The "Occupy Wall Street" of Greece

Some Greeks are not willing to do what it takes to bring government spending in line with what is needed to get out of its crushing debt. They’d rather keep getting their government perks. Instead, they’d rather leave this debt to be paid by their grandchildren, and they’d rather burn things.

The Greek parliament approved a deeply unpopular austerity bill to secure a second EU/IMF bailout and avoid national bankruptcy, as buildings burned across central Athens and violence spread around the country.

Cinemas, cafes, shops and banks were set ablaze in central Athens as black-masked protesters fought riot police outside parliament.

State television reported the violence spread to the tourist islands of Corfu and Crete, the northern city of Thessaloniki and towns in central Greece. Shops were looted in the capital where police said 34 buildings were ablaze.

This is just a very angry OWS protest. They think the government is the answer to all their problems, and when the find it isn’t, they protest. They want the government to keep its power of confiscating wealth and spreading it around, in spite of the fact that they are, indeed, running out of other people’s money with which to maintain the lifestyle they’re accustomed to.

This is the problem with socialization, even a little bit of it. People begin to expect it, but the economics of the situation simply don’t allow it to be sustainable over the long-term. So when it has to be scaled back, this is what you get.

And we’re, for some insane reason, trying to replicate this "success" here. Then, this, too, is in our future.

Filed under: Economics • Government

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