I came across an article today about the utter
despair most Greeks are facing as their economic crisis worsens. An excerpt is
as follows:
Greek
media have since reported similar suicides almost daily, worsening a sense of
gloom going into next week's election, called after Prime Minister Lucas
Papademos's interim government completed its mandate to secure a new rescue deal
from foreign creditors by cutting spending further.
Some medical experts say this form of political
suicide is a reflection of the growing despair and sense of helplessness many
feel. But others warn the media may be amplifying the crisis mood with its
coverage and numbers may only be up slightly.
"The crisis has triggered a growing sense of
guilt, a loss of self-esteem and humiliation for many Greeks," Nikos
Sideris, a leading psychoanalyst and author in Athens, told Reuters.
"Greek people don't want to be a burden to anyone
and there's this growing sense of helplessness. Some develop an attitude of
self-hatred and that leads to self-destruction. That's what's behind the
increase in suicide and attempted suicide. We're seeing a whole new category:
political suicides."
Unfortunately, what we see now in Greece is the
human cost that continues to befall their country in the wake of their economic
meltdown. Through their endless expansion of government, irreverent spending
and disregard to their growing national debt, Greece has become the
poster-child for the failure of socialism. Margaret Thatcher said, "...and Socialist governments
traditionally do make a financial
mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people's money.” More commonly
it has been paraphrased, “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run
out of other people's money."
What we see in Greece is the net result of when
government programs and spending reach a critical mass and the whole system
implodes. Riots, suicides and general unrest are the beginning of its troubles.
As it continues to make austerity moves the suffering and unrest will only
worsen. Worse, it may spread like dominoes to other nations of the EU that
adopted such socialistic programs.
The problem is: socialism sounds good but in
practice is a failure. In the end instead of equalizing the wealth, it will
destroy it and the lives of its citizens. It produces an inevitable race to the
bottom where everyone suffers. Time and time again both history and current
events support this notion.
So where are we now in the United States? 16
trillion dollars in debt to the Chinese, an Obama administration without any sort
of plan for the future, mindless national spending, a Buffet tax meant to
punish the successful, a congress that can’t pass a budget in 3 years, a
government that that has not been as divided since 1861, and an inexperienced
president who is leading our country directly into the gutter. Where do you
think all his heading?
Shouldn’t we learn from Greece’s follies and rethink
our economic policies, reconsider our pork-filled spending or at least balance
a national budget? Is that not too much to ask? Are we not headed in the same
footsteps as Greece? Will riots and suicides fill our streets? Are we also
headed for economic collapse?
Unfortunately, the answer seems obvious. If we don’t
make a change and now, the future looks grim.