The whole mess became an unavoidable collision between two thoroughly corrupt entities, the European Union and the Greek government. Of course let us leave aside the entirely ruinous concept of an "universal currency" for nations as disparate as Germany and Greece, a most humorous and ill-fated idea. In his essay from earlier this year, "The E.U. Experiment Has Failed," the Hoover Institution's Bruce Thornton argues that the "E.U. dream" has perished. It is not difficult to see why.
In 2013 Europe grew by a mere 1.0 percent while the U.S. experienced 2.2 percent growth. Granted, unemployment numbers are constantly dubious at best to follow in a vacuum, but in January American unemployment was at 5.6 percent, whereas in Europe it was 11.4 percent. The labor force in America has been coasting at approximately 62-63 percent now for a couple of years; in Europe it is right at 57.5 percent and likely to drop. Many Europeans are incensed over the "austerity" of a German-led program and not without at least some sentimental merit (though much of the anger comes in the form of ill-informed whining about cuts to pension plans and the like). The government share of Europe's entire GDP has climbed 4.0 percent from the end of 2008 to today, 45.0 to 49.0 percent. In Greece today it is at 59.4 percent.
The Greeks are an incredible people, who have given the world philosophy, but also democracy and its close cousin demagoguery. Much of Greece's modern tragedy (another Greek invention!) arose from the 1967 military coup which saw the dissolution of a rather benign if of course quite flawed monarchical state. The military junta ruled for seven years, until the summer of 1974 which saw the Turks seized the northern region of Cyprus. A plebiscite was run, and King Constantine saw his rule ended as well. The beneficiaries of this "democracy" were chiefly Andreas Papandreou and Constantine Karamanlis. They launched their own parties, with Papandreou birthing "PASOK" and Karamanlis controlling "New Democracy." Papandreou was moderately leftist, Karamanlis was moderately rightist. Naturally both men became fabulously wealthy through the graft and corruption of the democratic system, utilizing the patronage system to enrich themselves and their friends.
Karamanlis envisioned the entry of Greece into the then "European Economic Community," or EEC. Its entry to the union occurred on January 1, 1981. As
@stevefox1200 was noting, back then Greece's greatest exports were not so different from what they are today: nuts, fruits, olives. In 1981 Papandreou took over and installed what all leftists seek: a permanent core constituency of voters, bribed to vote for their master with the largesse of government. By 1983 24.3 percent of Greeks were working for the Greek state. The pension system was thoroughly manipulated by Papandreou and his cronies so as to ensure that this nearly-quarter-of-the-nation-sized group of voters would gleefully return to the polls time and time again to keep their inflated pensions--the totalities of which were more in line with a country like Germany--coming. Numerous industries were nationalized while Papandreou siphoned off disproportionate funds from the EEC.
Karamanlis and Papandreou were respectively succeeded by their nephew and son (hey, how can Americans scoff at that when the Clinton and Bush families enjoy a near-stranglehold on White House aspirations today?). We all witnessed the propaganda of both Greece and the European Union with the 2004 Olympics, which were designed, in part, to announce the "arrival" of Greece as a dazzling nation, with money almost falling from the skies. It was, like most political theatre through the ages, built upon lies and deceit. Greece was at the time a financial powder keg waiting to explode, its national books so thoroughly cooked by those working on behalf of the Kara-Papa axis of demagogues, as Greeks enjoyed paying nearly no taxes and the European Union kept paying the bill.
Let there be no mistake: Alexis Tsipras and Yanis Varoufakis, like gangsters in the third act of a Hollywood movie, have
a lot for which to answer.
Yet so too do the woefully irresponsible bureaucrats of Brussels.
As Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes concerning the Greek answer of "No,"...
The shock result effectively calls the bluff of eurozone leaders and the heads of the European Commission and Parliament, forcing them either to back down or carry out drastic threats to eject Greece from monetary union.
What we see here is the presentation of a crossroads. Eurozone leaders may back down and see the rise of similar populist rebellions among a host of other states. On the other hands if they seek to eject Greece from the union altogether, the issue will only be handed down to the next "poor actor" in the hubristic union by the power of markets. As Evans-Pritchard continues,
The EU's leadership was in utter confusion as it became clear during the day that support was swinging back to the "No" camp, despite blanket coverage from the private TV stations warning that a "No" meant Armageddon.
The rippling effect of this fiasco may indeed reach the Euro bureaucrats themselves and how delightful that would be! For example, Martin Schulz, head of the European Parliament, was continuously arguing that a "No" vote, as recently as one day ago, meant that Greece would have to be pushed out from the euro but hour by hour his stand is becoming increasingly isolated. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission's chief, is likewise ensnared by his own excessive braggadocio by way of rhetoric after issuing a stern warning that a vote by the Greeks on behalf of "No" would represent nothing less than an utter rejection of Europe and therefore would spawn ruinous results.
These individuals believed that Tsipras and several other Syriza leaders in Greece would face the wrath of their constituents. Might the Eurozone leaders instead be knocked down from their lofty perches? Mayhap.
More than likely, though, another corrupt "compromise" will be exercised for the Eurozone bureaucrats knew what they were doing here all along. Much as the George W. Bush-spearheaded drive to spur "home ownership" for persons who did not possess the financial wherewithal or means to properly own homes on their own ineluctably led to the housing bubble the Eurozone's bed today was made by itself long ago, and, consequently, one cannot feel any genuine sympathy for them, either. They have played both sides against the middle and scammed everyone as well. Oh, well. This is politics. Always, always expect the worst in that arena, and you will come at least reasonably close to how rotten it truly is.