If you have something to say...
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
These issues doubtlessly need to be addressed, but what's notable is the sea change in the conversation. Ideas that were once off the table are now being taken up by EU governments and organizations and Euro pundits. The austerity discourse no longer dominates. Why?
Last week the Financial Times ran a piece which opened thus: "Greece's banking system is being propped up by an estimated €100 billion provided by the country's central bank -- approved secretly by the European Central Bank." The news barely made it into the U.S. press.
The financial crisis and the resulting political instability in Greece has led to desperation and despondency that have clouded the core values of the Greek people.
As far back as 2008, members of the progressive advocacy community who focus on poverty were decrying a lack of coverage of rising poverty levels by the media. Since that point, the problem has gotten much worse.
"Jack and the Beanstalk" is a story about how Jack and a terrible ogre finally compromise, learning to live together because they fear one another too much to risk doing otherwise. A similar hope of compromise is what lies at the heart of Greek voters.
It's not only all about a dilemma but about how the Greek nation -- and especially young people -- will find again a reason to hope and believe that their future can get better, even if Greece after the very crucial next general elections can make it and stay hopefully in the eurozone.
In Greece, the supposed home of democracy, there is an exclusive approach in their political, religious and societal systems that actively combats the idea of equality and inclusivity.
A Greek company in the deep end of the contrarian pool is my preferred choice. Not because it has better growth prospects. It doesn't. But it has one thing FB lacks: It's priced right for the risk.
Greeks must decide to stay or go. Perhaps that is why it failed to come before the people. Perhaps that is why, when on May 6 the election was played out in a way that minimized the literal and more important question -- "Do you want to adopt the new agreement?" -- it failed again.
As the euro zone crisis intensifies and global markets reflect investor concerns, we ask ourselves, is a Greek exit from the euro on its way? Preparations have already begun to protect shareholder interest.
What would happen to Greece if it quit the euro? Financial chaos, capital flight, riots and bank failures... maybe. But after the apocalypse, Greece would eventually revert to its 1960's status: a poor but proud nation living off tourism, shipping, agriculture and fishing.
Before we go wild with our deficit-cutting scythe, let's make sure that we are not hacking away at our own feet in the process.
They sought, and won, political profit by playing on people's grievances: resentment, fear and a chauvinistic, xenophobic nationalism -- and it is not just the extreme right that built its campaign on the latter, but also the radical left. To balance these, they gave only unrealizable utopian promises.
It is insane to ask from people whose lives have been crashed to choose between the euro and the drachma. They can't answer to that.
Greece is a convenient excuse. Let's correct our own weaknesses, starting from public indebtedness, rather than pointing the finger towards Europe.
Only by leaving can Greece reissue the drachma and let it devalue sharply. Everything Greek will be available at fire sale prices, which will attract foreign investors and make Greek exports price competitive. Greece and its people will be left a lot poorer, but that's also now inevitable.
