From what I've learned as this crisis began to unfold, Greece's problems are manifold and quite intractable. Cynics and detractors have already pointed out the

From what I've learned as this crisis began to unfold, Greece's problems are manifold and quite intractable. Cynics and detractors have already pointed out the corruption, cronyism, the woeful state of pension reform and rampant tax evasion. A highly favorited comment on a different NYT piece on the Greece deal sheds light on the indifference, there: I was at my local tax office this morning - I figured that since most people here have stopped paying taxes, the timing might be good. It took me half an hour to do what normally would have taken a morning (most of which would have involved waiting on line). In the office I was dealing with, both wickets were open, and I could see the office beyond. Of the five people I could see, two were at the wickets, one was entertaining a succession of visitors who were not conducting business, and two were doing nothing. Just sitting there. Nothing. I was there because I have a new (British) passport. I have a password-protected file on the Tax Office site, but I cannot change my number myself, because every such transaction in Greece begins with the assumption that the client is lying, and therefore this sort of trivial business has to be done in person and the number verified. Fill in a two-page form and present the passport. The woman I dealt with - very courteous - entered the information in my file. Then she printed everything as well - several pages, nine stamps, seven signatures. Greece has been promising (to its creditors) to simplify, cut the red tape, reduce the Civil Service, for years, but things only get worse. Syriza re-hired the few that the previous government laid off, knowing they didn't have money to pay for them. This is a tiny example of why no one trusts the promises of successive governments. 'Give us the money now, and we'll reform later.'[1] Let alone this mess, I wonder what had broken the spirit of the once mighty Hellenic people that they should let these national contagions fester for so long, to allow for their nation to be at receiving end of such humiliation. I particularly want to know why certain southern European countries share this brand of indifference and fatalism about their affairs. I have observed this in Portugal too. [1] Peter Bowen a British citizen in Crete, Greece shares his thoughts http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/14/world/europe/greece-debt-plan.html?rref=business/international&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=International%20Business&action=click&region=FixedRight&pgtype=Multimedia#permid=15470850 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/14/world/europe/greece-debt-p...