Daily Lessons from Life 06 May 2010 - Greek government ready to 'walk alone' on austerity

"Greek government ready to 'walk alone' on austerity - Thu, May 06, 2010 Reuters

ATHENS: Greece's government told parliament on Thursday there was no alternative to the deep budget cuts in its austerity bill and vowed to press ahead with it despite opposition from other parties and violent protests.

Speaking to lawmakers a day after some 50,000 Greeks marched in Athens and a petrol bomb attack killed three workers in a bank, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou made clear the government had no intention of backing down from its three-year plan to radically reform the country's broken economy.

'We will press ahead, even if we have to walk alone, without the backing of other parties,' he said.

Dozens of Athenians flocked to the site of the Marfin bank branch on Stadiou Avenue in central Athens, laying flowers at the entrance of the blackened building where three employees (all young persons and one of them is a pregnant woman!) died of smoke inhalation at the height of the Wednesday march. More than 50 people were injured in Wednesday's clashes and 25 have been arrested for attacking police and damaging shops.

Leading center-right daily Kathimerini said the country had reached the most critical point in its post-war history. "Whether we self-destruct, go bust in other words, depends on our leadership but also on all of us," the paper said."

I was watching the Greek Tragedy from afar. Quite detached and non-plus even though my British Pound Currency-Link-Investment took a 10% hit as my other assets are not really linked to how the financial world react to the Greece's huge national debt that crippled its government! Of course, the famed finance powerhouse of Goldman Sach that 'legitimately' helped the Greece government to hide the extent of its national debt with 'off balance sheet' and/or 'special purpose vehicles' was only briefly made an issue!

Lessons for me are:

1. once great does not mean always great! The Greek nation is one of the 4 ancient cradles of civilization. What happened? It must have been a long slow slide that nobody has the stomach nor the courage to call 'the emperor has no cloth!'. Or maybe someone did and was silenced by being beheaded or ex-communicated or sent to a leper colony!;

2. innocent lives were lost, one of them 2-life-in-1-body! Someone said it got nothing to do with the protest! The protest is by the people who felt the government has cheated them and brought them to this deep 'human crap' situation as they HAD NOT being borrowing or spending irresponsible themselves! Well, I am sure some did not. At the same time, many just hopped onto the gravy train and enjoy the many 'free' benefits. Otherwise, how does a country become so much in debt to fund its welfare that is not sustainable?;

3. the leaders in a democracy tend to pander to the whim and wishes of the 'electorate'. That is fine as long as the 'electorate' is NOT blinded or being deliberately being told that they can afford a lot of free welfare as long as they choose the 'politicians' who mete out such promises! It is the responsibility of the leaders to put the hard choices in front of the people and help them appreciate the criticality of the need to do the 'right things' - with a 20-year horizon. A nation's future CANNOT be planned based on a quarterly or 5-year or whatever number of year of election period.

The fundamental principles MUST be: do not spend more than you earn! Save for a rainy day! There is no free lunch as everything has a cause and effect with a price!

If only the people can demand their politicians to keep to this simple financial principles like many claimed they are doing, the nation would not be in this sad state of affairs!

My condolences to the 'bilateral damage' dead people. May the murderers be found, put on trial, and get the just sentencing! Amen. Or whatever Greek ends with their prayer!