Greece is screwed. Greek lawmakers passed another brutal austerity package today – unfortunately – and so the capital city Athens is on fire. Amid fierce rioting on the streets that’s left dozens of buildings on fire – more than 100 people injured – including 50 police officers – and hundreds arrested or detained – the European technocrats got their bailout and austerity through the Greek Parliament – despite massive opposition by the voters.
Over 100,000 people took part in demonstrations in the streets over the weekend. Thus far – two years of austerity has only driven the Greek economy down and thus led to further economic contraction and social unrest. But since it makes global banksters happy – here comes round two.
Comments
Give a Man a Fish, and he will only Riot for More Fish!
The Greeks would rather BURN the place down than give up any of their juicy free EU cash.
Greece's current unemployment rate of 20% brought about by previous austerity measures will probably increase to 40%, further reducing its ability to generate the money to pay debts to EU/American banksters.Greece's economic activity is rapidly shrinking...and with it the tax evenues tied to economic activity.
Selling off income-generating public assets at fire sale prices will reduce the ability to pay even further. Banksters, of course, will make fantastic profits financing the sales.
Greece should follow Argentina's role...and repudiate its debt. After Argentina repudiated the banksters, it's economy grew faster than even China's.
It will be interesting to see how people without money for food, clothing and shelter will deal with the problem. When Argentina went through a similar crises, their bankster-bought Pres. was forced to resign and flee the capitol in a helicopter. Better than being hung on the spot.
Next up Portugal, Italy, and Spain. The banksters will have their due even if it impoverishes the entire world. Bailing banksters and enriching finance at any cost seems to be the new global motto.
Retired Monk - "Ideology is a disease"
Over 100,000 people took part in demonstrations in the streets over the weekend. Thus far – two years of austerity has only driven the Greek economy down and thus led to further economic contraction and social unrest. But since it makes global banksters happy – here comes round two.
The government has promised to be the care taker of the people. The problem is that governmnents are generally inept. People need to know that they have to be responsible for themselves. Government can't be counted on to be a sugar daddy because eventually they run out of sugar. As they have in Greece. It's not that Greece no longer wants to give people free money, they can't. They don't have any more.
Oh, and people need to learn the difference between a riot and a demonstration. If you are burning down people's homes and businesses it is a riot or simply arson.
The government has promised to be the care taker of the people in an indirect way. It only gives hand outs when absolutely neccesary. Instead it takes care of it's people by attempting to regulate the economy to where there is plenty of jobs in order for people to take care of themselves. Sometimes that doesn't work. When you let the greed of special interests overstep certain boundaries then it upsets the apple cart and that in turn creates a domino effect that results in demonstrations and eventually riots.
The worst thing you can do is to blame the people who just want a decent job so they can get on with their lives. When there is no alternative to feed yourself and your family what should one do? Crawl into a hole and die? I'm curious as to what Cali would do in a situation where he had mouths to feed and bills to pay but had zero possibilities of employment due to no fault of his own.
The government has promised to be the care taker of the people in an indirect way. It only gives hand outs when absolutely neccesary. Instead it takes care of it's people by attempting to regulate the economy to where there is plenty of jobs in order for people to take care of themselves. Sometimes that doesn't work. When you let the greed of special interests overstep certain boundaries then it upsets the apple cart and that in turn creates a domino effect that results in demonstrations and eventually riots.
The worst thing you can do is to blame the people who just want a decent job so they can get on with their lives. When there is no alternative to feed yourself and your family what should one do? Crawl into a hole and die? I'm curious as to what Cali would do in a situation where he had mouths to feed and bills to pay but had zero possibilities of employment due to no fault of his own.
This still does not address the basic question. They are out of money. How do you pay people when you don't have any money?
The government has promised to be the care taker of the people in an indirect way. It only gives hand outs when absolutely neccesary. Instead it takes care of it's people by attempting to regulate the economy to where there is plenty of jobs in order for people to take care of themselves. Sometimes that doesn't work. When you let the greed of special interests overstep certain boundaries then it upsets the apple cart and that in turn creates a domino effect that results in demonstrations and eventually riots.
The worst thing you can do is to blame the people who just want a decent job so they can get on with their lives. When there is no alternative to feed yourself and your family what should one do? Crawl into a hole and die? I'm curious as to what Cali would do in a situation where he had mouths to feed and bills to pay but had zero possibilities of employment due to no fault of his own.
