Catch 22

Here we are entering the fall political season. People don't usualy see it this way but along with the new tv series and back to school specials another season opens for politicians. Every fall there is new political discussions and activity that always pushes the limits of us working folks. Then by late November our politicians feel comfortable enough to hammer out a new budget. Typically it will include things like cuts to medicare or pensions or wages and increases to things like sales tax or income tax or housing tax. There will also be little handouts to sugar the pill like a small increase to family allowance or the rent deductible. The discussions starts now in September just before Parliament opens. Prominent politicians and party leaders start giving interviews to the radio or the press to test their party line and reasoning. By mid October, the month with the most stock market crashes, everybody has drawn their lines and the trenches start appearing. In Greece this is no exaggeration. By the time December rolls up we will be into general strikes and lock downs. Somebody has to cough up 11.5 billion euros and the poor simply can't afford to pay any more. Most people are umemployed and lack the ability to pay for anything let alone new taxes. Those who still have a job have seen their incomes slashed in half while daily expenses have doubled. Striking is a big risk as there are hordes of people waiting to take your place. Doing nothing means accepting your annhilation. The rich refuse to pay for anything and consider themselves to be above the law. For years they have been covering each others back to the point that there are now over fifty thousand Greeks with deposits of over twenty billion euros in Switzerland. This is all money that has never been taxed or reported to the Greek revenue service and does not include investments in real estate and stocks along with the untaxable offshores. We are looking into a black hole for the Greek government of what must be nearly one hundred billion euros that have been extracted illegaly from the Greek economy over the last ten years. It makes sense too as we always knew that about thirty percent of our economy was "black" and now that the crunch is on politicians are starting to legislate with this money in mind. For years the paraeconomy was allowed to flourich. It was even nourished by crooked politicians on the take in a relationship that is called "customer government". The only way out of our present crisis is the abolishment of this parallel universe with its free for all logic and antisocial morality. How will its very founders who inspired it now demolish it is still to be seen. I think it is very unlikely but in this country the alternative is unthinkable. We all wait to see...