Friday, July 9, 2010

The Greek Spirit Isn't Dead Yet


Late last night, Greece pushed through a bill cutting pensions, increasing retirement ages, and unilaterally stripping workers of rights and benefits. Today, Athens is under another general strike, with most services shut down and 12,000 workers taking to the streets in protest. I'm not saying that these measures aren't overall a good thing for Greece, and under ordinary circumstances, I'd no doubt be cheering them - but as I've said before in previous posts, the main beneficiaries of Greece's debt are getting off scot free while while the little guy pays. Europe is undergoing, on a mass scale, the dismantling of its unions, social systems and quality of life, and we are currently watching one of the largest wealth tranfers in history.

Given that the bogeyman of waves of poor, newly-ascended Eastern European immigrants pillaging the social welfare systems of their rich cousins has been around for years, is it any wonder that the wealthy countries have chosen to just destroy these systems? Granted, the wealthy never wanted these systems in the first place, but previous generations post-WW II recognized that they were necessary for stable societies. Will class warfare rear its head in Europe again? Rich 1-0 Poor.

Greece Pushes Through Pension Bill

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