Greece Fire
February 23, 2011 by Patrick Madrid
Filed under Patrick's Blog
As you know, Greece has been in a state of tumult for the past year as protests against the government’s efforts to curb its profligate spending have convulsed the country, especially in Athens. Personally, I don’t have much sympathy at all for government workers who refuse to face realty and tighten their own belts in the face of unsustainable government budget excesses that literally not only have bankrupted their country but, given that Greece is already a badly limping member of the EU, have seriously strained the general fiscal health of the Union as a whole. When annual expenditures far exceed income, something’s gotta give. The worrisome aspect of this simmering Greek unrest is, in my view, how similar it appears to be to what could easily happen here in the United States if some kind of fiscal sanity and restraint (not to mention a return to grown-up behavior by certain fatuous lawmakers) doesn’t soon re-take control of our governmental brain. The last few days’ worth of budget-related turbulence in Wisconsin has all the earmarks of the beginnings of what you see here in this video. Obviously, we can all hope and pray that it won’t happen here, that significant numbers of agitated American citizens won’t degenerate into the violence currently wracking Greece. But I’m not so sure. As the situation in Greece shows, it doesn’t take much of a spark to ignite a fire. And fires, let’s remember, often get out of control and burn things down very quickly.
Top post. I look forward to reading more. Cheers
I Agree with you, Elizabeth. We sow it coming: we relocated in a smaller house out in a small village to save and to live more peacefully.We too experienced no bonus and no merit pay rise although health insurance went up. Through our Parish we help others less fortunate and we pray a lot for God’s blessings.
I totally agree Patrick. I, too, have little sympathy for those who are paid through our tax dollars(hence, public SERVANTS). For the second time within 4 years, the large company I work for has said that there will be no merit raises this year. We have been steadily having to contribute much more to our own health care costs. We are not union and our only options are to go out and look for a greener pasture. I have a job that I reasonably enjoy, and doubt that I could find anything else comparable though, so I just try to be thankful that I still have a job that I like, and can make a modestly nice living at.
With our states and nation facing tremendous shortfalls that are almost unfathomable, I have no doubt that every individual is going to face some cuts that will not be pleasant. We are in denial if we think that this type of violence could not go on here.
By the way, Patrick–I’m a big fan. Thanks for all you do.