Getting our act together
Greece?s political officials behave as if they await some deus ex machina solution — in the sense that, regardless of what is happening here at home, our foreign lenders will in the end find a way to pull us out of the mess. Needless to say, this is an extremely perilous stance that is dragging us deeper into the abyss.
The government appears to be in disarray and so does the negationist opposition. Meanwhile, the state apparatus is a mess while union leaders appear to dwell in a world of their own.
Sure, our lenders want to protect their banks and prevent the crisis from spreading further — and this is why they are giving Greece a hand. But if the impasse continues, they will be tempted to take things into their own hands. And, in any case, even if foreign governments were to cancel the entire Greek debt, the country would still have to balance spending and revenues — a task that requires courageous political decisions.
