13-02-2012, 08:15 PM
The austerity measures never were and will never be acceptable. But when people have the threat of default hanging above their heads, and they want to pay their loans, feed their kids, send them to school, to be able to buy medicine, have oil supplies etc. they get scared and accept anything. What they do is that they ask us to pay a tax on the houses we owe. The amount vary according to the area and the square meters, and comes in two installments per year. And they have included this in the electricity bill. And the bill according to consumption may be 60 euro and they top up another 400 or more euro from the house tax. And they threaten us that if we don't pay it they'll cut the electricity supply which is illegal. And you have old people, pensioners who cannot afford to pay it. And the pension is not enough to feed them. Add to this the reduction of pensions, salaries while the cost of living remains high, for example the super market is more expensive here than in France or England.
People cannot afford to maintain their business, they shut down their shops, so they don't pay tax and VAT, so the government looses continuously income, and they raise more austerity measures. Unemployment is high and the basic salary will become 400-500 euro. They cut expenses from hospitals, medicine, the have reduced the salaries of the army and police officers and they are not happy.
People will pay the first year, they'll pay the second year but then without income they'll have nothing else to give and having nothing to loose they will expolde. The once proud Greeks feel now humiliated and bitter. The Germans talk about Greece but thet forget that we were the highest consumers of germans goods. We have a deficit so they could have a surplus. And it was Siemens who was bribing all along Greek officials to get business, and now they behave like they did not know it. And they say that we should have never joined the euro in the first place because we conned them and thet did not know it. Then why our current prime Minister Papademos, who was responsible for our entry to the eurozone was rewarded afterwards with the position of the Vice President of the central european bank?
Now imagine if these austerity measures were to be applied in USA.
People cannot afford to maintain their business, they shut down their shops, so they don't pay tax and VAT, so the government looses continuously income, and they raise more austerity measures. Unemployment is high and the basic salary will become 400-500 euro. They cut expenses from hospitals, medicine, the have reduced the salaries of the army and police officers and they are not happy.
People will pay the first year, they'll pay the second year but then without income they'll have nothing else to give and having nothing to loose they will expolde. The once proud Greeks feel now humiliated and bitter. The Germans talk about Greece but thet forget that we were the highest consumers of germans goods. We have a deficit so they could have a surplus. And it was Siemens who was bribing all along Greek officials to get business, and now they behave like they did not know it. And they say that we should have never joined the euro in the first place because we conned them and thet did not know it. Then why our current prime Minister Papademos, who was responsible for our entry to the eurozone was rewarded afterwards with the position of the Vice President of the central european bank?
Now imagine if these austerity measures were to be applied in USA.