Posted on 01/29/2015 11:06:03 AM PST by Starman417
Syriza, the neo-communist party led by Alexis Tsipras, has won the elections in Greece. The party is a collection of Marxists, Socialists, Maoists, Trotskyites and Greenies. In other words, Syriza is the party of the moochers. They oppose the austerity measures that the troika of the EU, European Central Bank and the IMF imposed on them in exchange for loans.
The Greeks, who cheated their way into the EU, are fed up with the austerity measures. They remind me of someone who maxed out his credit card and had to depend on his relatives to save him from bankruptcy.
As a condition for fresh loans from the troika, Greece had agreed to drastic cuts in government spending. This caused 5 years of recession and a drop in their standard of living. Greeks cannot afford the cushy welfare state they had grown accustomed to. Leftist governments had given away free health care, generous pensions and early retirement to win elections. That was how they went broke. See my earlier article on Greece and what it means for the US.
Now, the Greeks had thrown a temper tantrum against the troika and voted for an ultra leftist party. Syriza promised them a roll back of the spending cuts and to persuade the troika to continue lending them more money! What cheek.
That was the snake oil Syriza sold the Greeks and they bought it. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has a lot of clout in the EU because they contribute the most money. The Germans are fed up with the Greeks. This is not surprising. According to marketwatch, the German retirement age was 65 as of 2010, while the retirement age in Greece was 57 years.
According to the top 10 list, Greece has the second lowest retirement age in the world. If they work till 57, they are entitled to a generous pension from the government. The outgoing Greek government had promised to raise the retirement age to 63 this year to save money. That’s still lower than the retirement age of the Germans who are the biggest lender to the Greeks. So the Greeks expect the Germans (who have to work till 65) to lend them more money so that they can retire at 63 (assuming Syriza keeps the previous government’s promise).
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will tell the mooching Greeks to …. off (choose your expletive). That is my prediction. The Greeks have an outrageous sense of entitlement. Years of leftist government have taught them the idea that the world or somebody owes them a living and a good living at that. They think they are entitled to mooch on other people’s money.
The Greeks will have to face reality. The first reality is the Socialism does not work. Obama, please take note. As Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
I think the EU and especially the Germans are running out of patience. Syriza ran on the election campaign promise to renegotiate the terms of the loans that the previous government led by Antonis Samaras had signed. The troika had reluctantly agreed to lend them more money in exchange for spending cuts because a Greek default on its debt would bring down European banks. The loans were more for the purpose of saving the banking system from collapse rather than to save Greece. But after five years, the European banking system can withstand the shock of a Greek default.
Therefore, Alexis Tsipras does not have the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) to force the troika to lend them more money. The Greeks who voted for him will have to face the hard reality that they have finally run out of other people’s money.
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...
Hi-dee Hi-dee Hi-deee Ho.......
Maybe they can borrow the money from Russia if they agree to be part of the Russian Federation. The Greek Army can then attack Ukraine, and try to loot all the Rich Ukrainians.
Oh wait...
Not to worry.
I’m sure that Dorkbama and his West Wing Clown Show of Felons will give Obamafones to the moochers, followed by free college.
Oh yeah, we can give them “free” medical card and social security, too.
There was a poll out today that many Americans support Obama’s spending programs but not the tax hikes he proposes to pay for them. We are just as screwed as Greece. We just aren’t quite there yet. “Gimme gimme gimme and make someone else pay for it” is a seductive campaign promise.
Such countries will eventually join together in a Debtors Cartel and really give the global banking community some reasons to start buying their Maalox in 55 gallon drums.
So the stupid progressive-left policies of the EU elites and statists engendered a communist-fascist regime in Greece
So let’s just hope they take each other down, and the EU edifice collapses.
I suspect it won’t, because the EU has learned the wonders of Central Bank money-printing, ZIRP and financial repression just like our own US Government, Federal Reserve, and Wall Street have - but get the popcorn anyway.
The moo hers didn’t win. The people threw off the shackles of the parties that refused to lead - not that the commies will improve things...
They can’t spend more money if no one will lend it to them and they can’t print Euros.
A short primer for: communists/democrats/progressives/socialists...
"Scarcity" is what the study of economics is based upon. The basic concept of economics is the law of supply and demand. The reason it's called a "law" is that if it is violated, there are consequences.
Bare with me on this...
Where the supply and demand curves intersect, is where the price of a good or service is determined. The question then becomes the price in what currency? There in lies the problem.
Scarcity...
5.56mm
“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.
A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.
From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.” - Alexander Fraser Tytler
That's silly. Right now, the EU is the only thing that stands between Greece and certain doom.
Funny to see conservatives cheer Greek communists on.
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner.
“Greece is about to find out what happens when one says, “FU! I’m not paying back a single dime you loaned me!” followed by, “Dude, I need to borrow some more money...”
Ironically, if a nation renounces its debt, lenders will line up to buy its bonds. A nation without debt has less risk. Greece has done that at least 5 times before. Spain is the default champion with at least 19!
To prevent an earthquake that ripples through the EU, they will accommodate Greece, no matter how they grumble.
You got it. They are the gov’t welfare class, and this spells doom for Greece. Greece can’t make it as a capitalist society— they don’t have the cultural background, the education, the products & services, or the work ethic to produce, export, and grow economically. The masses are growing poorer; their standard of living is declining; and they are desperate for the government to step in and fix it all... which is of course a trap. Expect eventual widespread violence when things get worse. Don’t be surprised if the Islamo-fascists sweep in at that point.
You are absolutely right. EU Plutocrats are now shaking in their boots over the thought of Spain or Italy electing a government like this.
Venezuela
Here we come
Long lines soon
we are so dumb
With hyper
inflation
and no goods
we’ll have to
wipe our butts
with leaves we get in the woods
(etc.)
I remember on an episode of Simpsons, the city of Springfield once saw a bear wandering around in it, so the city set up a “bear patrol” with watch towers, and helicopters to appease the citizens.
Homer was saying “I feel so safe now with my Bear Patrol!” Then he opened up a bill from the government and it had a $1000 “Bear Patrol” tax tacked on, and of course he was shocked and outraged.
2008 was a great turning point in American history; the “Moochers” took over.
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