2011 Flashback: Greece, a Dress Rehearsal for the Rest of the World

Greek lawmakers voted to speed the enactment of the country’s new austerity measures, clearing the way for foreign lenders to make available the next installment of aid needed to meet the government’s expenses through the summer. Among the new measures are cuts in spending on health and defense, tax increases on heating oil and the self-employed, and reductions in the number of public employees. They also call for the privatization of about $70 billion in state assets. At the last minute, the bill was altered to freeze the salaries of civil servants and to lower the ceiling below which income for individuals is not taxed; the minimum was reduced to $11,600 annually from $17,400, with more lenient treatment for people with children. - Greek Parliament Approves Implementation of Austerity Plan, New York Times, June 30, 2011

How the Greeks are Handling the Burden of Austerity Measures

July 17, 2011

Epoch Times - In a visit to the Grecian capital Sunday, U.S. secretary of State Hillary Clinton lauded the government for its tough austerity measures enacted to pay off a mountainous debt that pushed the nation to the brink of economic collapse.

Clinton said that the austerity measures, which are highly controversial among the Greek populace and some officials, are the “bitter medicine” necessary to help Greece regain economic stability.

Greece has implemented the austerity measures to meet the demands of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, which jointly loaned the country 110 billion euros (US$155 billion). The measures, which include increased taxes, a 20 percent decrease in the minimum wage, large cuts to the social services, the selling of large pieces of land, and a privatization program to sell off large state-owned companies and ports, have left many earning less money and at risk of losing their jobs.

Over the past few months, Greeks have made their discontent over the measures known, staging near-daily protests in Athens that have frequently resulted in demonstrator clashes with police.

Several private and public sector employees recently shared with The Epoch Times how the budget cuts are affecting them and their families, and how they think the country should proceed to stabilize itself.

Special forces police officer, 24

[Under the austerity measures] I started getting 150 euro (US$212) less in salary [a month] plus other benefits I had from my work were reduced. Now with the new austerity measures and the rise of taxes, I will have less income.

Everyone [is to blame for this crisis]. Everyone who tries to evade taxes; everyone who tries to avoid the immigrant situation; immigrants don't help the country to earn an income, instead they cost the state more money. Everyone who gets a job in the public sector without passing exams, and those people who use their connections to get the job without being qualified.


I want to see everything changed. Like switching the electricity off and starting everything anew; like the education system, the justice system, social tax laws, and public services in general. I want to see the citizens of this country change. People behave the way they do because they are created by their environment. Here [in Greece] you will not find justice when justice is needed.

[The future] will be very difficult, but I want to be optimistic.

[The prime minister] is going to have to face the consequences of his actions and I don't believe him.

Diamantis Melitas, 31, Information Technology

I still have a job but next month I will know exactly how much less I will be paid and how much more I will have to pay in taxes. … The fact that I still have work doesn't mean that I am not affected by the crisis because my family members have lost their jobs, for example, my mother [lost hers] last week. I also don't drive my car because the gas is so expensive. The fact that there is no longer a minimum salary and someone can work a full time job and only earn 400 euros (US$565) a month or less affects me and the whole nation psychologically.

The real problem is the international system of economy. … A carpenter produces concrete work but bankers and anyone who deals with money are not really doing a concrete job because they don't really produce something concrete. They sell to us air and nothing more. This system has bankrupted the country and wants Greece and other countries to pay the debt now because it can no longer produce money to put in the banks to continue their unsustainable system.

All I want [is that] all this irrational bank system be replaced. I want all banks, derivative markets, and anything that has to do with this to not exist anymore. I want to see a resource-based economy that operates on concrete goods and not on currency-based goods.

[The future] will be more difficult than it is now but I will mature and everyone will mature. The difficult time ahead will change the people in many ways.

Andreas, 31, Employed in the private sector

[Andreas comes to Athens’s Syntagma Square to provide technology support to the people camped in the square. Protesters have been camping there since May 19.]

I have not been affected yet but my friends and family have been fired or are unemployed … and I still don't know my future.

We will be here [in the square] until they leave. … We want to wake up the people’s conscience. … We will take more action to change things. We are dealing with a marathon and not a sprint of 100 meters, which means we have a lot of work to do.

The political system has to change. [The politicians] act for their own benefit and do not think of the people.

The austerity measures they signed are a selling out without precedent. … We will see in 6-12 months what the people are really going to face. … Everyone will then understand what this is all about. In six months we will know.

I don't want to share what I want to say to the prime minister. It would sound extreme.

Saptelianos Georgios, 60, Travel agency accountant

My two adult sons do not have jobs, my wife is earning less money, and the company I work for was of course affected and now earns less income and pays more taxes. The strikes caused some clients to cancel the travel packages they bought with us and we also have fewer requests from visitors wanting to come to Greece.

The two parties that have governed us for 30 years have stolen a lot of money. They hire the people who vote for them into public sector jobs, thus making these services inefficient because people perform poorly due to ignorance of the work, and the ministers always take big commissions.

The politicians that govern us all these years [are to blame for the crisis].

The future will be much more difficult than it is now.

I would tell him [the prime minister] to see and read the papers he signs and not just follow what some people tell him to like an employee.

I am indignant.

Giakas Stelios, 34, Temporarily employed as a postman

[After 20 months of unemployment the State hired Stelios for eight months as a postman.]

I have always faced unemployment even though I finished university. I do not work in my area of expertise, and I earn 700 euros (US$989) a month, and many benefits I had have been cut, so I have to live on 700 euros in an expensive country, and with the tax increase they will become even more difficult.

[In the future] I would like to see the people happier.

I see my future optimistically. I see myself living in an alternative way. I can live with less. We use more than we really need, like cars, they are not as necessary people think they are.

I would like to ask the him [the prime minister] if he can sleep at night.

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