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Well, the Greek government cooked the books in order to be allowed to join. This is clearly Greece's fault. The real lesson is that weak and corrupt government
by tormeh 8y ago
Well, the Greek government cooked the books in order to be allowed to join. This is clearly Greece's fault.
The real lesson is that weak and corrupt governments are bad for most involved with them and very hard to fix, even if you try very hard. So, if you can, keep them at arm's length. They should never have been allowed to join the euro. In fact, given their conflicts with Turkey and Macedonia, they shouldn't have been allowed to join the EU at all.
- jaclaz 8y ago>Well, the Greek government cooked the books in order to be allowed to join. This is clearly Greece's fault. Yes and no. Those reviewing those books (and originally allowing Greece to enter the Euro) were rather blind (selective or politically induced blindness).
- StavrosK 8y ago> their conflicts with Turkey What conflicts are these, pray tell? If you think Erdogan is just sitting quietly, minding his own business, while the evil Greeks plot to expand their empire into Turkey, you're either dangerously misguided or a troll.
- mikeash 8y agoNothing about that comment implied anything about which side is right or which side is the aggressor.
- StavrosK 8y agoThat's what "they shouldn't have been allowed to join the EU at all" means. Unless you're saying that countries bordering aggressive nations should be banned from joining.
- mikeash 8y agoWhy not say that? International relations isn’t a morality play. Joining into a union with a nation likely to get pulled into a conflict you don’t want isn’t a good idea. EU membership isn’t an award for good behavior, it’s a strategic choice made to achieve certain goals.
- StavrosK 8y agoWhy have allies, if you're going to be obliged to help them if they get attacked? Because the relationship is beneficial in other ways, of course.
- mikeash 8y agoSure, but if they’re likely to pull you into a conflict you don’t want and would otherwise avoid, it’s usually a better idea to avoid it. See, for example, Ukraine joining NATO.
- StavrosK 8y agoSo there isn't a hard and fast rule of "don't let countries bordering on aggressive nations" join, which is my initial point. The benefits and downsides of Greece joining the EU were weighed, and it was allowed to join.
- mikeash 8y agoI thought your initial point was that the other commenter implied that Greece was an aggressor against an innocent country, and that they were either misinformed or trolling. My point, in turn, is that nothing about their statement implied this.
- StavrosK 8y agoTheir statement could be taken in two ways: Either aggressors should never be allowed, or countries with a risk of receiving aggression should never be allowed. Since the latter is extreme, I can only assume the commenter meant the former.