[DeaconBenjamin]

Greece entered NATO in 1952, and the right wing was largely in control with strong American financial backing. The move to the right culminated in a military coup in 1967 that lasted until 1974. During that period, many of the remaining left wing sympathizers were imprisoned and/or deported. The fall of the dictatorship in 1974 opened up Greece's entry into the EU. It applied for EEC membership in 1975 and entered in 1981. Also in 1975 Andreas Papandreau formed PASOK, the modern day socialist party in Greece. Further, the communist party was legalized and a new constitution that guaranteed individual rights and free elections was put in place. Importantly, it was not until 1975 that Greece even had a democracy post WWII. In 1981, PASOK took control of the government and allowed communist fighters from WWII to return from the eastern bloc to reestablish their estates. These fighters and many others that fought through the struggle with fascism were awarded generous state pensions. It was Andreas Papandreou in the 1980s who took Greece down the path of excess political patronage, excess debt and unsustainable budgets. It was a massive wealth redistribution process that not only came from within Greece, but more importantly from within the European Economic Community (the EEC).

Papandreou threatened leaving NATO and the EEC to secure constant funding from the West. In fact, in 1985, he blocked the admission of Spain and Portugal into the EEC until he was given nearly 30 billion in EEC funds. Jaques Delors finally caved! There is a constant and overriding theme in post WWII Greek politics: the world has used Greece as a pawn, and hence the world owes us. The Germans, the British and the Americans kept Greece from democracy and freedom until the late 70s. It suited their wartime aspirations. And while we in the US were going through the Reagan revolution in the 80s, the Greeks were still trying to right the many perceived wrongs from the WWII and Cold War battles. Much of Greece's debt troubles can be traced back to reparations for the tragedies associated with those two wars. There are strong senses of entitlement, retribution and redistribution that have taken Greece down this path of excess debt for the last 30 years. The political culture of redistribution that came with freedom in the 1980s, morphed into a culture of unsustainable state entitlement.

Perspectives on the Crisis in Europe

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I was talking to a young Greek man a few years ago who told me that Greeks all hate the US, they all purport to be communists but don’t really want communism—it’s more a way of showing defiance to “the man” (see also first item)— and they all cheat terribly on their taxes.

[PGalt]

Post; link/post BUMP!