My Big Fat Greek Crisis

Coat of arms of Greece since 7 June 1975. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Crises like this one usually have one of two root-causes: structural or moral. Greece has both.

Structurally, it leans towards communism/socialism. Retirement at 50. Socialism is de-moralizing; it sucks the moral fibre out of people.

Morally, Greece is a de-moralized, corrupt country. Dishonesty and evasion are the norms -- everyone's on the take, and no-one's a giver. Well, the countries that loaned Greece money were givers. That's about it.

Here's a great example of Greece as a structural/moral problem that I came across in The Telegram:

I am 52 years old, and get a Pension of €1,400 per month, and dont know if i will get the next payment. I would vote NO, i have been retired since the age of 50 and get the money sent from Greece, and can use the council Gyms in London for free, free meals on wheels from Hackney Council, it is a good life.

Free, free, free. A good life = one that someone else pays for.

Greece's problem is not financial; it is moral. It never had a Protestant Reformation.

It needs one.

And that's the way the Ball bounces.