Liberals - what caused the problems with Greece?

Huh? Greece was so far left that in the 60's they almost elected a quasi-Communist government. In what realm to you consider powerful unions as something other than a leftist creation?
Quote from Martinghoul:

That's silly... The problems Greece faces obviously have nothing to do with one's political inclinations. Let's not trivialize the issues and bring up American "left/right" dichotomies.
 
Quote from TGregg:

Just wondering what the left blames the problems of Greece on. The "talking points" from the right are the same as always - big government, massive welfare, jaw dropping debt, etc. But what does the left think caused their problems? Bush/Cheney/Haliburton? Global warming? Didn't tax the rich enough? Government too small? Not enough borrowing/welfare/taxes/regulation? Didn't nationalize health care early enough or completely enough? Racist/homophobic/bigoted/evil/rich/angry/white/male/teabagging speculators with guns in one hand and bibles in the other?

Whatcha got?

And (for the liberals) how do they get back on track? Retirement at 40 instead of 45? Minimum wage to $15 an hour (USD)? Tax the rich? Massive new programs for shovel ready projects? Broadband for the outliers? Housing for the poor?

Not a Lib, but a left leaning libertarian.

Greece needs to be allowed to melt. Things have to start over. It will be tough for Greece, but Athens could not have not seen this coming.

There was talk way back when they hosted the olympics that they could not afford it.

The Eurozone needs to pull the plug on life support, and let the patient live or die.

We are, after all, talking about the Greeks here. They will be okay, come what may.
 
Quote from Martinghoul:

That's silly... The problems Greece faces obviously have nothing to do with one's political inclinations. Let's not trivialize the issues and bring up American "left/right" dichotomies.

i don't know people wanting a larger government accruing debts to sustain socialist lifestyles is in my view related to political inclinations.
 
Quote from RCG Trader:

Not a Lib, but a left leaning libertarian.

Greece needs to be allowed to melt. Things have to start over. It will be tough for Greece, but Athens could not have not seen this coming.

There was talk way back when they hosted the olympics that they could not afford it.

The Eurozone needs to pull the plug on life support, and let the patient live or die.

We are, after all, talking about the Greeks here. They will be okay, come what may.

there is no such thing as "starting over" where countries are concerned. assess the situation, make best choice based on circumstance but "starting over" is not an option. christ were talking about global repercussions and most of all PEOPLE for Christ sake! a :eek:
 
Quote from Martinghoul:

That's silly... The problems Greece faces obviously have nothing to do with one's political inclinations. Let's not trivialize the issues and bring up American "left/right" dichotomies.

The problems Greece face obviously have everything to do with political issues. Of the two main political schools of thought (in the US), one will tell you this sort of thing is the obvious and end result of the other's policies. Conservatives will claim that massive government, huge entitlement programs, borrowing as much as you can to give it away as handouts cause exactly the sort of thing Greece faces. Meanwhile liberals (and an unfortunate number of republicans but those groups are no loner mutally exclusive) ask for more of this for the USA.

So conseratives point to Greece and say "See? See what happens when you go apeshit on liberal ideas?" Yet, liberals are not saying "Woah dude, maybe big government really is a heavy downer." AFAIK, anyway. Perhaps that's because they like what's happening to Greece and hope it happens here. Perhaps they think that Greece just wasn't liberal enough, and conservative ideas sank the country into trouble. It'd be interesting to know.

It's very clear to the right that Greece failed because they listened to the left. Do liberals agree?
 
Quote from morganist:

i don't know people wanting a larger government accruing debts to sustain socialist lifestyles is in my view related to political inclinations.

It's interesting, we here have people out in the street protesting larger government accruing debts to sustain plutocratic lifestyles.
 
Tom B posted a pretty good thread about <A href="http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=198491">an article in the WaPo</a> that explains a view from the right pretty well.
 
this isn't your grade school playground where the big bully is "right", your simplistic solutions don't apply.

this is GLOBAL politics ! real PEOPLE real COUNTRIES lots of them are at stake! we need intelligent ADULT solutions! not your angry adolescence. geez
 
Quote from killthesunshine:

this isn't your grade school playground where the big bully is "right", your simplistic solutions don't apply.

this is GLOBAL politics ! real PEOPLE real COUNTRIES lots of them are at stake! we need intelligent ADULT solutions! not your angry adolescence. geez

Are you an adult? If so, let's hear your solution.
 
Bush's speculating and his inducing Global Warming was just too much for Greece. Down with USA! Booooooo!

If only Greece could get the right people this time and 0bama was their prez. He could make them feel hopeful. So sad they don't have 0bama. Very sad.
 
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