5 ms·

I live in Greece and things are bad but as a matter of fact, the real problem is that we ,the Millennials, feel that we're screwed because we compare ourself wi

I live in Greece and things are bad but as a matter of fact, the real problem is that we ,the Millennials, feel that we're screwed because we compare ourself with our parents. Our parents and our politicians really scammed the whole europe into believing that we have a strong economy but the truth is that everyone avoided paying taxes, they got huge loans that could never pay of and our politicians where really corrupted ,as well. The result was that our parents made a fair amount of wealth without having the skills and the education of the rest of europeans. They worked hard, but they lived in a bubble. I believe that the biggest problem in Greece is that right now we are in a declining economy and probably wont succeed economically as our parents did. We are going from high to low and we cant see whats following.

arethuza 10y ago
"Our parents and our politicians" And Goldman Sachs as well! http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greek-debt-crisis-goldman-sachs-could-be-sued-for-helping-country-hide-debts-when-it-joined-euro-10381926.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greek-debt-cr...
- yagodragon 10y ago
  I wouldn't argue in favor of Goldman Sachs ,we can all agree on the shady stuff they've done. The real corruption came from our former prime minister Costas Simitis who tricked EU and Maastricht Treaty. Those complex financial deals created by Sachs would be meaningless if our politicians weren't corrupted . Compare Greece to Estonia , a former Soviet nation with really poor economy, yet they managed to meet the Maastricht rules trying for years without "cheating".
- fred_is_fred 10y ago
  Greece knew full well what they hired Goldman to do. You can't absolve them of that.
  - arethuza 10y ago
    Hence the "and" - all partners in crime as far as I am concerned.
SocratesV 10y ago
Went to Crete a few years ago and was surprised by the number of (what seemed residential) buildings with unfinished roof/terrace, but otherwise being used and perfectly normal. You could see the concrete pillars with the steel bars coming out on top. Imagine it is some kind of way to dodge taxation since it is still considered unfinished? Have also read Michael Lewis' "Boomerang", which also has a lot of similar anecdotes about Greece (and Iceland, Ireland, etc).
- yagodragon 10y ago
  Unfinished buildings isn't a way to dodge taxation . You can see a lot of them in the whole country because people don't actually have the money to finish them and even if they had ,they wouldn't spend a dime to something so undervalued like real estate is in Greece.
- orbifold 10y ago
  In Israel it definitely is a way to dodge taxes.
- return0 10y ago
  How many years ago? You might be experiencing the property boom - everything under construction with cheap loans from a careless ECB. It's not a way to dodge taxes. Many of those constructions were finished, others stayed halfway. What many of them have in common is they are looking for buyers.
  - SocratesV 10y ago
    This was fairly recent, 2013. The houses were otherwise perfectly good. Painted, with normal windows, normal doors, etc. Didn't seem like a they had been "completed" on a best effort basis (non-matching cheap windows, dodgy doors, etc).
tajen 10y ago
I was wondering whether some Greeks saw through the surface. Your opinion seems the right to me: The older generation didn't know what paying taxes feels like. In France, if you have a company, 63% of the company's income goes into taxes before it lands as purchasing power to you (mostly, our VAT is 20%, mandatory insurances are 46% of the remainder, income tax is 23% and so on). When I hear outrage from the Greek people, it's often that their taxes are getting aligned with the norm and are still lower. But the problem isn't taxes or respect of the law. The problem is that there are no jobs, partly because high taxes require a reorganization of the job market, and partly because no-one wants to trade with Greece, given they seem capable of switching to Communism any day from now. I'm sorry for your situation. I hope you can find a remote job in programming, and bring a bit of business into your country. ...And I pray that France doesn't fall into this situation in 15 years. Too few people in France are invested in making businesses run, and most people believe employers are thieves, with barely any knowledge of how the economy works.

arethuza 10y ago

"Our parents and our politicians" And Goldman Sachs as well! http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greek-debt-crisis-goldman-sachs-could-be-sued-for-helping-country-hide-debts-when-it-joined-euro-10381926.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greek-debt-cr...

yagodragon 10y ago
I wouldn't argue in favor of Goldman Sachs ,we can all agree on the shady stuff they've done. The real corruption came from our former prime minister Costas Simitis who tricked EU and Maastricht Treaty. Those complex financial deals created by Sachs would be meaningless if our politicians weren't corrupted . Compare Greece to Estonia , a former Soviet nation with really poor economy, yet they managed to meet the Maastricht rules trying for years without "cheating".
fred_is_fred 10y ago
Greece knew full well what they hired Goldman to do. You can't absolve them of that.
- arethuza 10y ago
  Hence the "and" - all partners in crime as far as I am concerned.

SocratesV 10y ago

Went to Crete a few years ago and was surprised by the number of (what seemed residential) buildings with unfinished roof/terrace, but otherwise being used and perfectly normal. You could see the concrete pillars with the steel bars coming out on top. Imagine it is some kind of way to dodge taxation since it is still considered unfinished? Have also read Michael Lewis' "Boomerang", which also has a lot of similar anecdotes about Greece (and Iceland, Ireland, etc).

yagodragon 10y ago
Unfinished buildings isn't a way to dodge taxation . You can see a lot of them in the whole country because people don't actually have the money to finish them and even if they had ,they wouldn't spend a dime to something so undervalued like real estate is in Greece.
orbifold 10y ago
In Israel it definitely is a way to dodge taxes.
return0 10y ago
How many years ago? You might be experiencing the property boom - everything under construction with cheap loans from a careless ECB. It's not a way to dodge taxes. Many of those constructions were finished, others stayed halfway. What many of them have in common is they are looking for buyers.
- SocratesV 10y ago
  This was fairly recent, 2013. The houses were otherwise perfectly good. Painted, with normal windows, normal doors, etc. Didn't seem like a they had been "completed" on a best effort basis (non-matching cheap windows, dodgy doors, etc).

tajen 10y ago

I was wondering whether some Greeks saw through the surface. Your opinion seems the right to me: The older generation didn't know what paying taxes feels like. In France, if you have a company, 63% of the company's income goes into taxes before it lands as purchasing power to you (mostly, our VAT is 20%, mandatory insurances are 46% of the remainder, income tax is 23% and so on). When I hear outrage from the Greek people, it's often that their taxes are getting aligned with the norm and are still lower. But the problem isn't taxes or respect of the law. The problem is that there are no jobs, partly because high taxes require a reorganization of the job market, and partly because no-one wants to trade with Greece, given they seem capable of switching to Communism any day from now. I'm sorry for your situation. I hope you can find a remote job in programming, and bring a bit of business into your country. ...And I pray that France doesn't fall into this situation in 15 years. Too few people in France are invested in making businesses run, and most people believe employers are thieves, with barely any knowledge of how the economy works.