I have been writing in this blog since mid-2011. During this time, I have intensively observed the Greek crisis. When observing such a development step-by-step, when a crisis develops in incremental steps, one can lose sight of the overall development because one gets used to the incremental steps.
On the Website Macropolis, Yiannis Mouzakis summarizes all the incremental steps in one single article: "Learning the lessons of Greece's toxic decade". As the founder of MacroPolis, Nick Malkoutzis, commented on Twitter: "Less of a leisurely trip down memory lane, more of a hair-raising ride on the ghost train".
This is a brilliant article about an absolutely incredible decade of Greece. When reading this article, one wonders how it was possible that Greece returned to a more or less normal condition. If it hadn't been so painful for many people, if it hadn't affected the lives of so many people in a negative way, one might be tempted to conclude that 'It was a helluva ride!"
One might also be tempted to conclude that any society/nation which has gone through such painful upheavals would have learned lessons from that experience and come out of it stronger and more prudent for that reason. Mouzakis cautions about that in his closing paragraph:
"During every single significant event that defined this decade, from the economic collapse to major diplomatic and social issues, Greece’s leaders preferred to release poison into society to help their short-term political goals. It appears that Greeks have yet to flush these toxins out of their system. It is one of the main reasons that we should approach the new decade, which carries more promise for Greece than the last 10 years, with caution."
On the Website Macropolis, Yiannis Mouzakis summarizes all the incremental steps in one single article: "Learning the lessons of Greece's toxic decade". As the founder of MacroPolis, Nick Malkoutzis, commented on Twitter: "Less of a leisurely trip down memory lane, more of a hair-raising ride on the ghost train".
This is a brilliant article about an absolutely incredible decade of Greece. When reading this article, one wonders how it was possible that Greece returned to a more or less normal condition. If it hadn't been so painful for many people, if it hadn't affected the lives of so many people in a negative way, one might be tempted to conclude that 'It was a helluva ride!"
One might also be tempted to conclude that any society/nation which has gone through such painful upheavals would have learned lessons from that experience and come out of it stronger and more prudent for that reason. Mouzakis cautions about that in his closing paragraph:
"During every single significant event that defined this decade, from the economic collapse to major diplomatic and social issues, Greece’s leaders preferred to release poison into society to help their short-term political goals. It appears that Greeks have yet to flush these toxins out of their system. It is one of the main reasons that we should approach the new decade, which carries more promise for Greece than the last 10 years, with caution."
Dear Mr. Kastner,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts for so many years.
It very much helps to understand the situation in Greece.
Happy New Year.
Sutje
Happy New Year from Cologne.
ReplyDeleteI found Mouzakis' article really boring, and not really saying anything in particular.
ReplyDeleteAs for Greece, the only thing that changed is that now the government drains more money out of the economy. Everything else is pretty much the same.