3 ms·

That's just an insult.

cm2187 7y ago
No it's an analogy for a population who didn't see fit to pay their taxes, have a functioning state, who thought it was a good idea to adopt a foreign currency when it didn't make sense economically, and doesn't understand why they are forced to make economic sacrifices to correct the situation. I think the accusation of ignorance is kinder than the alternative ("let's not pay our taxes, the germans will pay for us").
- dependenttypes 7y ago
  > who didn't see fit to pay their taxes With all the corruption going around I would not blame them. (even without it I would not blame them regardless. There are many people all over the world -including me- who consider taxes thievery) Anyway, please do correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it only the rich/rich companies that did that? Similarly to how Amazon, Google, or Apple for example pay almost no tax. > who thought it was a good idea to adopt a foreign currency when it didn't make sense economically Do you have a citation for this? As far as I know the Greek population was not asked about it.
  - cm2187 7y ago
    As far as I am aware, tax fraud was (and probably still is) endemic in Greece. If you like to think it is just Amazon not paying its taxes, believe what you want. If you go see a doctor in Greece he will ask for cash. What do you mean the population wasn't asked? It's a democracy. The population elects polititians that vote laws and make decisions. Like in almost every country and for almost every topic. If the greeks didn't care about what their polititians did, good for them. But they aren't children. They are a sovereign democracy. They own the consequences.
    - dependenttypes 7y ago
      > If you go see a doctor in Greece he will ask for cash. Yes? Cash is the standard method of payment, what is the issue exactly? Regardless of that, employees (who are the majority of the workforce in pretty much every country) can't tax-evade. > What do you mean the population wasn't asked? See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22385367 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22385367 And at the end of the day, even if there was true democracy it would still not make sense to blame all the population for the choice of the majority. In the same way that you can't blame every American for the killer drones, or every German for the election of the NSDAP.
MagnumOpus 7y ago
No, that's Hanlon's Razor. Either the population was ignorant of living beyond their means and adopting bad economic policies -- or they are deadbeats who willfully took out credit they had no intention of repaying.
- dependenttypes 7y ago
  The population is not the one who adopts the economic policies. The government is.
  - kriberg 7y ago
    Governments are elected by the population. Are they then not responsible for their choices?
    - dependenttypes 7y ago
      The elected party in Greece only got 40% of the votes and they can pass any law and take any decision at will. In addition to that pretty much every party that was elected in the past had been caught lying regarding most things that they said regarding the economy (and not only). People should certainly be responsible for their choices, but this was not one of them.

No it's an analogy for a population who didn't see fit to pay their taxes, have a functioning state, who thought it was a good idea to adopt a foreign currency when it didn't make sense economically, and doesn't understand why they are forced to make economic sacrifices to correct the situation. I think the accusation of ignorance is kinder than the alternative ("let's not pay our taxes, the germans will pay for us").

dependenttypes 7y ago
> who didn't see fit to pay their taxes With all the corruption going around I would not blame them. (even without it I would not blame them regardless. There are many people all over the world -including me- who consider taxes thievery) Anyway, please do correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it only the rich/rich companies that did that? Similarly to how Amazon, Google, or Apple for example pay almost no tax. > who thought it was a good idea to adopt a foreign currency when it didn't make sense economically Do you have a citation for this? As far as I know the Greek population was not asked about it.
- cm2187 7y ago
  As far as I am aware, tax fraud was (and probably still is) endemic in Greece. If you like to think it is just Amazon not paying its taxes, believe what you want. If you go see a doctor in Greece he will ask for cash. What do you mean the population wasn't asked? It's a democracy. The population elects polititians that vote laws and make decisions. Like in almost every country and for almost every topic. If the greeks didn't care about what their polititians did, good for them. But they aren't children. They are a sovereign democracy. They own the consequences.
  - dependenttypes 7y ago
    > If you go see a doctor in Greece he will ask for cash. Yes? Cash is the standard method of payment, what is the issue exactly? Regardless of that, employees (who are the majority of the workforce in pretty much every country) can't tax-evade. > What do you mean the population wasn't asked? See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22385367 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22385367 And at the end of the day, even if there was true democracy it would still not make sense to blame all the population for the choice of the majority. In the same way that you can't blame every American for the killer drones, or every German for the election of the NSDAP.

MagnumOpus 7y ago

No, that's Hanlon's Razor. Either the population was ignorant of living beyond their means and adopting bad economic policies -- or they are deadbeats who willfully took out credit they had no intention of repaying.

dependenttypes 7y ago
The population is not the one who adopts the economic policies. The government is.
- kriberg 7y ago
  Governments are elected by the population. Are they then not responsible for their choices?
  - dependenttypes 7y ago
    The elected party in Greece only got 40% of the votes and they can pass any law and take any decision at will. In addition to that pretty much every party that was elected in the past had been caught lying regarding most things that they said regarding the economy (and not only). People should certainly be responsible for their choices, but this was not one of them.