Problems In Greece
2010.05.26 - Wednesday
Not Just Their Big Fat Greek Funeral
While he might get a little bit melodramatic with the recent protester related killings, Mark Steyn pretty accurately describes the situation in Greece as far as I'm concerned. While I won't pretend to be an expert on the country, I do have family there, have visited twice, and have followed two English language Greek newspapers for nearly three years.
Athens is absolutely a dump, just as Steyn describes it. While the city centre, the Plaka, the Parliament building, Syntagma park and the Acropolis are all fantastic, the rest of the place is nothing but the absolute worst kind of urban sprawl. A never ending sea of randomly placed six to twelve story grungy apartment buildings with dirty awnings, Athens boasts twisted old streets which, no matter their width, seem to be permanently filled to capacity if not absolutely gridlocked. The only infrastructure worth talking about has been built in the last ten years, and as with everything else that's been done in the country since its entry into the European Union, has been built on credit.
Greece produces almost no exportable goods or services apart from feta, olives, and olive oil. There is very little major industry, no natural resources to speak of, and Greece sports a fantastic tourism sector that accounts for over twenty percent of GDP, an insanely high portion for a supposed first world country. Half of all workers in the country fall under the jurisdiction of just two unions, and over the past couple of decades they have squeezed Greece's tiny economy absolutely dry. Fourteen months of pay per year. Bonuses for using a computer or for showing up on time. Retirement can come as early as 50 for workers in "hazardous" professions, of which "hair stylist" is one. Mark Steyn is worried that the Greeks aren't having enough children to pay for their socialist system, but doesn't mention that no one is paying for it now. Tax evasion is rampant and largely uninvestigated. The State barely has the ability to collect financial figures, let alone enforce regulations and laws. The public has a deep mistrust if not outright hatred of the police and of most civil protection organizations. While that may legitimately come from the country's dark modern history as a military dictatorship, that was over thirty years ago, yet protests have for years been marred by assaulted police officers, explosions, and fire bombings. It's a year round occurrence for banks and local police stations to be bombed or set on fire. This isn't something new, and it was only a matter of time before someone was killed. All of a sudden the public thinks it's abhorrent behaviour? They used to think, albeit quietly, that it was all justified as simple youth anger. Give me a break.
On the reverse side, in the three years that I've been following Greek news, I've read of perhaps three or four cases of arrest amid literally dozens of bombings and violent protests. I don't even know if any of those resulted in convictions. Because of now ancient conflicts with the long gone junta, the public tends to give youth and students, in particular, a free pass to do whatever they want. Three bank employees have now paid for that attitude with their lives. The police in Greece barely enforce traffic laws, and the public rarely demands justice be done on anyone but corporate bosses and politicians, because they enjoy the leeway that the lax police presence provides. Greece's ambassador to Canada responded to Steyn's article saying most Greeks support the austerity measures. Well of course they do. Most Greeks, on a personal level, agree on many things. Of course people must obey the laws. Of course people must respect the police. Of course people must pay their taxes. Of course people must do these things. People. You know, them, over there. Those people. Me? Well now, you see, it's difficult...
That's Greece. A poor country full of rich people.
I've looked at the numbers, assuming they're even reliable, which is a hell of a big assumption. Relative to our economy, if Canada was Greece, we'd be facing an overall debt load over two trillion dollars, and a deficit of over one hundred and forty billion dollars per year. Even in the darkest days of our post-Trudeau near bankruptcy, Canada never approached being in a situation that bad, and for us, it was a national disaster. At least Canada had oil, minerals, massive quantities of exportable agriculture, huge industrial capacity, and most importantly, the cultural attitude to recognize the problem, agree on a solution, and work our way towards prosperity. What has Greece got? A country full of Greeks.
Good luck.