Another Greek Tragedy

The economic collapse of Greece undermines one of my favorite theories. In the past, I have frequently excused America's errors on the fact that we are such a young and immature society. What excuse is there for today's Greek tragedy?


One of the few textbooks I have retained over the years is The Echo of Greece by Edith Hamilton. It outlines the glorious, unmatched contributions to western culture made by the likes of Socrates, Plato, Homer, etc.. Indeed, there are few Americans who don't know where the Olympics began, and so on. This is surely a mature society with a history going back 3, 000 years. So what happened? Surely, there's a lesson for us.


I'm no more professionally qualified to conduct a critical examination of a nation with an ancient culture, than the guy who is contemplating emergency brain surgery in the ad about the importance of getting a good night's sleep at Holiday Inn. I have read many detective novels, however, and so let's round up the usual suspects.


My two brothers are ex-warrior officers, men who served well in the military. One was a a professional soldier in 3 wars and, the other was a member of America's elite 82nd Airborn Division, who made countless jumps. They subscribe to the maxim that there are no bad soldiers, just poor officers. With this in mind, I'd start with the leading Greek politicians of the late 20th Century. Then I'd gather the foolish people who elected them, who abandoned their magnificent heritage and loved being pandered to with "vacation bonuses" and the like. Each government apparently outdid every predecessor in lax tax enforcement and unbounded optimism. Fiscally, there wasn't an ounce of Spartan discipline to be found.

We're much smarter here, of course, and still seemingly content to let a handful of bankers pretty much run everything so that one half of one percent of the population makes more in a day than members of the underclasses, like me do in a month. Let them enjoy their $9,000,000 bonuses and drink their $350 glasses of wine. Huge changes are on the way.