The situation in Greece sounds oddly familiar to our plight in the US. Politicians continue to pile up debt to appease the peasants and forestall them from bringing their pitchforks to DC.The Greeks are rioting in the streets. They’re upset because their government is trying to cut back on ‘services.’ Actually, it’s not the services that anyone would miss. It’s the money. The rioters are mostly people who live, in one way or another, at the expense of others…thanks to the government. They work for the government…or get handouts from it.
The poor Greek government is stuck. As in almost all other democracies, politicians bought votes by giving out jobs and money. This leads to a bidding war…in which political parties vie for favor with the voters by offering more and more “services.” One gives away bread. The other prefers circuses. Whether it is food stamps or foreign wars…the price is high. And eventually, the bids go beyond the capacity of the economy to pay them.
Greece is at that point. So are half the US states. They’re out of money. It’s “doomsday” in Illinois, says one headline. It’s a “state of emergency,” in New Jersey.
You are absolutely right, connecting the dots! Just because the US is bigger doesn't mean it's less vulnerable - quite to the contrary. While France and Germany alone could for a while bail out tiny little Greece, the US has the same problem only there's no one big enough to help out!
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