The Germans benefited from the deal in 1953, which underpinned Germany’s postwar economic miracle. Twenty years earlier, Germany defaulted on its debts from World War I, after undergoing a bout of hyperinflation and economic depression that helped usher Hitler to power.
Let's be honest without ourselves: Germany, even in such a miserable state, had serious military and economic potential that allowed a leader such as Hitler to help lead to the development of something such as the Third Reich. Greece produces incredibly little, and economically is not very powerful.
Now their military spending is more than the NATO average, but not substantial enough that they could pull off the type of sudden annexation necessary to form a Third Reich type event. On top of that, any such action would invoke the ire of Turkey, a country that is certainly in a position to stomp any sort of possible expansionist surge.
Simply speaking, I don't think Greece is important enough to be able to start WWIII. That said, there is indeed the possibility of Greece pulling off an economic miracle if they were given solid debt relief, but I think it would require them to pretty solidly rework their current economic structure, which I don't think they are ready to do.
"I'm sure they'll find something simply by dumpster diving. I have some money saved up. I'll live like a king. The demand for U.S. dollars will be high there."
I think you should learn a little bit about the bankrupt country you are moving to before you lose all of your retirement money. Germany is not offering homes in Germany.
Well with those 15 top billionaires listed by Obama (like the France's richest woman,the owner of Ferrero Rocher)you expect them to clear Greece off their immediate burden.
DaveR, come on. I know you are smart, especially enough that you don't think he actually said or meant that. Perpetuating that talking point doesn't do anybody any good.
I've had enough debates with him. I may strongly disagree with many (if not most) of his political views, but I feel pretty confident in saying that he is by no means an unintelligent person.
"If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”"
To take out the context and simply stick with "You didn't build that" is not only dishonest, but it is pathetic.
Recognizing that society comes together to contribute indirectly to individual accomplishments is an entirely reasonable and accurate thing to say: to ignore it is to ignore reality. Nobody exists within a vacuum, nobody achieves within a vacuum. That was his message.
And no, I am not blind to the possible dangers of our federal government. I may be a Social Democrat in ideology, but there is a reason that I don't advocate for that ideology to take effect in this country with the way it currently is. My mine areas of advocacy tend to fall in line with social libertarianism and efforts to decrease corruption in our government via things like changes to our electoral process. Only after corruption and incompetence in our government have been dealt with would I advocate for ideas that fall in line with my political ideology.
Charity is a wonderful thing when it will help others rise out of their predicament, or lessen their hopeless suffering. Coming to the aid of those in trouble is almost instinctive for mankind.
This can not be confused with enabling foolish or destructive behavior. Greece has become the victim of a corrupt government's socialist attempts to stay in power through unrealistic promises.
Greece is being shown charity by allowing them to recover in a way that won't make the problem happen again. If you show them the charity you speak of they will just do it again.
Let us not forget that the source of Germany's debt was from the Treaty of Versailles imposed on them after World War I. They were forced to accept the blame for a war they did not cause and pay reparations.
Greece made its own debt. Germany's debt was forced onto them. One is more deserving than the other.
We should probably wait for Greece to go bankrupt on its own. There is no reason to provide debt relief to a country that refuses to enact domestic debt relief.
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia etc etc are poorer than Greece yet they recovered without debt relief so it is no wonder why their people are wondering why Greece is so special and cannot get itself out of trouble.
Firstly, anyone can refer back to an isolated, specific point in history which suits their argument. The main recipients of the American aid programme, or the 'Marshall Plan' ( which was a loan, now repaid,) were France, the United Kingdom and Germany. no prizes for knowing the nation which used Uncle Sam's dosh to the best advantage. The Germans defaulted on the payments of the debt incurred as a result of the death and destruction they caused during WW1, whereas Greece dishonored the pledges they gave to secure the massive loans which they needed to keep their ''donkey and cart' economy in the 21st century. So, you're not really comparing like with like. The Greeks, along with the Argentinians stand as the pariahs on the international stage.
Out of date proverb ;-''Beware Greeks bearing gifts''. No quarter should be given. The money which was given, and will continue to be given, derives from the hard working taxpayers of the Euro Zone States. The politicians, ( who in my opinion, were guilty of gross misconduct), were charged with the responsibility of using taxpayer's dosh wisely and prudently, but instead acted with blind disregard of Greece's disastrous economy and betrayed the electorate of their respective countries and should be summarily dismissed and charged with criminal negligence. Successive Greek governments willfully flaunted the fiscal restrictions governing membership of the Euro Zone in the full knowledge of the inevitable consequences. What, I ask, has changed within the Greek economy to make anyone think that they will be able to repay any new loans never mind the existing amount of £ 340 billion? Other countries which could shortly follow Greece include, Portugal, Spain and Italy. Should all these siesta loving, wine drinking nations all be ''cut some slack''?
