Greece crisis: Europe on edge over snap election

[beorhthelm]

I think the worse alternative he was talking about was an exit from the EU. As far as I am aware decapitation is not one of the possible outcomes here, correct me if I'm wrong.

financial decapitation is very much on the cards for them. default means no access to finance. no more debt, no more state funded largesse.

 

[dingodan]

financial decapitation is very much on the cards for them. default means no access to finance. no more debt, no more state funded largesse.

No more debt? For someone who is in too much debt that could be a good idea.

Anyway sorry, it's just when you said "your head getting cut off", I didn't read that as meaning "financial decapitation".

If you think that the people of Greece would suffer greatly by defaulting, they will suffer greatly by accepting the EUs conditionalities, that much is for sure.

We were told a similar story about bailing out the banks. Yes it's not a great idea, but the alternative will be the end of the world. It's the lesser of two evils etc etc.

Well there is a country which ignored the fear mongering and decided to do the right thing. They liquidated the bad debt, they let the banks fail and the put several banking executives in prison. They went through some pain, for a short while. They took their medicine.

That country is Iceland.

"This year, Iceland will become the first European country that hit crisis in 2008 to beat its pre-crisis peak of economic output."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/b...st--instead-of-bailing-them-out-10309503.html

"…Why are the banks considered to be the holy churches of the modern economy? Why are private banks not like airlines and tele-communication companies and allowed to go bankrupt if they have been run in an irresponsible way? The theory that you have to bail-out banks is a theory that you allow bankers enjoy for their own profit their success, and then let ordinary people bear their failure through taxes and austerity. 
People in enlightened democracies are not going to accept that in the long run. …“

Iceland’s President Olafur Ragnar GRIMMSON (27/01/2013)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/why-ha...r-complete-financial-collapse-in-2008/5320866

 

[carlzeiss]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33300543

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33300543

Where do they go from here?

Queues at the ATMs according to my friends.

 

[Hampster Gull]

where does it go from here?.

Is it down to the lake i fear?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Is it down to the lake i fear?

 

[cunning fergus]

say, your head getting cut off?

It may be melodramatic to put it this way, however I would rather have my head cut off than spend a life on my knees to the whims of global capitalists and unelected foreigners.

If in economic terms the options are poor and free or richer but enslaved then I will enjoy my daily gruel.

For the Greeks there only option is the worst of both worlds it's poor and enslaved.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Probably very churlish to say so, and not much fun for the locals or the recipients, but if Greece were to lease out - in return for a suitable level of debt adjustment - some of the largely uninhabited parts of the fairly massive island of Crete to the EU for the inward processing of boat people in the same way Australia has done a deal with Papua New Guinea, then maybe they could kill two birds with one stone.

 

[larus]

This, to me, is symptomatic of what is wrong with modern free-market economies.

The wealthy use their influence to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, and the politicians make promises to secure power paying for things on the never, never. It's rife through the western economies, it's not a left/right argument IMO, but that's where the elite like to portray it. The average working joe wants the same (whether we vote Labour/Tory). We want good, affordable public services, good working conditions, and fair taxes, paid by all, including companies.

However, all the time we get the current them/us politics, we'll continue on the same road of mounting public debt. Greece is a symptom of the problem. It's not the direct fault of individual Greeks, but they have also benefitted from a system of avoiding g paying taxes and early retirement. It's a disaster.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It may be melodramatic to put it this way, however I would rather have my head cut off than spend a life on my knees to the whims of global capitalists and unelected foreigners.

If in economic terms the options are poor and free or richer but enslaved then I will enjoy my daily gruel.

For the Greeks there only option is the worst of both worlds it's poor and enslaved.

Can I arrange this when the UK votes to remain in the EU?

 

[Buzzer]

You know that Greek Pro-EU party, ND, who met with Merkel, Juncker and Schauble earlier this week..they've just called for a vote of no confidence in Tsipras.

[tweet]614835722072236032[/tweet]

There's nothing, and I mean nothing that the EU fears more than democracy.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Would be good if the Greeks didn't start calling general strikes over the Summer, seeing as how the tourist Euro is they only influx of Euros they're likely to be getting over the next financial quarter.

 

[TomandJerry]

Greek crisis deepens further as bailout extension rejected

 

[gregbrighton]

It may be melodramatic to put it this way, however I would rather have my head cut off than spend a life on my knees to the whims of global capitalists and unelected foreigners.

If in economic terms the options are poor and free or richer but enslaved then I will enjoy my daily gruel.

For the Greeks there only option is the worst of both worlds it's poor and enslaved.

We are all already enslaved by the rich bankers and financial institutions. Predictably they are turning the screw on Greece till the pip squeaks. The result could be very messy indeed.

 

[TomandJerry]

Very surreal atmosphere in press room here in Brussels. One journalist in tears. Most reporters shocked euro rupture is happening.*#Greece

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

You have to feel deeply deeply sorry for the ordinary Greeks caught up in the middle of this appalling shitstorm. It must seem terrifying, like all the worst Daily Express scare stories came true all at once.. How long do you think any European country, including the UK, would survive without descending into complete anarchy if the banks suddenly closed the ATMs for withdrawals as seems likely to happen on Monday? I'd give it about four or five days. In Croydon, considerably less.

 

[Buzzer]

It's terrible that the EU appears so readily to forget the human aspect in all this. Right now it seems that the Germans are more worried about Syrian refugees than the Greek people. I'm not saying we should ignore the Syrians but lets make sure our fellow Europeans are safe first. This is what the EU does, people. It cares about institutions, laws, control...when it comes to the lives of Europeans they couldn't give a toss.

F*cking shameful and I say that as someone who has no truck at all with the politics of Tsipras.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Bookies virtually your choice ie evens whether in or out for the 1st time right now

 

[TomandJerry]

Instead,*the remaining 18 members issued a statement saying the bailout will expire in five days time.

They are now holding a second meeting - without Athens at the table - to prepare for the consequences, as Europe’s long-running financial crisis enters a new and dangerous phase.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

It's terrible that the EU appears so readily to forget the human aspect in all this. This is what the EU does, people. It cares about institutions, laws, control...when it comes to the lives of Europeans they couldn't give a toss. Right now it seems that the Germans are more worried about Syrian refugees than the Greek people. I'm not saying we should ignore the Syrians but lets make sure our fellow Europeans are safe first.

F*cking shameful and I say that as someone who has no truck at all with the politics of Tsipras.

Too true blue. Seems that the EU has lost complete sight of the fact that it is supposed to represent its member states who in turn are comprised of individual citizens who overwhelmingly have modest hopes and aspirations and want not a lot more than a roof over their head, a job and a bit of a safety net. Isn't this what we all signed up to? Not a lot to ask, shirley? High time this mess was turned squarely back on the bankers whose greed caused all of this crap in the first place. Time to take stock and re-calibrate the gun-sights on the correct targets.