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Why is it that these people are nice and kind when they finance your government spending for decades but turn into facist greedy bastards when they come asking

by akytt 10y ago

Why is it that these people are nice and kind when they finance your government spending for decades but turn into facist greedy bastards when they come asking for their money back? That's what it boils down to. Why is that that everybody else starting from EC and ECB and ending with corrupt polititians (who, it would seem, have magically appeared from amongst non-greek) is to blame but I'm yet to see any citizen taking responsibility. "Yes, it felt good voting for populists and enjoying massive social benefits from the state and not really having to pay taxes but now I have a hangover". That's democracy for you. Your right to vote comes with a responsibility for the consequences.

crdoconnor 10y ago
>Why is it that these people are nice and kind when they finance your government spending for decades but turn into facist greedy bastards when they come asking for their money back? They're not trying to get their money back. They're simply taking the reins of power and threatening economic catastrophe if they're disobeyed. It ought to be obvious to anybody with a functioning brain that Greece is not paying down its debts and that the European Commissions directives are clearly not about making Greece more able to do so. The question you have to ask yourself then is, what are they asking of Greece? Because it's definitely not when are they going to pay us back? >That's democracy for you. It's democracy when you inadvertently voted for somebody who handed the reins of power over to a foreign country. That's the transition of democracy to dictatorship. >Your right to vote comes with a responsibility for the consequences. Which country do you exercise your vote in?
- AnimalMuppet 10y ago
  Well, that's how it goes when you take money from someone in order to keep from disaster. They get a say in how things go thereafter. You write this as if some Greek politicians just woke up one morning and decided to hand over sovereignty to foreigners. That's not how it happened. Greece was forced into it, because Greece had to have foreign money in order to survive. It's been known for 3000 years what the consequences of that situation are - the borrower becomes the lender's slave (Proverbs 22:7). So the "that's democracy for you" part was when they voted for people whose bad decisions put Greece in that situation.
  - hx87 10y ago
    > It's been known for 3000 years what the consequences of that situation are - the borrower becomes the lender's slave (Proverbs 22:7) What Proverbs failed to mention is that if the debt is big enough with respect to the lender, it's the other way around.
  - crdoconnor 10y ago
    >It's been known for 3000 years what the consequences of that situation are - the borrower becomes the lender's slave Didn't think I'd ever see slavery - debt or otherwise - defended on HN.
    - AnimalMuppet 10y ago
      I didn't defend it. I said that, in the real world we actually live in, that's the way it goes. Actions have consequences. Ignoring that, and then claiming "It's not right!" when the consequences hit... that's not very wise.
AnimalMuppet 10y ago
> That's democracy for you. Your right to vote comes with a responsibility for the consequences. True. But as a US citizen, that's also very frightening at the moment...

by akytt 10y ago

crdoconnor 10y ago

>Why is it that these people are nice and kind when they finance your government spending for decades but turn into facist greedy bastards when they come asking for their money back? They're not trying to get their money back. They're simply taking the reins of power and threatening economic catastrophe if they're disobeyed. It ought to be obvious to anybody with a functioning brain that Greece is not paying down its debts and that the European Commissions directives are clearly not about making Greece more able to do so. The question you have to ask yourself then is, what are they asking of Greece? Because it's definitely not when are they going to pay us back? >That's democracy for you. It's democracy when you inadvertently voted for somebody who handed the reins of power over to a foreign country. That's the transition of democracy to dictatorship. >Your right to vote comes with a responsibility for the consequences. Which country do you exercise your vote in?

AnimalMuppet 10y ago
Well, that's how it goes when you take money from someone in order to keep from disaster. They get a say in how things go thereafter. You write this as if some Greek politicians just woke up one morning and decided to hand over sovereignty to foreigners. That's not how it happened. Greece was forced into it, because Greece had to have foreign money in order to survive. It's been known for 3000 years what the consequences of that situation are - the borrower becomes the lender's slave (Proverbs 22:7). So the "that's democracy for you" part was when they voted for people whose bad decisions put Greece in that situation.
- hx87 10y ago
  > It's been known for 3000 years what the consequences of that situation are - the borrower becomes the lender's slave (Proverbs 22:7) What Proverbs failed to mention is that if the debt is big enough with respect to the lender, it's the other way around.
- crdoconnor 10y ago
  >It's been known for 3000 years what the consequences of that situation are - the borrower becomes the lender's slave Didn't think I'd ever see slavery - debt or otherwise - defended on HN.
  - AnimalMuppet 10y ago
    I didn't defend it. I said that, in the real world we actually live in, that's the way it goes. Actions have consequences. Ignoring that, and then claiming "It's not right!" when the consequences hit... that's not very wise.

AnimalMuppet 10y ago

> That's democracy for you. Your right to vote comes with a responsibility for the consequences. True. But as a US citizen, that's also very frightening at the moment...