08 June 2012

Democracy - where is it going?

I saw this clip and all I could do was let my jaw drop.  WHAT.  Greece may now have to live with the choices it made under duress and they don't look pretty.  Neo-nazis: not the good guy and never have been.

There have been some predictions that the surmounting pressure of the crisis will push Europe to more integration instead of breaking apart.  This sounded a bit odd to me because I read this recently, which indicates some internal schism and some frankly un-German behavior, which is called out in this article.  Germans are notable for their consistent rule following and this smacks of Italian "I am the exception" flavor.  Beefing up Schengen borders, after having seen that disgraceful behavior, seems to make sense.  The Greeks are losing their proverbial "sh*t" - it drove things so far into the ground that it can potentially turn into a lawless free for all.  In a lot of ways, the Greek situation mirrors that of many African nations because it has racked up debt, feels the surmounting pressure from western Europeans, and has relied heavily on governance as a source of employment.  Their administration was bloated with employees and was notoriously bad with money.  Greeks have also been called out on unpaid taxes (oops).   Youth are unemployed and know that they're getting taken for all they will eventually be worth.

So the question remains, is there going to be more European integration?  Or is it all pretend?  I don't know.  I've been out of the loop, so I'm remaining on high alert.  However, I don't see any serious moves towards more integration--perhaps that will be a panic move at the twelfth hour.