On debt, Rehhagel and the drachma

The Greek debt crisis

For Costas Lapavitsas, an economist at the School of Oriental and African Studies just back from Athens, the situation represents only one thing. ?It?s the triumph of the banks,? he says. ?The lenders in Greece and abroad are being given preferential treatment over the Greek people.?

This is a small piece from an article in the Guardian newspaper and sums up what everyone knows: The lenders to Greece have/or are having their pound of flesh from the Greek people. By charging up to 17 percent for the pleasure of them lending money to us. They should be prepared to lose their investment, obviously they think there is a chance, and that?s why their punitive interest rates are so high.

I say ?default? and damn them all (the lenders). The Greek people would struggle for a couple of years, yes, but they would not have to walk around with an oxen yoke around their neck for generations. The younger generation should not be paying the debts of its fathers for the rest of its life.

Is defaulting so bad? Just Google the subject and you will see that in the short term, yes, whilst medium and long term it has no adverse effect on the country at all. This is no longer about the people, it is about bankers/politicians, yet again. If Greece defaults, the sun will still rise and set at the same time over this wonderful country.

Roly Baker, Corfu

?When?? by Toth Michaela, indeed!

As a resident of the US and a homeowner in both the US and Greece, I applaud Michaela for the ?When?? letter.

Indeed, wherever we live, we should all ask ourselves these questions. Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis and the like are something that we cannot prevent nor ignore their possibilities, let alone probabilities.

So, I ask, why are we all so surprised at our current economic situations. If we do not prepare, as we have most likely ignored the warnings of such devastation, why have we not prepared (again we most likely ignored) our present state of personal/financial destruction?

If we do not work to our best abilities, strengthen our skills and mind our own home and its financial status, how can we expect or rely on others to do so? If we as citizens outnumber those in elected offices, why are we the weakest link of the chain? Elected officials, considered civil servants, are just that. If we become educated in our choices and ?elect? to exercise those choices, we will all be better off. Just as in the private sector, if you are not doing your job, you are excused of your duties.

Instead of violent protests, simply apply your voting skills and recall the officials and/or rules that do not work to the best of the population as a whole.

Simply stated, a stop sign is for everyone’s safety, not just a few. If this rule is applied correctly, we have just diverted a dangerous situation, instead of continuing to run through the proverbial stop sign and blaming everyone else for an accident.

If we as citizens expect more for nothing, why are we questioning those that we have haphazardly elected to not expect the same — doing nothing but expecting more?

The only bonus of a violent reaction is the personal satisfaction of the perpetrator.

Instead of preaching to the choir, let your voices be heard in a collective, supportive effort to make a change for the better. Once you have destroyed your country, who is expected to build it back up? Those that tore it down? More is not better when you risk the simplest pleasures of life and the pursuit of happiness. And that is not supposed to be at someone else’s expense. Because we cannot afford to let our lives be lost to greed, gluttony, violence and inexcusable ignorance. I hope that we all take a good look at ourselves and if we live in glass houses, let’s make sure we have very clean windows.

Kit Givas, California

Training center named after Otto Rehhagel

Congratulations for the ?bright? idea.

After we?ve ?honoured? all the Greek coaches who have dedicated their lives to our national team (e.g. Alketas Panagoulias, Petropoulos etc.) why not name the training center after a German? After all, pretty soon his country will own the training center and everything else in our country.

Evi Danadidou

Damanakis?s statements

The hypocrisy and utter stupidity of people living in Greece has no limits, it appears.

The statement of fact by Ms Damanaki about exiting from the euro needs to be taken in the context in which it was actually said. It appears that the mass media has left out her statement about taking responsibility for Greece’s economic and profligate past. One person dares to speak the truth and she is set ablaze with lies and misinformation.

Once again, those people living in Greece bury there heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge their responsibility. When will these people ever learn?

The best analogy that I can use to describe this population is as closet alcoholics. They keep drinking booze and deny they drink altogether, even if one can smell and taste the alcohol from a distance.

Make me proud to be a Greek living abroad and go bankrupt please. End your own misery, refuse to take responsibility for your past and present and future actions, please, do. I will phone my friends in Ankara and ask them to occupy you again. Perhaps then you will learn a lesson. After 1821, it appears you have still not managed to learn the lessons and be responsible grown-ups.

Vasileios Petrolekas, South Africa

Enough is enough

Or perhaps Greece should ask some help from those so clever Greeks that live abroad and enjoy so much easy criticizing of their home country’s incapable politicians without actually doing anything to contribute solving the mess Greece is in.

With regards from a French (taxpayer) living in Greece.

Oli Op