Reply to: Go Greek for a week channel 4

[lilelvis2000]

I've come to the conclusion that it's really quite easy to 'keep the people stupid' because most people actually want to be stupid; it's so much easier than researching the facts and circumstances and coming to some understanding of complex situations.

Yes make an education system that doesn't teach and you produce sheep willing to believe anything said by the elites. I could rail off a number of countries which we complain about daily where that happens. Politics appears to be the same pretty much everywhere.

[BrilloPad]

NSFW.
Lucky I have my own office.

Apologies. I have updated the original post.

[sasguru]

I am greek - but my wife is British :-

Panayiotis Lamprou: the casual power of an intimate portrait | Art and design | guardian.co.uk

NSFW.
Lucky I have my own office.

[BrilloPad]

I am greek - but my wife is British :-

Panayiotis Lamprou: the casual power of an intimate portrait | Art and design | guardian.co.uk

Some might consider this NSFW. Definetly NSFW of you expand the picture.

[Mich the Tester]

So did everyone else in Europe. No European country has a healthy debt/GDP ratio.
We used to in the late 90s.(have a health debt/gdp ration that is)

Indeed, and many people were lulled into a false sense of security; house prices rose, interest rates were low, the economy seemed to be growing, there were jobs aplenty and people were earning money and enjoying new found wealth; in those circumstances nobody wanted to listen to the warnings during the boring bits of the news (and I must admit, neither did I usually). Everybody was delighted if taxes fell, and most of us do our best to avoid paying one more penny in tax than we absolutely have to; nothing wrong with that, but bear in mind what the consequences can be if everyone gets away with that and a country, like Greece, has an ineffective and corrupt tax system.

I clearly remember both David Cameron and Vince Cable warning several years ago, well before the credit bust and while Tony B Liar was prime minister, that Mr Brown was running a 'credit card economy' and that it would all end in tears; nobody took much notice except Gordon Brown (who studied 'History of the Labour Party) who told Mr Cable (who has a PhD in Economics), quite literally 'you don't know what you're talking about'. Nobody took much notice. In election campaigns the Conservatives repeatedly warned that the public sector growth and the growing personal and public debt would cause trouble further down the line, yet people put Labour in power three times in a row.

So have the Greek voters done anything more stupid that the British electorate (or indeed some of the Greek voters and some of the British voters)? I don't think so; I think they've been shafted by the same people, in the same way, for the same reasons but just a little bit more effectively.

[sasguru]

You have to understand maths isn't Sas's strong point. Dribbling saliva is what he excels at.

Ah you hirsute-woman lover

[russell]

Greece 130-140% (depending on source)
UK 76%

Not really the same is it.

You have to understand maths isn't Sas's strong point. Dribbling saliva is what he excels at.

[gingerjedi]

So did everyone else in Europe. No European country has a healthy debt/GDP ratio.
We used to in the late 90s.(have a health debt/gdp ration that is)

Greece 130-140% (depending on source)
UK 76%

Not really the same is it.

[russell]

I wanted to +ve rep you for that one but.....

Funny, Sasguru complains that the general public are morons who believe in the stereotypes peddled by the media, then he comes out with an insult that a Brickie would see as moronic and cretinous. you couldn't make it up!

[Arturo Bassick]

Sorry to hear that. I would demand my conjugal rights if I were you.

On fire today!

[sasguru]

Still at it, eh? Gotta admire your staying power. Make sure you wash the curtains later.

[Arturo Bassick]

Well at least deciding on presents for birthdays, Christmas and anniversaries must be easy: hair removal cream, everytime.

I wanted to +ve rep you for that one but.....

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to sasguru again.

[russell]

Nurse ! Pass him his meds.

Imagining you have a Greek wife; is that a normal mental condition like imagining you are rich (Dim) or intelligent (Sas) or brave (Suitsyou)?

[sasguru]

Sorry to hear that. I would demand my conjugal rights if I were you.

[Mich the Tester]

So the Greeks didn't 'fill their boots' with cheap Euro loans? It's everyone else being discriminatory.

That's not what I said. I simply pointed out that it's much easier to point fingers and blame somebody else without recognising the complexities of a situation than to actually find out something more about what's happened.

Of course SOME people in Greece have done things that are irresponsible or corrupt, just as SOME people in the UK did too; maybe there was more of that going on in Greece, but to simply claim that a whole population was on the take is silly and doesn't get anyone any closer to solving the problems.