In the land of absurdity
A new absurdity has been added to the long list of Greek peculiarities. We are about to abolish and reverse a fundamental universal principle (from a Christian, moral, social and legal perspective) on the basis of which evil is punished and the good rewarded. A recent decision taken by insurance firms will effectively abolish the bonus-malus (no-claims bonus) system in automobile insurance. This means that a skilled and careful driver who has never caused an accident and who enjoys a no-claims bonus will now be treated the same as the boy racers who ravage the funds of insurance companies. We should note that a similar rule was in force in all our transactions – with banks, the public sector, and public corporations. For example, we have Europe’s highest interest rates on credit cards because prompt payers also cover the bank losses caused by negligent payers. Similarly, banks also maintain the gulf between deposit and loan interest rates as well as on all sorts of loans. Solvent customers end up making up for insolvent ones. Public corporation bills charge solvent clients with the forgone profits from insolvent ones. Each time the State writes off the debt of some category of insolvent borrowers, the rest, and particularly the lawful citizens, are called upon to pay off the generosity of the government. Although the State, banks and insurance companies claim to keep a record of all citizens, they still do not know who is reliable and who is not, who they must lure as customers, and who they must reject. This means that either lawful and solvent citizens are a minority, which means that no one dares challenge the majority – or the country’s elite deem it easier and more profitable to rip off the lawful (and presumably naive) citizens rather than go after those who are more cunning.
