Angry Mobs
I read a remarkable statistic the other day - which goes to the heart of all these headlines about economic disaster in the Eurozone.
Since 2001 - and from the same starting point - labour costs in Greece have risen by an incredible 30% more than in Germany.
Which means that much of the public money from the European Union - which has been ploughed into Greece over the past decade - has just been squandered.
The Greek economy has not become any more productive or more efficient - all that's happened is that their government has driven up public spending to unsustainable levels - and then turned to the rest of Europe to bail them out.
Now the Greek people may blame all this on their own government - but that's the whole point - it's their government not ours.
Why should the rest of Europe - where some countries are less well off than Greece - subsidise the pay and perks of civil servants in Athens.
So to the angry mobs in the birthplace of democracy - surely there is no better rebuke than the words of the great Greek philosopher Aristotle who once said:
“Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.”
In other words stand up and take responsiblity - which means the Greek people collectively - accepting the need to clear up their own mess.
Since 2001 - and from the same starting point - labour costs in Greece have risen by an incredible 30% more than in Germany.
Which means that much of the public money from the European Union - which has been ploughed into Greece over the past decade - has just been squandered.
The Greek economy has not become any more productive or more efficient - all that's happened is that their government has driven up public spending to unsustainable levels - and then turned to the rest of Europe to bail them out.
Now the Greek people may blame all this on their own government - but that's the whole point - it's their government not ours.
Why should the rest of Europe - where some countries are less well off than Greece - subsidise the pay and perks of civil servants in Athens.
So to the angry mobs in the birthplace of democracy - surely there is no better rebuke than the words of the great Greek philosopher Aristotle who once said:
“Anybody can become angry — that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.”
In other words stand up and take responsiblity - which means the Greek people collectively - accepting the need to clear up their own mess.
