To be fair, those were war reparations, not loans taken out by a democratically elected government. Furthermore, there were consequences for that. They got invaded by France. If Germany invaded Greece or took any kind of tangible action for failing to pay its bills, people would throw an absolute ****-fit.
Fair enough here.
Still doesn't justify Greece giving the Eurozone the finger. Nobody forced them to take the money.
Do you think Americans today and/or future generations should pay reparations for past treatment of blacks or native Americans done in past centuries? The comparison is similar, if not exact. It wasn't just the corrupt Greek governments that piled on the debt. This was a joint effort undertaken by Brussels, the large German and French banks, Goldman Sachs, etc. All of the parties mentioned knew all along the debt was unsustainable and in fact, doctored the books to enable Greece to joint the Euro Zone in the first place. Just as the Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and so on knew they were making bad loans to home buyers, so did the large banks in Europe realize the loans to Greece would never be paid. Greece will suffer - and is suffering - but don't you think the lenders should be held responsible for their participation as well? If you knowingly loaned $1,000 to a bum on the street corner and he can't pay, should you be allowed to then cut out one of his kidney's and sell it so that you can be paid back? I don't think so.
You're one of the smartest guys on this board, and then you spout all this anti-West, pro-Russia junk. Someone of your intellect buying into Putin's rap would be like Stephen Hawking becoming a big believer in astrology. It's mind boggling. Nevertheless, every step Putin takes (either overtly or covertly) into Ukraine or decision to
question the legality of the Russian recognition of the Baltic states makes the disbanding of NATO less likely.
The first step into Ukraine came with $5 billion US dollars attached (over time) to "overtly or covertly" plant the seeds which resulted in a coup. That's a fact. Putin naturally responded as did the Eastern portion of the country which has natural allegiance to Russia. Your failure to recognize this would be mind-boggling with all things being equal, but because of 24-7 western propaganda your perspective is considered main stream; probably by 95% of the US population. But it is wrong.
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