time we stop holding the masses accountable for the crimes of the elite.
they did nothing for decades, as their society suffered from extreme tax evasion, fraud, theft. chickens have come home to roost
Who is they? What did the 20 year old do? What could they have done? What about someone who will be 20 in 10 years who will still be suffering? What could they have done?
the people should have DEMANDED reforms to decrease fraud, to raise the retirement age, to reduce vacation time, to demand more accountability, to crack down on tax evasion. the people allowed this mess, they profited from this mess, they drank the fruits of this mess, and now they have to deal with it.
Who is they? Did a 20 year old cause this? Why should they be held responsible? Even a 30 year old... What about you? When the US gets to this point, should you suffer? What should you be doing right now to prevent it from happening? Why aren't you stopping the collapse of the US economy in 2050? Blaming the masses only leads to extremism. The masses are made up of individuals, individuals who feel helpless and won't like being blamed for something they had nothing to do with. Extremist groups will continue to grow in popularity if the youth are blamed for the sins of their grandparents.
grandfathers???????????? this debt was being racked up in the 80s and 90s!!! lol!!!! the people prospered from this debt, now they must deal with it.
The greek people will feel the effects of this for decades. In 2020 a 30 year old Grecian (born in 1990) will suffer because of events they had absolutely no control over. What could they have done to prevent it? Your grandkids will suffer because of events that happend with respect to the US economy 20 years ago. Why is that their fault? What could they have done to prevent it? Helplessness foments extremism.
They governed the way they governed because that's what the majority wanted, for years. They cheat on their taxes, vote themselves benefits they can't afford, and then when it's time to pay the bill, they act shocked and insulted. They just elected a government that promised magic: no cuts to pay their debt. I mean, how could this have ended any other way? I don't know if there is any way to help such a political culture. What do you suggest your government do to help?
Who is they? People aged 0 - 30 had nothing to do with getting greece into the situiaiton they are in, but they are the group who will suffer the most from the outcome. The people most responsible for getting greece into this mess will suffer the least. Leaving greece out to dry will only result in extremist groups gaining a foothold in the region or push greece into the arms of a geopolitical enemy like Russia. I don't know what the solution is, but just letting them wallow in the mess "they" made is the worst possible solution.
The 1.6 billion is just a payment on the 360 billion Euro Greek debt. Below are the list of people Greece owes with the total 360 billion Euros at the bottom http://demonocracy.info/infographics/eu/debt_greek/debt_greek.html
yeah, but we can print money and sell bonds that people actually want to buy and trust. ..unlike Greece. and we don't have the extreme levels of fraud, theft, and tax evasion that Greece does.
Well people aged zero are never responsible, but that's irrelevant. People who've been in the electorate for a decade, like I assume most 30 year olds would be, do have some measure of responsibility. I don't know why you want to whitewash their responsibility. Yes the children suffer the most, but that's always the case. An extremist group has power now, which is why they could actually think they could not make any structural reforms and somehow the EU would continue shelling out more loans. So since this is Greece, it's an interesting example of the end stage of democracy. It's an important lesson to the rest of the world, but sadly, it will probably go unheeded. Argentina has done the same thing over and over; they never learn, and I doubt the Greeks are learning anything now. I don't have a solution for them.* They probably will turn to Russia, and become some sort of vassal state, sell their country piece by piece, or go even more extreme and dump democracy and go to either a rightest or leftist authoritarian government. If you think of a way out of their situation let us know. * maybe sell the country to China and become a Chinese province?
Why does Argentina continue to borrow money? The cost of borrowing is probably exorbitant, since they have dragged their credit reputation through the mud so many times.
What a mess the Greeks find themselves. My recommendation is to leave the EU & the Euro, default on all debts & go back to year zero, sort out an economy within which you can survive on your own two feet. If that means setting back the clocks 200 years then so be it. Live within your means & become more realistic. I'm not saying it is just the Greek nation that are not realistic people, I think vast numbers of the World have gone mad & I think it is hateful that we pass on massive debt to the next generations whilst we demand a standard of life that is economically unrealistic under the system within which we live. Time to break a lot of what we hold dear and find a new path for ourselves. The EU is only a form of enslavement & the sooner it is broken up the better.
Unlike the OP claims, Greece's problems didn't start in 2009 and are not caused by the IMF, the EU or the German government. The EU and their imposed austerity policies haven't helped at all though. For roughly 4 decades, Greece has been an extremely corrupt country - according to transparency international the most corrupt in the EU - with tax evasion and corruption that weren't even topped by Italy under Berlusconi. To this day, Greece doesn't have a functioning taxation system or tax authorities that work properly. I wonder why prime minister Tsipras doesn't want to clean up his back yard and start taxing the rich. According to different media, there are 80 billion Euros in Switzerland which belong to Greek elites who haven't paid any taxes in years. Basically every Greek government in the past 4 decades has been utterly corrupt. The country should not have been allowed to join the Euro in the first place, simply because it didn't meet the necessary criteria. Here, the EU, very foolishly, turned a blind eye. I feel really sorry for the ordinary person in the street. They are usually the ones that have to suffer the most.
