The interests of the cynics
I heard the other day — secondhand, it?s true — about an important and highly entangled businessman, who did very well leeching off the state and manipulating its weaknesses, quipping that maybe a return to the drachma would be the best solution after all.
Nothing makes me angrier than the cynicism of a dark and dirty system that, once it has stuffed itself with bread and wine stolen from the state and squirreled its money away abroad, starts to laud the merits of returning to the drachma. And why shouldn?t this particular businessman want Greece to leave the eurozone? He has enough property and cash abroad not to care about what happens in the streets of Athens over the next few years if things do go the way of the drachma and ultimate destruction.
Such interest groups are afraid of control, especially if its from outside, because they have learned to do business by greasing the palms of politicians and civil servants and taking advantage of the complete ineptitude of the state?s monitoring services. By going on and on about Greece?s sovereignty and how it will regain it by reverting to the drachma, all they are trying to achieve is protect their own backs and cover up their past sins.
These are the same people and interest groups that consistently resist the privatization of state-owned companies, because they are afraid that there will come a day when they have to talk with shareholders and that they will not be willing to pay something more for their product or service, or to rig competitions in their favor.
No one can prove the relationship between those who battle every reform in the name of certain ideological or social principles and those who battle them for purely selfish reasons. But we should be wary, because a lot of incredible things and a lot of serious scandals have happened in the name of socialism, social justice, sovereignty and other such lofty ideals.
The tough times that lie ahead for the country will determine its future, but also whether or not a nefarious and entangled system will survive. If this system has its way, Greece will end up outside the eurozone and on the fringe of Europe. And the worst thing is that with all the money they have set aside over the years, they will be able to buy the country up in a second.
