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> Austerity in Greece (much as in America) is pure class warfare: an attempt to break the back of the working classes so that their wages and negotiating levera
by dingaling 12y ago
> Austerity in Greece (much as in America) is pure class warfare: an attempt to break the back of the working classes so that their wages and negotiating leverage will be pressured down.
Austerity == reduction in Government spending.
When has that ever been bad? Isn't small-government something to which all countries should aspire.
A couple of comparisons, bear in mind Greece has a population of 12 million and the UK 60 million
Does Greece really need 700,000 civil servants ( down from 900,000 ) when the UK makes do with 420,000?
Does Greece really need a standing military of 140,000, the same size as the UK's military?
- sebkomianos 12y agoWhat's happening is not reduction in Government spending. It's reductions everywhere. They haven't just been firing civil servants that were doing a bad job (or no job at all), they have been cutting budgets of hospitals, they have been shutting down schools, they have been reducing health insurance coverage, etc etc. And that's where the current party came in and said "Okay, we HAVE TO make reforms because we have been spending wrongly, among other things, BUT we can't do whatever just so numbers look right - it has to make sense, both for the country to continue existing and for the creditors to see that they have a longterm trustworthy partner on the other side of the table." As for your last question, two things: a) Why does an EU-member country have to spend on military AT ALL? Shouldn't such costs be executed at a EU-wide level? b) Greece is neighbourhooding with Albania, FYROM, Bulgaria, Turkey. UK is surrounded by...the sea, Ireland and...France.