Quote:
Originally Posted by Swede
Good points all. I'm not well-read on the specifics of the bail-out plan for Greece though, but I imagine it's way, way, way to the right of me policy wise (these bail-outs usually are: kill the public sector and give everything to the rich seems to be a common mantra for the people running banks). But given the way they've dug their own hole... Can't say I have much sympathy (in general - there are millions of Greeks I do have great sympathy for, they sure didn't ALL contribute to the crash).
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While I would partially agree that the general attitude towards to the Greek bailout (and requirements in the other PIIGS) is right-leaning, it is a much needed correction away from the other spectrum which has been a one-way left leaning journey off a cliff. It's crazy to think that Greece has more Porsches than people paying tax on the equivalent of €50,000 per annum!
While not everyone in Greece contributed towards the situation, the vast majority did. They consistently elected governments that basically relied on accounting tricks and the money markets to invest in social welfare programmes that were simply far too rich. The population gladly accepted the pensions that allowed them to retire a lot earlier than other European nations such as Germany. Meanwhile corruption and tax evasion was and remains endemic across all cross-sections of society.
The Greeks are playing a silly game of Russian Roulette that is going to damage tens of millions of people across Europe. This is also causing massive damage to the credibility of not just every nation in the €-zone, but in the EU.