Hellas: Should I stay or should I go?

“What is the main export of Greece? Unemployed Greeks!” (one of the current jokes)

 

By Olga Daskali (article that is published in The Voice)

“Greece, you got to let me know,

Should I stay or should I go?

If you say that you are mine,

I’ll be here till the end of time,

So you got to let me know,

should I stay or should I go? ..

Always, broke, broke, broke,

You’re unhappy when I’m on strike,

One day is fine, next is black,

 So if you want me off your back,

well come on and let me know,

should I stay or should I go?”

And that’s how the Greek youth feels as far as the current situation is concerned. Paraphrasing a bit the well known song, a 22 year old young graduate has to choose between

Greece = low salary in the best case scenario otherwise unemployment or

ABROAD = away of family and friends.

It seems that this is the case not only for the youth as the crisis has affected all generations.

I am not going to make an economic analysis, something you can easily find online. There are several points of view of why and how Greece reached this bottom point and there are also many opinions of how to recover. The question is where is the truth and who to trust…

Being amazed by the fact that every newspaper and the world mass media, have a separate section for Greece in their websites, I can only give you the opinion of an inhabitant.

Athens: The situation is explosive. Everything is unsettled and no one can assure the days to come. The streets are full of peaceful protesters. Their main question is WHY?  The discussions are full of criticism, regret, realization and at the end ideas to overcome the crisis. But HOW?

Countryside: The central squares of every city, town, village are full of people who are trying to channel their indignation by expressing their feelings for the uncertainty they live in, wondering if there is something else to do in order to raise their voice and be heard. Most of them are travelling to Athens to participate in the big protests that are taking place everyday at Syntagma square.

Even the optimists are on their way to admit that the glass is half empty! And maybe summer -with its amazing sunny days and the beautiful beaches and surroundings- was supposed to “numb” the Greeks and keep them at the beach, this is not the case. The society for months now raises its opinion though blogs, local newspapers, letters addressed to the Ministers, the Government, other parties. Our mass media keep their tendency to allow only one part of the story to be heard and the last two weeks we observe jerking movements.

What’s the solution?

1. Bankruptcy and start from the scratch. The society wants in jail the ones who led the Hellenic Republic in such situation
2. Continuity of getting more loans in order to cover the basic needs, but then the economic growth is definitely more than uncertain to come as the heavy taxes and the frozen salaries do not help the market.

Both solutions have numerous consequences not only for our European partners, but for the global economy. That is why the decision to continue “loaning” now seems unworthy.

Greeks have admitted to themselves that the model of indirect democracy has totally failed. They have realized that the last 30 years our society has turned from a pure agricultural, to a urban consuming one, full of well-educated scientists ready to offer their services.

Personally, I feel part of a global chain, a chain that is about to break unless all parts of the chain realize their mistakes and consciously move towards a consensual solution.

Dilemmas have been created by the system- as the question should I stay or should I go has turned to a question of staying for the sake of the country or leaving for the sake of our sanity! Tough choice!