Greece and the euro crisis
30 June 2011
Money talks. Second only to violence, money is the global language which everyone understands.
Individuals and countries will hold to any theory, but if they lose money then they will re-evaluate it. The European Union experiment carries on apace, but the economic strain is forcing a re-evaluation.
The threat to the demise of the euro, in which so many politicians and financiers have staked so much, at the expense of the ordinary tax-payer, is concentrating European minds on a solution. The claims that there were “ten days to save the euro” concentrated Greek minds to implement the austerity measures which Greek politicians were not prepared to implement by themselves. Incompetent governments are not confined to third world countries, but Europe has its own share of incompetence.
Intelligent people can see in five minutes what can take a generation to implement. The current strain upon the sustainability of the euro was predicted over fifteen years ago by Bernard Connolly in “The Rotten Heart of Europe: Dirty War for Europe’s Money”. It told the story that one currency could not fit all European countries, and one interest rate could not properly be applied to over a dozen countries. This story is playing out before our eyes.
But money talks. Slowly the big behemoth of the European Union is being brought to heel - not by the skill of politicians or governments, but by the sheer necessity of economics. One cannot spend more money than one receives and it is with painful difficulty that this reality is forced upon the attention of some politicians. The public in too many countries are over-rating their politicians and financiers. It is taking the public a long time to realise that they have misplaced their trust. One of the central themes of Christianity is trust and misplaced trust - so it is no surprise that the demise of interest in Christianity has run in tandem with misplaced trust in politicians and financiers.
What people have refused to hear, the sovereign debt crisis is exposing - the financial corruption of so many European countries. This unwillingness to listen to reason is highlighted in the Lord Jesus’ memorable phrase “He that has ears to hear - let him hear.” If you have got ears, then use them. People do not want to hear that the EU experiment is a failure. It must be fixed and made to work at all costs - but at whose cost? The public - and some countries more than others.
The technological advances of the pure and applied sciences during the past 100 years give the illusion that society is progressing, but these advances are hiding the lamentable social and political failures.
We need to teach the conscientious principles of Christianity once more. Atheist man does not feel accountable to anyone but himself and his own group. Societies which run on agnostic, if not openly atheistic, principles will continue to foster endemic corruption with little opportunity to root it out except by right-wing repressive measures. The current economic squeeze is the price nations pay for abandoning Christian principles in society.
