Far right on rise in Greece: giving food parcels and clothing

vivatifosi

kabayiri wrote: »

The Credit Boom pre-crunch; the creation of the Eurozone; the growth of the 'state' in various countries (including our own - see numbers of public servants).

Perhaps these were all a convenient mask for the lack of creditable sustainable long term growth policies ?

And now the chickens have come home to roost..

To make matters worse in Greece you have a state mechanism that you really have to ask "is it fit for purpose"? This is not a left or right thing, both ND and Pasok have royally screwed up over a long period of time. Now at a time that you need a redistributive system, you have a system incabable of redistribution. If you can't gain tax revenue from your richest citizens, how can you buy bread for your poorest?

Generali

michaels wrote: »

Still I suspect that currently the bigger risk is that the Generalis step in to resolve a 'national breakdown'

I have always quite fancied the role of benign dictator.

Mrs_Bones

The is a backlash building up across Europe against politicians and austerity. Left leaning governments are falling to the right and vice versa. We've seen now that governments can't just spend like there is no tomorrow but equally a plan of austerity and nothing else is also doomed to fail. There has to be a middle ground, where we do reduce spending but also spend wisely what we do have to try and encourage growth. We've got the reduction in spending but still politicians all around are wasting vast amounts of money and not making wise choices. People everywhere are losing patience with the politicians.

Itismehonest

I am no expert on Greece (or anywhere else come to that) but there is also the "EU pay out factor".
So many of the countries now facing real ruin seemed to join the EU because they saw it as a means of getting easy money for nothing.
In Europe's rush to get as many onboard as possible, & so become a world force commanding respect, they neglected to make sure that those countries could afford to join.
They weren't even particularly interested in whether the truth was told about financial status.
As I understand it, Greece has never had a track record of collecting taxes. It expanded it's Public Sector & increased State payouts beyond anything it could hope to pay for itself. There has to be a lesson there for us all.

A._Badger

To be fair, it isn't difficult to understand how desperate Greeks (or Italians, or Spaniards) would look almost anywhere for a solution to woes which simply seem to get worse, whoever they vote for.

We are in no position to patronise them either (not that I'm suggesting anyone here is). How many of us also feel that our political establishment is completely ineffective?

The election of the grotesque George Galloway may not have been entirely due to racial issues. There is a real mood of 'a plague on all their houses' here, too.

A._Badger

Generali wrote: »

I have always quite fancied the role of benign dictator.

There's a queue.

StevieJ

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Mark Twain.

chucknorris

Thanks but even though I quite like Greek food I think it is a bit far to go and expensive just to get a food parcel

pqrdef

Wookster wrote: »

It is very clear that Western Europe has a crisis of leadership.

Trouble is, our politicians are no longer delivering world domination, and without an exploitation policy, they don't know what else to do.

Ironic that the Chinese will now take Africa, where Europe failed.

michaels

I more imagine you as Borat TBH.

Generali wrote: »

I have always quite fancied the role of benign dictator.