OPINION

Understanding the basics

One of the biggest problems that the country faces at the moment is that despite the fact more than six years have passed since Greece agreed its first of three bailouts with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, there is a sizable part of the local population that is still unable or unwilling to comprehend why the country needed rescue packages and ended up in the current mess.

It is no coincidence that all the other eurozone countries that needed international bailouts have managed to exit their programs. The Cypriots, for example, displayed realism and national togetherness. They did not spend all their time looking back.

In Greece, we are still beguiled by fairy tales and conspiracy theories. If we do not overcome this problem, if we do not fully understand how we ended up needing to be bailed out by focusing on more than just the supposedly devious motivations of our lenders, we will never be able to get out of the dead-end we find ourselves trapped in.

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