Having just returned from Greece, and talking to many people of all ages and a wide variety of positions and incomes, I have come to the following conclusions with respect to Greece's current situation:
1. Greece the country is poor; most Greeks themselves are not. They continue to spend regularly on entertainment. As one hotel employee told me. . . "the crisis is only on TV. Turn the TV off and go into the platias and restaurants at night and you will see them full of Greeks having a grand old time." He was right night after night both on the islands and the mainland.
2. The general attitude of most of the youth, as well as many adults in Greece right now was captured by the slogan that I saw on one shirt being sold in a shop window. It read as follows . . .
"I DIDN'T STEAL. I DIDN'T ELECT THEM. I WON'T PAY." ... that is they won't pay any more taxes or accept any more salary or benefit cuts. The Greek people refuse to pay because they feel that the greatest percentage of anything they give the government lines the pockets of the elected officials and their friends. And they feel they have little to show for the money they have given. To be honest having visited both Kenya and Greece on the same trip -- albeit for different purposes, the first to serve in ministry and the latter to visit relatives -- I am hard pressed, based on what I read and heard in both countries to state unequivocally which of the two is "more corrupt" in its practices, especially at the government level.
3. Finally, I have come to the conclusion, based on the fact that "where you have three Greeks, you almost always have five opinions" the Greek politicians will never agree on the terms and conditions of any further assistance from the European Union, as they have been requested to do, and thus may never get another loan. Default will ensue.
4. Should that happen, and hopefully even before that, the Greeks will need to be saved by yet another "benevolent dictator" who will start to clean things up from the top down with severe consequences to one's self and their family if they are caught either taking a bribe, or cheating on their income, or their taxes. The trick of course will be for such a dictator to turns the country back into a democracy once things settle down -- something that seems to be rare once 'ultimate power' goes to their heads.
5. Revolution I am told, along the lines of the Arab Spring is not in the cards. Greeks are not starving nor are they being beaten. The solution lies elsewhere. Unfortunately, selling off the country as per the current major privatization plan, will only destroy the Greece many people around the world love.
Cry Greece, My Beloved Country, indeed.
-- Ken Godevenos, born there, raised elsewhere, but strongly connected.
Greeks demonstrate against austerity measures - Yahoo! Finance
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