Greece is on the Brink. And she may take the entire European Union down with her.
She cannot bring herself to pay her bills. The austerity measures championed by the ruling government in Athens and demanded by the European Community are unpopular with the Greek populace, to say the least.
Non-stop rioting in the streets, old and young fighting with police, tourism shut down: Greece is having a hard time making do with reality.
A generous welfare-state, socialist policies throughout, has impoverished the Southern European nation. Did the Greeks really think that they could strong-arm the government into lavishing them with bursting pensions, benefits, and job security without any accountability? Did they really think that they could cheat on their taxes without ultimately cheating themselves and their posterity?
The Greek government is far from guiltless in this matter. In order to qualify or EU membership, Athens forged its way into the European Union, pretending to manage its debt by cooking its financial accounts with the help of Bear Stearns. Their dissolute conduct is past condemnation, a washout financial corporation whose irresponsible fraud helped usher in the Great Recession world-wide, which has exposed the Greek nation's financial abyss.
Now Greece is begging for another bailout from the stronger EU countries, namely Germany. Yet the Germans are justifiably weary from pouring their hard-earned wealth into a country which has prided itself on living off others without having to pay it back.
If the island-archipelago will not take any responsibility for its own doing, if Athens cannot lead by example with hard decisions in the face of violent protests, then let Greece sink into the Aegean. No amount of bailouts will bring the Greeks back from the brink. It will merely succor them into depending all the more on others to save them when they spend themselves beyond their limits.
The one menace which keeps stronger markets on edge about Greece is fear. Fear of financial failure is dominating financial markets throughout the world. If Greece defaults, will it induce other governments to renounce their debt and default as well? Will it cripple banks with more red than black on their ledgers? Will it seize to a halt the anemic recovery plodding its way through the United States?
What is fear? False Evidence Appearing Real, simple as that. Nations with capital, nations who have balanced their checkbooks, who have invested their money, who have grown economically in spite of the recessions, must not bail out any other nations.
Push aside fears, stand on strong moral ground. Let Greece default, followed by any other nation which would be foolish enough to jeopardize its long-term financial well-being.
Greece defaults, people live in poverty, citizens must resort to free market principles to get by. They stop depending on the government, which could never pay its bills to begin with.
Germany can always expand its markets into thriving nations which are not shouldering massive amounts of debt, as few and far between as they may be.
Do not bail out Greece, EU. If that means the demise of the Euro, so be it.