I returned to Greece, this time, in early September and now I have noticed something interesting about my postings to blogs, etc. Until then, my postings were about 9:1 (if not more) in critique of actions on the part of the EU-elites (mishandling the debt problem; the charade of calling something “help for Greece” when, in actual fact, it was a bail-out for banks; turning a Greek-problem into an EU-problem; etc. etc.).
Since returning to Geece, the content of my postings has shifted toward a critique of Greece. Critique of what? For having caused a mess? For having wasted other people’s money? For other similar reasons? Not at all! Instead, a critique of Greece for showing no initiative on her own to do something about her problems. For spending all their brainpower on other people’s problems like the European debt problem.
Savers in the Eurozone now face the realistic risk that at least some of their savings will go out the window. If my savings in Austria go out the window, I will not blame Greece for that. Instead, I will hold the incompetence of EU-elites accountable for that.
What I find inexcusable on the part of Greece and Greeks is that no initiatives are being taken to take their future into their own hands. There are so many things which Greeks, and only Greeks, can do! To make a cute point: only the Greek government can stop the payment of pensions to dead people so that less money needs to be taken away from the living; only the Greek government can arrange that the budget deficit is not reduced by silly austerity measures like taking more money away from those who have always contributed anyway but, instead, by taking it from those who have never contributed a dime.
Above all: where is the Greek brainpower (the academia, the media, the opinion leaders, etc.) suggesting economic plans and strategies how the Greek economy can recover? I haven’t seen a thing on that.
Earlier this year, through a course at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, I got to know a lot of Greek students and the young generation in general. They were not interested in Eurobonds and the likes of it. Their theme was: “We know our country is in trouble; we would like to contribute for the betterment of our country but somebody needs to show us how we can contribute”. That’s the spirit! And the drama is that no one in the Greek intelligentsia seems to find time to answer the young generation that simple question (because everybody seems so busy solving other people’s problems).
Let me try to put it as respectfully as possible: stop worrying about other people’s problems and start working on your own! Stop marketing your intelligence to the world and begin employing it for the benefit of your own country! Some time ago, an 11-year old sent a letter to Mr. Papandreou proposing his (very cute) plan how to solve Greece’s problems (published in the Ekathimerini). Don’t leave Greece’s future up to 11-year old's!
thangs you.
ReplyDelete"Since returning to Geece, the content of my postings has shifted toward a critique of Greece. Critique of what? For having caused a mess? For having wasted other people’s money? For other similar reasons? Not at all! Instead, a critique of Greece for showing no initiative on her own to do something about her problems. For spending all their brainpower on other people’s problems like the European debt problem."
ReplyDeleteIch hatte vor längerer Zeit mal den einen oder anderen Eintrag in Ihrem Blog gelesen, dann aber aufgegeben weil ich den Eindruck hatte, dass Sie zu den "Bailoutisten" gehören. Ich habe jegliche Hilfen von vornherein abgelehnt (und damit zumindest für Griechenland die kontraproduktive Wirkung solcher Hilfen wohl richtig eingeschätzt).
Als ich jetzt ihre neueren Einträge las, begriff ich nicht, warum ich Ihre Positionen scheinbar falsch eingeschätzt hatte.
Jetzt sehe ich: Sie haben Ihre Meinung (oder zumindest Ihren Fokus) zwischenzeitlich geändert. Erfreulich!
Mein Fokus ist seit Beginn dieses Blogs unverändert: ich halte es für einen dramatischen Fehler, dass man die 'bestehenden Schulden' nicht bei den ursprünglichen Gläubigern gelassen und diese Gläubiger aufgefordert hat, diese Schulden umzuschulden. Somit wurden 2 bail-out's vermischt: einerseits der bail-out der Banken (via Griechenlands Bilanz) und andererseits der Bedarf an 'Fresh Money' seitens Griechenlands. Für Griechenland hätte das keinen großen Unterschied bedeutet, für die Steuerzahler der Eurozone jedoch einen riesigen. Griechenland kann man nur 'retten', indem man hilft, dass es seine Wirtschaftsstrukturen reformiert und ein attraktiver Investitionsstandort wird. Die EU kann einen solchen Prozess nur unterstützen (und sollte dies auch tun), die Initiative dafür muss jedoch von Griechenland kommen. Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe, wie es so schön heißt, ist immer angebracht. Wenn der Wille zur Selbsthilfe nicht vorhanden hist, dann wird es echt schwierig. Ob das griechische Establishment es wirklich ernst meint mit dem Willen zur Selbsthilfe muss m. E. erst noch getestet werden. Bisher sieht es immer noch so aus, als würde man sich an die 'heißen Eisen' der Machtnetzwerke, Monopole, Kartelle und an die Korruption nicht so richtig herantrauen.
Delete"spending all their brainpower on other people’s problems like the European debt problem"
ReplyDeleteI think that activity has a dual function:
- For the simple folks, it gives psychological relief: "Not our fault; it's all one big crisis, of which Greece is only a little part". So consequently, there's nothing we (alone) can do about it (a psychological coverup for "we don't like to change").
- For sophisticated people like Yanis Varoufakis "the" crisis serves as a coverup for the specific Greek problems, which quite obviously he doesn't want to adress. His "Modest Proposal" is quite ridiculous (or rather insolent!) in
a) wanting to transfer debt of states he himself calls "insolvent" in part to the ECB
b) suggesting a "solution" (that won't work anyway, but) which if it would work, would generate more tax income only after years.
Not telling his readers how he wants to finance fresh credit for the states in the meantime is clearly a CONCSIOUS omission, not stupidity!
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