[ChristmasNeeve]

Yeah I think there is. Like, alot of people think that maybe our government lay down too easily to Europe and that they should have fought harder for us in our terms of repayment. People are feeling a bit hammered by new taxes and increases and cut backs and are pretty pissed off with it all, so there's a bit of understanding there for a country who just told them no, if you know what I mean?

[In the Drunk Tank]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Yeah I think there is. Like, alot of people think that maybe our government lay down too easily to Europe and that they should have fought harder for us in our terms of repayment. People are feeling a bit hammered by new taxes and increases and cut backs and are pretty pissed off with it all, so there's a bit of understanding there for a country who just told them no, if you know what I mean?

Yeah I see, it's difficult cause I suppose it makes you wonder how democratic it is when a government is basically being told 'accept these demands from banks and creditors or you're ruined'. Although there's also governments in europe under pressure from their populations to take a firm line and not allow the Greeks to give up their end of the bargain when their countries are owed millions. And how worth it is it to be so defiant if you'll be worse off in the long run :/ Both sides have overplayed their hands and been too stubborn imo, I do think if Greece had a more moderate government in power that it'd be easier to come to an agreement, their PM seems really erratic

[bots]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Yeah I see, it's difficult cause I suppose it makes you wonder how democratic it is when a government is basically being told 'accept these demands from banks and creditors or you're ruined'. Although there's also governments in europe under pressure from their populations to take a firm line and not allow the Greeks to give up their end of the bargain when their countries are owed millions. And how worth it is it to be so defiant if you'll be worse off in the long run :/ Both sides have overplayed their hands and been too stubborn imo, I do think if Greece had a more moderate government in power that it'd be easier to come to an agreement, their PM seems really erratic

The problem is that when these loans were given to Greece, everyone without exception knew that they were going to default on payments sooner rather than later. They should have been booted out of Europe when they got in to trouble. A bank wont lend to a customer who is in debt and has no prospect of paying it back, so why was Greece treated any differently. The decision makers have made everything worse by not taking the appropriate action at the time and I am sure Greece is gambling on the same decision makers being lenient again. A Greek no vote with ineffectual consequences puts Greece in a stronger position.