We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
|
Getting out of Greece This article on Greeks seeking refuge from their woes by emigrating to Australia is a bit old now, although I would be very surprised if the desire to go has changed at all. Greeks are now, by one measure I saw, the seventh largest ethnic grouping Down Under.
Of course, countries such as Australia and Canada, for that matter, might not be as easy to emigrate to as in the past if the would-be emigrant does not have the sort of skills that are likely to appeal to any granters of visas. And without wishing to sound sour about it, I could argue that the sort of enterprising Greeks who would have been welcomed with open arms by such countries have left their ancestral homes long ago. Another problem is that the very people who are trying to get the hell out of Greece are likely to be the sort most likely to drive their country back towards some semblance of prosperity.
Update: EU officials are starting to admit they are planning for a Greek exit. The end of Greece’s eurozone membership is very close now, I think.
|
Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
|
It will be the result of the elections that will be the trigger.
If Syriza becomes the largest party in the Greek parliament (as current projections suggest) then they will also get an extra 50-seats.
This will be sufficient for their leader Alexis Tsipras to attempt to form an Anti-Austerity coalition government. If successful, then the first request from the EU/IMF/ECB Troika will be fulfilment of the existing terms of austerity (firmly rejected by the Greek electorate).
Since I don’t think that Syriza are faking this whole “No Austerity” package to negotiate better terms (although it is possible), expect the Troika to withdraw the financial support for Greece.
It is then just a matter of time until a significant bond payment comes up which they can’t settle and the whole house of cards comes crashing down.
There might be some pissing around on the actual terms and stuff, but this is a game of bluff after bluff that is being played. At some point the Troika is going to call.
For all concerned (except the EU) the sooner, the better.
Don’t know if it’s true or not, but after the massive post war migration, it was said that Melbourne was the second largest Greek city in the world after Athens.
My Sydney suburb is something like 7% Greeks or kids of Greeks – they are the second largest ethic group. Italians are on top with 11%. They’re a very prosperous, hard working mob. I think we got the cream of Greece 50 years ago – not sure if the current mob fleeing Greece are up the standards of their forefathers.
There’s also a fairly large Greek community in the US – also, very hard-working, many well-educated. The myth that Greece’s problem’s are due to Greeks’ laziness is just that – a myth. Not to mention that I’ve met very many equally hard-working and well-educated Greeks in Greece itself. It’s the government, stupid.
they are the second largest ethic group. Italians are on top with 11%.
And the skippys? None of them? The Anglocelts are an ethnic group too.
I am guessing that they make up some large fraction of the 82% left, at a guess making them the largest group, in front of the Italians…..
What sort of idiot hires Goldman Sachs?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9273920/Spanish-government-hires-Goldman-Sachs-to-value-Bankia.html
Spain’s government is either corrupt or mentally retarded.
The Spanish Prime Minister needs locking up in an asylum or a prison.
What team of advisers the govenrnment hires is a side issue.
The real issue is the action of taking over the banks.
LET THEM GO BANKRUPT.
What is the point of the word “bankrupt” if banks are not allowed to “rupt”?
“But then there will be massive deflationary collapse, Paul…”
So banks are in the business of creating a credit-money bubble by lending out “money” that no one really saved.
And I thought banks just “put peoples savings to work”.
By the way…
European “slashing government spending” is a lie.
There have not been big cuts in government spending in most European nations.
However, the tax increases are real.
But even when (for example) people in Italy attack tax offices (for bankrupting small enterprises with the new crackdown) the media (even Shep Smith on Fox News) report it as a “protest against cut backs”.
The “government spending is being cut” meme is out of control.