Right in the Centre - A Greek tragedy
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- Published on Wednesday, July 8, 2015
By Ken Waddell
The Neepawa Banner
There will be some who say the comparison is extreme. Fair enough. But to counter that complaint, there are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people in Canada that don鈥檛 understand the comparison and how it could affect Canada, or more specifically 水果视频.
The comparison is the Greek tragedy that is unfolding and the situation in 水果视频. Greece can鈥檛 meet its loans and bond payments. They are basically out of money. The unemployment rate is 25 per cent and pensioners can鈥檛 cash their cheques. The banks have been closed sporadically so withdrawing money is nearly impossible.
How did Greece get this way? Greece has been a volatile country for many years. During WWII they had the distinction of fighting in that war and staging a civil war at the same time. There are factions within Greece that really don鈥檛 like each other. After WWII, they started setting up more and more socialist governments. The government tried to do everything for everybody and provide early retirement to boot. The retirement age in Greece can be as low as 45. Many retire long before 60, which is ridiculous. The Greek leaders are very stubborn and the Greek unions are beyond stubborn. There鈥檚 political corruption and the Greek economy isn鈥檛 that robust at the best of times. Greece has been deeply scarred by socialism and the dogged determination of socialists who feel that the only answer to socialism is more socialism.
Greece may be propped again up by the other E.U. countries or it may turn to Russia for help. It鈥檚 doubtful if the country will go bankrupt but that is exactly what the European bankers deserve, as they have lent loads of money to prop up Greece when the flow should have been stemmed years ago. The situation is now so bad that people could lose everything, people could starve. Greece has moved from what was an uncomfortable position a few years ago to what is an untenable position now. What no one wants to talk about is that tanks could roll into Greece again. It鈥檚 happened before. Germany and France especially cannot afford to let Greece fail totally, their own banking systems would suffer a terrific hit with yet unthought of ramifications.
So the comparison is extreme but in Canada we have relatively strong economy. That鈥檚 mainly because we have had a few strong provinces. Ontario, Alberta and BC have carried the rest of Canada on their backs. 水果视频 hasn鈥檛 been a net contributor to Canada in decades. If it weren鈥檛 for federal bail-outs 水果视频 would have been bankrupt a long time ago. Saskatchewan was the same way but now is strong but with potash and oil being fragile, they could fall back as well. Ontario is floundering and will likely go through the same 鈥渞ust-belt鈥� effect that swept the industrial United States. Rust-belt means mile after mile of locked up inefficient factories typified by rusting fences, roofs and walls. It鈥檚 a very discouraging scene and Ontario is going through that and Alberta may well be on the way.
Neither Greece nor Canada can avoid all the pitfalls of the world economy. The basic problem is that government and unions feel they can ride out tough times by basing the economy on government spending. Let鈥檚 face it, anywhere from a third to a half of 水果视频 employees and businesses are now dependent on the government. Just sit down some night and add up all the people who have their pay cheque come from the government and it鈥檚 scary.
The problem in Greece, in Ontario and in 水果视频 is that we have waited upon our governments to do everything. On a more local basis, it鈥檚 not the job of government to host events like Canada Day or to build ski hills. It鈥檚 up to the people. But it鈥檚 doggone hard to do any of that stuff when the government, federal, provincial, municipal or school boards, need so much of our money to do their thing.
On the whole, Canada will likely never get as far down the troubled road that Greece has, but the signs are there that we have already travelled part way. We have two elections soon, a federal and a provincial one. While far from perfect, the conservative party at both levels is our only hope to stay away from the Greek tragedy.
