The Greeks for whom all the talk means nothing – because they have nothing

[unhappycamper]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/28/the-greeks-for-whom-all-the-talk-means-nothing-because-they-have-nothing

The Greeks for whom all the talk means nothing – because they have nothing
Jon Henley in Athens
Sunday 28 June 2015 14.42 EDT

~snip~

After seven years of a crisis that has left 26% of Greece’s workforce unemployed, 30% of its people below the poverty line, 17% unable to meet their daily food needs and 3.1 million without health insurance, it is hard to see how anything decided in Brussels or in Athens in the coming week will do much to change the lives of a large number of Greeks any time soon.

“Those that were already on the margins have been pushed right to the very, very edge, and those who were in the middle have been pushed to the margins,” said Ioanna Pertsinidou of Praksis, a charity that runs day centres for vulnerable people and offers legal and employment advice.

“So many people – ordinary, low-to-middle income people with jobs and homes and their lives on track – have seen their lives go drown the drain so fast,” Pertsinidou said. “People who never dreamed that one day they would not be able to pay their electricity bill, or feed their children properly.”

As it has scrabbled for every last cent to satisfy its creditors and ward off bankruptcy, Greece’s government has taken cash wherever it could – local authorities, healthcare, pensions, social services have all been tapped. In a country of 11 million people, public spending is now €65bn (£45.6bn) less than it was in 2010. “There is no safety net left,” said Pertsinidou.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Part of that sounds really familiar.

“Those that were already on the margins have been pushed right to the very, very edge, and those who were in the middle have been pushed to the margins,”

Will we have the political will to likewise revolt against the rich exploiters who proclaim they're trying to 'help' us, while constantly sucking wealth away?

[unhappycamper]

2. It does.

Just FYI the Brits are trying to clamp the austerity screws on their population (again).