This still does not address the basic question. They are out of money. How do you pay people when you don't have any money?
They don't need money, they need food and shelter. They are not out of food and shelter. Somebody who owns the food and shelter is going to have to take it in the shorts. The people with no food or shelter don't have anymore to give but their labor. There are solutions but "money" is not one of them for as you said, there is no more "available". It's in someone's lock box collecting interest.
The government has promised to be the care taker of the people in an indirect way. It only gives hand outs when absolutely neccesary. Instead it takes care of it's people by attempting to regulate the economy to where there is plenty of jobs in order for people to take care of themselves. Sometimes that doesn't work. When you let the greed of special interests overstep certain boundaries then it upsets the apple cart and that in turn creates a domino effect that results in demonstrations and eventually riots.
The worst thing you can do is to blame the people who just want a decent job so they can get on with their lives. When there is no alternative to feed yourself and your family what should one do? Crawl into a hole and die? I'm curious as to what Cali would do in a situation where he had mouths to feed and bills to pay but had zero possibilities of employment due to no fault of his own.
This still does not address the basic question. They are out of money. How do you pay people when you don't have any money?
There are solutions but "money" is not one of them for as you said, there is no more "available". It's in someone's lock box collecting interest.
Who is this "someone?" Is there any evidence that there is any money left? If so where is it? One of the primary concerns of the rioters is that they will no longer be able to retire young. They will have to be responsible for themselves a few years longer. The government over-promised. Offered a Ponzi scheme.
Again, I have heard that the money has been blown. I have not heard that someone is hoarding it.
The money has to go somewhere. I doubt that those who accumulated it burned it for heat.
http://rt.com/business/news/greece-tax-evasion-switzerland-917/
The money has to go somewhere. I doubt that those who accumulated it burned it for heat.
http://rt.com/business/news/greece-tax-evasion-switzerland-917/
Sure, but after the government spends it, it's not like they can go and take it back. It's not theirs anymore, they've spent it all. The people are going to have to work for a living. The government does not have the money to pay them to stay home.
Maybe I'm being naive here rigel but I believe that the people want to work for a living. I don't think there's any jobs. The same holds true in the US. Something is screwed up when you have millions willing to work and that need to work but there is no work. As of right now there are 4 job seekers for every job opening available. Somebody has to lose, there's no getting around it. I can't accept myself as being human if I were to not care about those that "lose" just because I have a job. Something needs to be done fast and I sure as hell don't have the answers.
Hey righties, get ready for the Greek riots washing up here because of your bankster friends. It was not the workers who screwed up Greece with debt. It was the same effing banksters who ran Wall St. under Bush, who did the bailouts you always want to stick Obama with. Iceland, Argentina, and now Greece show us what to do with this immoral debt. Stick it up your IMF.
One of my dreams :
...that government of the banksters, for the banksters, by the banksters, SHALL perish from the Earth !
(Thanks to Mr. Lincoln for the original quote)
Well, Greece had a problem. They didn't tax those who could pay taxes. Like the U.S., those with the money paid little in taxes relative to their share of the national income...national pie..
Unlike the U.S., the Greeks couldn't just speed up the printing presses or issue foreign governments Treasury Bonds instead of goods in payment for trades. Greeks used Euros. Their own currency went extinct. If the U.S. needs money, it issues a Treasury Bond and prints/spends the money to equal the Bond. Greece can't do that,.It can't print money to equal its bonds. It uses Euros.
The way out for Greece is to withdraw from the EU and go back to its own currency,.Ditto Italy and Spain.
If the U.S. dollar wasn't the primary international currency or if we used Euros and abolished our own currency, we'd be in the same boat. The U.S. military would be the size of N.Y.'s police force. That might be a good thing..The world could sleep at night.
Asia is weaning itself from the dollar. The new S.E. Asia Trade Agreement excludes it as a means of payment. Trades among the BRIC nations exlude it as well.. If that expands much more, we'll be joining Greece. as a stepchild of the IMF.
Our own proposed austerity at this time is plain and simple on-going class war, Billion dollar bonuses have to be two-billion dollar bonuses. The money has to come from somewhere.
"The money supply at any given time is finite. For one to have more, another has to have less. Friedman, "Money Mischief".
If Miss Piggy wants the whole national pie, someone isn't going to get any. They get to go on a diet. We call that particular diet austerity..
Retired Monk - "Ideology is a disease"
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Buy drachmas. Iceland gets it.