Basket Case (11/07/15)
The Greek government has spent the past six months hurling crude insults at the leaders of the European Union while the Greek economy has fallen back into recession, helped by dumb decisions such as abolishing a tax on Greek citizens who own second and third homes.
The largest political party, the supposedly radical and leftist Syriza, formed a coalition government with another far-right party, the Independent Greeks, which was a sign of things to come, as this unstable hotch-potch of infantile politicians took up the reins of power.
The mood on the streets was ugly and Syriza helped fan the flames amongst its supporters who regularly portray elected European leaders like Angela Merkel in a Nazi uniform, culminating in the former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, describing his fellow European ministers as 'terrorists' before being sacked.
What I'd like to know is how can anyone trust these clowns who behave as if democracy in Greece is somehow more pure and noble than democratic decisions taken by other member countries of the European Union, some of which are a great deal poorer than Greece yet they are being asked to help out with yet another Greek bail-out.
The underlying problem is that Greece does not raise enough in taxes to pay for vital public services, yet its government behaves as if the rest of the world owes Greece a living.
To make matters worse, Syriza then starts to cuddle up to Russia and its 'pariah' President Vladimir Putin when so many European countries such as Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania have only recently freed themselves from the tyranny of the old Soviet Union.
While Russia is now, nominally at least, a democratic country its political mindset is still extremely illiberal, authoritarian and militaristic which is why the European Union has imposed sanctions economic sanctions after its annexation of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine.
So if you ask me, Syriza is a complete joke and if the party stays in power the Greek economy will remain a basket case for years to come.
The largest political party, the supposedly radical and leftist Syriza, formed a coalition government with another far-right party, the Independent Greeks, which was a sign of things to come, as this unstable hotch-potch of infantile politicians took up the reins of power.
The mood on the streets was ugly and Syriza helped fan the flames amongst its supporters who regularly portray elected European leaders like Angela Merkel in a Nazi uniform, culminating in the former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, describing his fellow European ministers as 'terrorists' before being sacked.
What I'd like to know is how can anyone trust these clowns who behave as if democracy in Greece is somehow more pure and noble than democratic decisions taken by other member countries of the European Union, some of which are a great deal poorer than Greece yet they are being asked to help out with yet another Greek bail-out.
The underlying problem is that Greece does not raise enough in taxes to pay for vital public services, yet its government behaves as if the rest of the world owes Greece a living.
To make matters worse, Syriza then starts to cuddle up to Russia and its 'pariah' President Vladimir Putin when so many European countries such as Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania have only recently freed themselves from the tyranny of the old Soviet Union.
While Russia is now, nominally at least, a democratic country its political mindset is still extremely illiberal, authoritarian and militaristic which is why the European Union has imposed sanctions economic sanctions after its annexation of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine.
So if you ask me, Syriza is a complete joke and if the party stays in power the Greek economy will remain a basket case for years to come.
