Anyone like to predict what happens next in Game of Greece?
If it wasn’t for the money it’s indirectly costing us, wouldn’t witnessing the utter failure of political hubris be so delicious to savour?
Of course, everyone in UKIP could see from its inception that this is the destination the euro train would eventually arrive at, so none of us will have been surprised to watch the Greek’s coach not just hit the buffers but to have ploughed straight through them without even applying the brake!
You don’t have to be an economic genius to have predicted the inevitability of this crash. Given recent Greek history, it’s always been clear that it remained a relatively poor country in large part due to its lifestyle and culture. There is clearly a link between the prolonged hot weather of the southern European states and their lesser work ethic.
Nothing wrong with taking life easy of course, but it is not compatible with leading a life of plenty. At least, not unless you find some fools are willing to throw money at you. Yet of course, that is precisely what the Europhile politicians have done for Greece and other Southern states. Despite being warned repeatedly that Greece was not economically fit to join the euro, they invited them in anyway just to satisfy their lust for ever increasing EU power.
[envoke_twitter_link]Nobody with any wit lends money to a dodgy character, even less so to a country of dubious economic policies[/envoke_twitter_link], but the EU juggernaut was not going to be denied. So Greece was welcomed into the euro whilst naysayers like ourselves were arrogantly laughed away as being not very bright about these things. Greece meanwhile, immediately behaved as any lucky spendthrift unexpectedly lent a huge amount of money would. It went on a spending spree that did not involve any calculation about how it might pay back the money. Greece was increasingly left in the position where everyone outside of Brussels could see that it would never be capable of paying back the loans. Greek people themselves have now simply resorted to a solution they have found very effective in their past. They have collectively said, ‘Can’t pay, won’t pay.’
Now perhaps we are very fortunate that the EU project is not a few more years down the line. The EU leaders, with a complete lack of understanding of Greek culture, clearly blame Greek intransigence for all the problems whilst refusing to understand or even acknowledge that the EU’s historic sanctioning of profligate lending to Greece was a stupid thing to do. Given such arrogance, if the EU already had its longed for army in place, I think there would have been every chance that the Greek position would have been declared illegal this week and the government forcibly replaced with a submissive pro-EU puppet leader. I fear that is how close we are getting to losing democracy in Europe.
Luckily, the EU do not have such power – yet – so for the moment, force is not an option. So now where we go from here is the difficult question.
[envoke_twitter_link]If Greece is refused any help, it will go bankrupt, exit the euro and bring back the Drachma.[/envoke_twitter_link] That will result in perhaps two years of economic chaos and political unrest in the country, but new lenders will soon come in, probably from Asia and the Middle East. They will be much more careful about loan terms but, freed from massive, unpayable debts, Greece becomes a reasonable risk for investing new money. Freed from the shackles of the euro, Greece would suddenly provide cheap holidays and low priced goods and the likelihood is that the country, although poorer, would be a booming economy within five years.
One can’t help thinking that so appalling is the attitude of the Eurocrats, that a successful Greek exit from the euro is absolutely the one thing they don’t want to see. In their twisted minds, the Greeks have to be seen to lose out as a warning to others (including Britain) that you can’t cross the EU and get away with it. Right now, the nasty bunch are gathering behind the scenes and planning how to keep Greece in the euro, to apparently punish them and yet find a fudge that the Greeks accept. At the same time they must prevent Spain and Italy following the same route as that would undoubtedly financially break the euro and be likely to smash the EU in its current form. I shall thoroughly enjoying watching the Europhiles tie themselves in knots over the coming days and weeks trying to find a solution because I can’t see that they can.
If I were a betting man, I’d say that the ever used EU can of sticking plaster will come out and the ECB will eventually arrive with a very large pair of shears to provide the Greeks with a substantial debt haircut. So desperate are the EU lunatics to continue with their project, it is their least painful route. They’ll buy more time with other peoples’ money just to keep the EU ship afloat for a while longer. In typical blinkered fashion, they’ll then convince themselves that Spain and Italy don’t notice that Greece have come out of the situation quite well. After a while they’ll even be naïve enough to think they’ve got away with it – Everyone back on the ship! Cruising on the upper decks, they’ll probably be smugly sipping their expensive wine (paid for by us of course), and won’t even notice the huge Spanish torpedo slinking its way towards them.
Thanks to the Greeks, there is hope yet that the EU ship, with all its hangers on, may be headed to the seabed long before we even get our own referendum.
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Nobody likes having to write off billions in bad debts (only £10bn in UK bank’s case but why were they lending to Greece in the first place one wonders?) It is much more painful for the Eurocrats who seem determined to throw good money after bad trying to prevent a total EU collapse but either way there is going to be a melt-down.
Of more concern to us in the immediate future in UK is how many Greeks are going to arrive here looking for work or benefits and how many foreign invaders are going to get into Europe through the poorly-guarded Greek borders (or worse by collusion with a dis-illusioned socialist government – still a member of EU but determined to get revenge on those who turned off the tap of unlimited subsidy.)
Sounds like a “conspiracy theory” to me, however I do think there is a case for corralling these “invaders” in proper reception camps and the cost of these should not have to be funded by the receiving country, e.g. Italy and others as well, perhaps it should be classed as “overseas aid”
“If it wasn’t for the money it’s indirectly costing us..”
It’s already spent, it was never going to come back, at least not to our benefit.
Agreed, there used to be a Lawyer chap on “Talk Radio” who had a stock phrase for that situation.
“Yer`ve dun yer muney”
What a beautifully crafted article, thank you!
There is one other “solution” not promulgated so far as I can see.
Why not “pay the blighters to go away”?
After all it would be an unique European inter – national solution of yesteryear, brought up to date.
They used to call it Danegeld.
Seems to me the good ole horn bedecked Norsemen were attracted by the burgeoning soft targets for plunder and stayed to bed in ( batten off) with the locals and stayed and stayed and stayed despite all the financial inducements to go.
Haven`t the Greeks followed a similar pattern? enticed in (groomed) with largesse, realised there`s more where that came from and have stayed and stayed and stayed.?
I`d say turn off the Danegeld tap, make one final payment and send them packing.
Let them default on their debts, it might prevent the contagion that is inevitable if they keep them on board.
If I owe the bank a few thousand and cannot afford to pay then I have a big problem.
If I owe them a few million and cannot afford to pay then the problem is theirs.
Why would we want to “prevent the contagion that is inevitable”? Unless you are a legacy party voter, the oncoming EU tsunami would be deliciously justified.
Does NO mean No or like Ireland, will the EU make sure NO means Yes? The EU is in a blind panic right now and will do anything to keep Greece in.
Interesting to note that some of the EU elite are now saying that the Greek Referendum wasn’t legal.
Your predictions of the EU train derailment fill me with joy and expectation. I laughed and clapped when I heard of the Greek ‘NO’ and anticipate further good news of the disintegration to come. The only thing that bothers me is the hard fight the Eurocrats are bound to put up – after all, they’re on huge salaries and a tremendous power trip, so have a lot to lose.
Still, all empires come crashing down eventually, as history teaches us. Some take longer than others, but the demise of the EUSSR cannot happen soon enough. I intend to campaign hard for its downfall in my little area.
‘Greece has defaulted on its external sovereign debt obligations at least
five previous times in the modern era (1826, 1843, 1860, 1894 and
1932).’ [Forbes]
As have many other states so clearly it is always an option. The article eloquently sums up the corrupt collusion responsible and, of course, the always doomed EU project.
Great article, hard hitting, humerous and full of entertaining analogies