Posted on 09/20/2011 4:59:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
HERAKLION, Greece—The first time he despaired of his debts, Vaggelis Petrakis drank a poisonous brew of beer and gasoline.
A note he left didn't mention the financial woes of his fruit and vegetable business, of which his family was well aware. Instead, he left instructions for his children on how to look after his animals. "Put mother rabbit in a different place from the little rabbits," the note began.
Then he had second thoughts and called his son, Stelios, who took him to a hospital. Mr. Petrakis survived that suicide attempt. But Greece's collapsing economy and the ruin of his business would soon push him to a more determined effort.
"It was shame, fear, pride, dignity," says his son. "Whoever you ask, they will say he was a man of dignity."
Two years into Greece's debt crisis, its citizens are reeling from austerity measures imposed to prevent a government debt default that could cause havoc throughout Europe. The economic pain is the price Greece and Europe are paying to defend the euro, the centerpiece of 60 years of efforts to unite the Continent.
SNIP SNIP
Crime, homelessness, emigration and personal bankruptcies are on the rise.
The most dramatic sign of Greece's pain, however, is a surge in suicides.
Recorded suicides have roughly doubled since before the crisis to about six per 100,000 residents annually, according to the Greek health ministry and a charitable organization called Klimaka.
About 40% more Greeks killed themselves in the first five months of this year than in the same period last year, the health ministry says.
Others have attempted suicide. On Friday, Greek police said, a man in his 50s struggling with his debts was hospitalized after setting himself on fire outside a bank branch in the northern city of Thessaloniki.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Answer: Time to be saved.
There seemed to be a bump in suicides and murder-suicides in the news here in So. CA this year.
Over a decade ago, in Athens, I was warned not to stay on the 1st or second floor of any hotel of any kind. There was a problem with ethnic Albanians, drug trafficking and unrest from the rest of the former Yugoslavia/Romania border regions flooding into Greece.
Thank Clinton and his bird’s eye view bomb war in Serbia.
And, thank Clinton’s pals, AQ in SE Europe.
Looks a tad lower than ours...
Why?
Their god , Big Government, has forsaken them.
Over a third of Greeks work for the government. A significant chunk of the money given to Greece by their Euro neighbors to head off the crisis goes to PRESERVE the jobs of these workers.
RE: There seemed to be a bump in suicides and murder-suicides in the news here in So. CA this year.
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Boomers suicide rates highest since 1998
SEE HERE:
http://www.ajc.com/lifestyle/boomers-suicide-rates-highest-1184867.html
If a Republican was President, the MSM would tell us... on the front page. With a dem in office? No news...
Greece has had a very low suicide rate. Even if you double it, it remains one of the lowest in the world. If you want to see high suicide rates, look north, especially among the former Soviet “republics.”
But isn't it true that northern climes always have higher suicide rates?
Not just Soviet states, but all northern countries.
as one of my dear friends explained to me....â€Every time I get out of re-hab, I only do 1/2 of what i was used to...I can afford to buy twice as much stuff for you now now!........Hey!..it makes sense to me!.........
Socialists in Greece have interwoven all of Greek life and culture with government and when the government pulls out, as is inevitable because socialists always bankrupt societies they take over, life falls apart for everybody and everything. It’s really sick and sad.
If Americans were wise, they would be unwinding socialism through 10th amendment reform before an emergency crisis hits the whole Nation, all at the same time. Socialism always leads to bankruptsy and total poverty.
I wonder if the world will ever tell the truth about Marxism and it’s guarenteed outcome of oppression, poverty and death?
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