I see some of the more enterprising Eurofans have mounted a campaign to boycott Germany and their multinational corporations after Reichsfuhrer Merkel employed the biggest shafting Greece has recieved from the Teutons since 1941. To be honest, this was really the Germans practicing the same sort of 'look after number 1' type thinking that a lot of UK voters would like to see David Cameron do. I was never a believer in the single currency, as it seemed to be based on some wishy washy dream that we could be like the USA, disregarding the completely different historical evolution that gave rise to Europe on one side and the United States on the other. The whole thing seems to be geared to creating a central European powerhouse based around the Rhine, with a lot of smaller satélite helpers scattered around it, and having sat through some of the speeches in the European Parliament about not wanting to humilliate Greece, it seems a tad bizarre that they did just that.
Personally, I like Germany and have a lot of time for the Germans as a people, but this time, they seem to have moved mountains to forcé an antidemocratic bail out which will almost certainly not achieve economic stability in Greece, but will forcé continued unrest, poverty and internal strife. I studied Fine Art at university, and I'm sort of happy about it now, since financial studies at a high level often seem to come with some sort of lobotomy attached. I doubt I'll be boycotting Germany, as I simply don't see much of their produce in my house anyway, but I can understand the mentality that wants to.
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I'm not looking for an argument, but I'm curious as to what you would rather have seen happen?
Merkel is a scary woman but, honestly, I can see why many in the UK would like to see a similar head of state here. Although in our case I think it's understandable because we are not in the currency and we shouldn't be throwing cash at bailing out economies that have fecked themselves up because of a culture that had a national sport of tax avoidance.
We can't pay for our police force or hospitals, so why should we really be frittering money away just trying to save a failing experiment with regards to the Euro? Germany are in that zone, so naturally they have a vested interest which makes their attitude a bit different.
The irony of saying Germany has a "look after number 1" attitude is that Greece bought some of these problems on to themselves and a lot of people were too busy "looking after number 1" to pay in to the system they were relying on.
As for a German goods boycott, I'll boycott their wine, its foul.
Maybe you would be one of the hundreds of thousands of mainly professionals and graduates who are leaving the country of their homeland purely to find employment... an understandable and sensible option but not one that is going to improve the countries long term outlook.
Greece is, for all intense purposes bankrupt already. The Euro with its pay day loans is simply throwing good money after bad and kicking the can down the road hoping for a miracle.
I am no economics expert but my view is you are better to take a hit on debt relief now to try to see the country return to some form of self sufficiency than lend more money on top of the existing debt meaning Greece continues to implode into a depression worse than the 1930's US depression and, ultimately the lenders writing off more money at the end of it. Then everyone loses.
The actual austerity measures don't seem that bad at all on face value, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33535205, yet look at the reactions out there. I can understand a youth culture full of tension due to unemployment and lack of opportunities, but realistically speaking - these are measures that should've come in long ago and it's frustrating to think that being in the Eurozone is essentially permission to do as you like and rely upon other worried economies to bail your mess out.
Why should we foot £700,000,000 of the bill when we're not even in the Eurozone, and we can't afford the "luxuries" (in quotes, because a functioning police service, a capable social care/welfare system and a competent health service are not luxuries for a first world country) that we require? We're making our own cuts, as I presume are most of the economies who are offering to provide this bail out package, including Germany, and it adds insult to injury to see protests over in Greece because they may just have to get their house in order. I think it's their reaction which is causing most of the bitterness.
This situation has been a long time coming, it's not a surprise, yet they voted in a party who were opposed to austerity - a party opposed to cutting things that need to be cut and taking the countries finances seriously. With that kind of attitude you can understand the reluctance of some to put more money in to that system. Our economy is getting stronger, albeit still fragile apparently, but regardless of your own political views - we've voted for a party well known for cuts and making difficult decisions economically; yes we have protests and so on, but the mere fact that we have a majority government that support austerity measures shows that as a country we are largely supportive of fixing our economy. Unfortunately, there appears to be no such sentiment in Greece.
There really does seem to be a lack of responsibility regarding this situation, and once again it's the countries who are 'switched on' and have some degree of financial stability (largely through making the decisions which the Greeks seem appalled by) paying for the mistakes of others. Those who are taking to the streets, throwing petrol bombs and attacking police.. what do they want? A nice cash lumpsum and a forgiving 'Use it wisely!'? This is the third bail-out, the third pay-day loan.
To blame the Germans or ask for a boycott of German produce because of it is a bad move, it neglects the real issue here.
Instead I'm boycotting Greece. Largely because in the recent past, their useless fuckwit air traffic controllers have always been on strike when I was scheduled to fly there. So, stuff it, I'm not going any more.
They voted for Syriza in the last general election that campaigned for the end to austerity. Just 10 days ago they voted almost 2 to 1 against the bail-out proposal as it stood then and now have no say whatsoever in a revised bail-out proposal that would appear to be even harsher than the one they said no to.
Their economy cannot sustain the level of debt they have, which is growing every time a bail-out is negotiated, and must be reduced or written off entirely - but that does need to be linked to structural reform of the Greek public sector and in particular its ability (or inability up to now) to collect taxes. They are not just a member of the Eurozone and the EU - they are also a member of NATO ffs!
The Germans have very short memories - Marshall Plan???
As you said yourself, a boycott of German produce does'nt actually solve anything here, but the deal done on monday does'nt either;- the Greek economy won't withstand it.
You provide a pretty good argument though, and I'll admit I hadn't really considered some of the things you've highlighted; least of all the fact that the rich will just continue to do as they have been doing so. That seems a pretty common theme regarding financial crisis all over the world though sadly.
I think we can definitely agree that nothing has been solved though, but sadly I don't see how it can be solved. Very tough time for all involved, but it's clear that something needs to happen... I just have no idea what.
The payday loan analogy is being hoisted, and very few countries are not in hock to Wonga, the UK included. A lot of all this stuff about superiority to Greece smacks of stones in glass houses.
I'm generally an admirer of modern Germany too, but there's a reason why so many Brits buy a place in France but far less in Germany. You should try France for a holiday and see why
BMW sells you a car through their appointed agent, they accept your Pounds and (presumably) exchange them for Euros. (Although they might keep them I suppose). So, as long as the German manufacturer believes that it's worth accepting your money and the markets agree (through the foreign exchange rates and some broad sense of "purchasing power parity") then does it matter? My balance of payments deficit with Tesco (other supermarkets are available) runs at about £100 a week but they don't seem to mind and never ask to buy anything back from me.
That sort of plan – one where Greece can get it’s house in order but have half a chance was always needed, but the Germans are more worried about the views of its people. The point I have pointed out on another thread, is that it is generally acknowledged that the Germans have benefitted from the weaker Euro that problem economies like Greece create. Now I’m not saying they should thank Greece for having a useless economy but maybe they could be a bit more generous as they are a country that are not out of pocket over this crisis. Totally agree that UK shouldn’t be part of any bail out – it is for Euro zone members only. And to my mind Germany needs to fund the bulk of it. It then needs to give up on its quest to turn the Italian and Greek economies into German ones – they can be improved but this is a pipe dream. It needs to accept that it is the anchor economy in the Euro and there are positive and negative costs for them in having some weak economic countries on board. Their ambition should be to make the economies of these countries a bit saner, but within the constraints of reality.