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Liberals - what caused the problems with Greece?
- Thread starter TGregg
- Start date
Liberal answer number 1:
Socialist banking policies, lack of government accountability, complacency from impotent, mislead citizenry.
Socialist banking policies, lack of government accountability, complacency from impotent, mislead citizenry.
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?
Quote from Mnphats:
Four pages and not one liberal answer to the question posed.
Except of course the one post of typical blame America routine.
You want answers? Blame America now!
Why are the Lefties not supporting me with "Down with USA!" Would somebody answer that phone! Hello?
Very sad Greece does not have 0bama. I only regret that I have but one 0bama to give for Greece.
Greeks need to eat more vegetables. Go vegetarian like Baby Carrots Killer.
start exalting REASON OF MAN over all else, there is a start!
get the freaking SQUIRRELS out of your freaking heads! christ!
get the freaking SQUIRRELS out of your freaking heads! christ!
that blame america post was right out of the liberal playbook.
Why blame socialists or the EU and its progressive policies when you can blame america.
it is amazingly similar to the progressive take on muslim terrorists. Instead of blaming their governments or their social leaders they blame us.
We are one of the few countries where government ever worked and they are trying to replace our country piece by piece with concepts which do not work.
Why blame socialists or the EU and its progressive policies when you can blame america.
it is amazingly similar to the progressive take on muslim terrorists. Instead of blaming their governments or their social leaders they blame us.
We are one of the few countries where government ever worked and they are trying to replace our country piece by piece with concepts which do not work.
There are two sides to the ledger, and it's easy to simply blame the AP side when that side is largely "social" expenditures and your mindset is to frown on those in general. But with an AR side to support it, and cash flow of course, the AP side would be a non-issue. Greece's recent problems began with demography (like so many of its neighbors), a general lack of sales, and yes, a failure to reduce outgoes accordingly. The anger on the street stems from the perception that certain privileged groups will not share equally in the austerity measures.
Quote from killthesunshine:
start exalting REASON OF MAN over all else, there is a start!
get the freaking SQUIRRELS out of your freaking heads! christ!
Got that right!
"REASON OF MAN", Got that right. I can reason.
I figure why should I work when my incentive to work has been reduced by one half or more via all kinds of taxes, and barriers and I'm left with only just enough money to keep the process of the work itself going.
I once fought sweeping, creeping socialism, but now I see the benefits. I can sit back and let those that remain working and producing support me.
In return for my Dem vote, I get my welfare check, free health care, free housing, free food... No stress no worries.
I still don't feel equal though. Somebody that produces has created privileges for himself and has more than I do. I want it.
Always doomed to failure no matter who is running it. You have to get in early, because once enough people capitulate, the whole system fails. The system of wealth production fails. A constant reduction of producers to steal wealth from.....Um, like Greece and dozens of other socialist countries.
Looks like one third of all Greek workers are government employees. Add all the other entitlements, how could an economy of that many non-producers sustain itself? They need more government to fix the problem?
Firstly, there are countries in Europe that were far more to the left than Greece in the 60s and yet they're not facing the same economic issues. Secondly, Germany, France and the UK all have powerful unions, but I don't see anyone suggesting that these economies have "leftist" issues...Quote from HelloDollar:
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?
You're trivializing the two main political schools of thought to a ridiculous extent. The way you formulate your question, therefore, is silly. Moreover, your formulation is colored by your very own political doctrine (which you undoubtedly believe is the only right one). Thus, no meaningful discourse take place in a setting that you define. For example, let's say, hypothetically, my personal views don't fall clearly within your simplistic conservative/liberal taxonomy. How should I respond to your questions?Quote from TGregg:
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?