[john drake]

too bad for Germany; still stuck in the guilt cycle from 70 years ago and the usual parasites from southern europe attempting to maintain the shame. Germany, get your old solingen steel ramrod spine back in place and tell them to solve their own problem and quit attempting pull the magnificent economic machine that Germany is, into the murky Mediterranean along with the rest of the hanger ons. Scheiss on them, macht schnell.

[skeeter]

Cannot wait for the west’s welfare state to collapse. And soon, before its too late.

[rbg81]

That is the problem with the slow, inexorable growth of Government. Entitlements become an addiction worse than heroin. When it comes time to implement spending austerity, you can't do it without throwing your whole society into upheaval and chaos. Thirty years ago it would have been painful, but doable. Now it like surgery without anesthetic.

The US will have the same problem when the time comes, and probably worse. Greece is a fairly homogeneous country—we are not. Even Spain might break up because of its austerity.

[Parley Baer]

“We cannot tighten the screws any futher,” said Peer Steinbruck, the Social Democrat candidate for chancellor.

Here we have one socialist trying to help out his fellow socialist in Greece. Let’s hope this clown does not get elected.

[TADSLOS]

I would be interested to get your take on the subject, since you are there.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

There are times when trying to help just makes things worse.

In this case, Greece reminds me of a story by police novelist Joseph Wambaugh of a racist officer who was called to a scene where a known repeat offender, a violent black man, had been repeatedly stabbed, was having serious arterial bleeding, and was lying unconscious.

So the racist police officer made a great show to the onlookers of rendering him aid, by giving him chest massage. By the time the ambulance had arrived, he had pumped him dry, almost no blood left in his body. Which, of course, killed him dead.

But Greece is in about the same condition as that known repeat offender. It is vigorously hemorrhaging money, and instead of just leaving Greece alone, Germany is pumping more money through Greece, insuring that Greece will die.

[meyer]

Maybe it’s something weird about the European version of English, but why would Germany have to admit to Greece’s problem?

What Germany needs to do is secede from the EU before it all sinks together. I’ve heard somewhere that a German has to work until 70 to support a Greek’s retirement at 50. Don’t know how true that is, though...