Greeks Are Mad at Germans

Hey...you gotta be mad at someone because Lord knows you certainly can't blame yourself when something goes terribly wrong.  And so it goes with the Greeks.

ATHENS — Every Oct. 28 Greece celebrates “Oxi Day,” or “ ‘No’ Day,” a national holiday commemorating Greek resistance to the Axis powers during World War II. On Friday, those celebrations took on a greater weight. As Greeks suffer from harsh austerity measures, there is growing popular sentiment here that the country has ceded key parts of its sovereignty, and its pride, to its foreign lenders.  

Here in Greece, anger is running so high — especially toward Germany, whose Nazi occupation still leaves deep scars here and which now dominates the European Union’s bailout of debt-ridden Greece — that National Day celebrations were called off on Friday in the northern city of Thessaloniki for the first time ever after a group shouted “traitor” to the Greek president, Karolos Papoulias.

Beyond populist talk, which ranges from euro-skepticism to anti-German demagoguery, experts say the concessions that Greece has made in exchange for the foreign aid it needs to stave off default — including allowing European Union officials to monitor Greek state affairs closely — are unprecedented for a member nation, making Greece a bellwether for the future of European integration.

Here;  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/world/europe/greeks-direct-anger-at-germany-and-european-union.html

Let's summarize what is happening here....the Greeks have never really been known for their hard work ethic, so when they got into the European Union they were like an 18 year old kid who was handed a credit card with $200,000 of credit on it even though he was only making $8 hour while working part time at McDonalds.  They elected to implement huge social programs and generous pension plans for everyone so all could retire at age 53 and spend the next 30 years slathering on sun tan oil while sitting on the beach reading Harry Potter novels.  The Germans were the ones who gave them the credit card.

Now that the Greeks have received their monthly statement and realize that their credit limit is now maxed out and not only do they have no money to spend, they have to start paying back the money they already spent....THEY ARE MAD!!  And of course they are mad at the folks who gave them the credit card. 

Sounds like a typical 18 year old kid.

But the problem for everyone is that if the $200,000 doesn't get paid back....lots of folks in Europe and America may be in a big pickle.