Greece, that ancient land. What it giveth us culturally, it simultaneously taketh away.
They give us the philosophic wisdom of Socrates, but we must also accept Constantine Maroulis, former American Idol failure, and "star" of Broadway's Rock of Ages.
They provide us with ouzo, so that we can comfortably endure the amoral, classless legacy of the college fraternity system.
They give us a beautiful vacation spot beloved by tourists for centuries, and then they go bankrupt.
They giveth....Ok, I'll stop. You get the point.
By now most of us know about the great fiscal crisis currently abroil in Greece. Hitting a little too close to home, given America's own balloning deficit, and the '08 collapse of our banking system, it is impossible not to feel empathy for the Greek people. The picture above clearly demonstrates that they are mad as hell about their current fiscal situation. What to do?
However, my issue today is not with Greek folks, or even the nation itself. Instead, I want to talk about Germany and it's blame in creating the mess that caused the Dow to fall a collective 347.8 points over the course of the day.
Germany, you ask? What does the land of beer and sauerkraut have to do with Greece's current meltdown (full disclosure: Boop and Jen are half German by lineage)? Didn't they just approve a bailout package for the struggling nation two days ago?
Yes, they did dear readers, but sadly this vote, which makes Germany look much the proactive benefactor, comes far too late in the game. In fact, the European Union has been aware for quite a long time that Greece was on the brink. And as recently as mid-February, the Germans did not want to do much of anything to help their "spendthrift" economic partners.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/world/europe/16germany.html
So two months of hemming, hawing, "not my problem" isolationism later, here were are. Greece is the new United States, and global markets are in a free fall. Obviously, given that our nation is still muddling through a way to figure out what the hell happened to our own economy, we have no space to start pointing fingers.
But I am not Barack Obama and I have no need for diplomacy. Germany, j'accuse!
The justification for waiting it out was that “Every country has its own debts." Well yes, in theory that is true. However, when Europe decided to make it a coalition by creating the European Union, they implicitly resigned the right to keep their concerns within their own borders. If Germany is now second guessing the wisdom of the EU, formed during the heady, prosperous aughts, well they are not the only ones.
I realize that blaming Germany for this debacle does not determine its only cause, nor does it do anything to resolve the gigantic crater sitting in the middle of the Greek economy. But we must hope that Germany is paying attention now, and understands that it can no longer treat the Greeks like so many drunken cousins, whose life choices have no effect on its own fortunes.
They give us the philosophic wisdom of Socrates, but we must also accept Constantine Maroulis, former American Idol failure, and "star" of Broadway's Rock of Ages.
They provide us with ouzo, so that we can comfortably endure the amoral, classless legacy of the college fraternity system.
They give us a beautiful vacation spot beloved by tourists for centuries, and then they go bankrupt.
They giveth....Ok, I'll stop. You get the point.
By now most of us know about the great fiscal crisis currently abroil in Greece. Hitting a little too close to home, given America's own balloning deficit, and the '08 collapse of our banking system, it is impossible not to feel empathy for the Greek people. The picture above clearly demonstrates that they are mad as hell about their current fiscal situation. What to do?
However, my issue today is not with Greek folks, or even the nation itself. Instead, I want to talk about Germany and it's blame in creating the mess that caused the Dow to fall a collective 347.8 points over the course of the day.
Germany, you ask? What does the land of beer and sauerkraut have to do with Greece's current meltdown (full disclosure: Boop and Jen are half German by lineage)? Didn't they just approve a bailout package for the struggling nation two days ago?
Yes, they did dear readers, but sadly this vote, which makes Germany look much the proactive benefactor, comes far too late in the game. In fact, the European Union has been aware for quite a long time that Greece was on the brink. And as recently as mid-February, the Germans did not want to do much of anything to help their "spendthrift" economic partners.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/world/europe/16germany.html
So two months of hemming, hawing, "not my problem" isolationism later, here were are. Greece is the new United States, and global markets are in a free fall. Obviously, given that our nation is still muddling through a way to figure out what the hell happened to our own economy, we have no space to start pointing fingers.
But I am not Barack Obama and I have no need for diplomacy. Germany, j'accuse!
The justification for waiting it out was that “Every country has its own debts." Well yes, in theory that is true. However, when Europe decided to make it a coalition by creating the European Union, they implicitly resigned the right to keep their concerns within their own borders. If Germany is now second guessing the wisdom of the EU, formed during the heady, prosperous aughts, well they are not the only ones.
I realize that blaming Germany for this debacle does not determine its only cause, nor does it do anything to resolve the gigantic crater sitting in the middle of the Greek economy. But we must hope that Germany is paying attention now, and understands that it can no longer treat the Greeks like so many drunken cousins, whose life choices have no effect on its own fortunes.
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Interesting perspective Boop. You have a country (Greece) in debt up to their ass and you blame Germany, a country who has taken unpopular measures within their own country in order try and keep their economy prudent and viable. I guess that's the typical liberal bullshit. Don't blame the spendthrifts, blame the prudent because they have more money, are rich, and don't care about anyone. The European countries want Greece to enact some harsh fiscal discipline in return for financial aid. The Greek people are rebelling against those measures. Gee, I wonder why a bailout is so unpopular among the citizens of Germany and elsewhere in Europe. And I also wouldn't make the comparison that Greece is the United States. Far from it! It appears they got the
ReplyDeleteassurances they needed today and the markets have responded accordingly. I do agree with you that the bigger global issue is that of the EU and the Euro. This is the first real test of the currency when one of it's members suffers financial difficulties and it hasn't gone well. I admit to being critical of Angela Merkel's leadership on this and other related issues, and I can tell you I have a vested interest in Germany and others extending aid. But let's quit passing the buck. The culprit is Greece, not Germany!
-Mr. A
Read this in today's paper. I am not alone in my thinking, Mr. A.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/opinion/11iht-edcohen.html
I do not presume to let Greece off the hook for its irresponsible mistakes, but Germany is certainly complicit in where things stand.
I don't completely disagree with you. But your original post came across as poor old Greece and shame on Germany. I don't see it that way. I acknowledge the fact that the EU has it's obvious problems, but the article referenced in your most recent post is rubbish IMO.
ReplyDelete-Mr. A