Greece: Will this nightmare ever end?

[Saint-Ex]

(hello everyone!)
Yeeeeey!!!!!! Of course we had reductions! Last month in my company we got 5% to 22% reductions depending on our salary...Since i was on the low edge of salaries, i got only 5% but considering the increase on taxes that are withheld from my salary i am currently payed around 150euros less than last year! The actual problem though is that i don't know if i'll even have a job next month which means i'd have to get by with the new "improved" (jk) 360euros salary for the unemployed! Horreeeeeey!
I am loving this!

[Vag]

The last 2 years are of the best of my life and I'm not exaggerating!
I'm struggling to feed my family, I'm rarely driving my car, I'm not buying anything, I've lost friends due to lack of time... but I'm on the way to Ithaca and I love it!
Currently, my main goal is to make money (the right way) and see my company grow. The advantages of knowing the right people, of being a sexy woman, of having a closed profession, of supporting a certain political party etc. have much less value. My advantages are that I love to work hard and that I'm extremely patient.
Both my kids are being raised the way they should be. The money we spend every month as a family (300-500 euros only) doesn't affect them at all. I admit most weekdays they see me only for 20' in the morning but that's the only bad thing that has to do with them.
Of course there are difficulties for all of us but they can make us stronger (if we survive).
Alkis, what can make you happier, money or creating a videogame?
Having an expensive smartphone or a smart kid? (a kid, trust me)
Become an Olympiacos fan or suffer being an AEK fan? (haha)
Nikos, there are always more difficult situations, hang on and maybe you'll end up with a better job.

Some days ago, I saw an interesting post on another forum, Alkis started the thread I think (what would your young self say about you now or something like that). Someone wrote that he's been unemployed for years, he's living with his mother and he's not willing to work like a slave at a supermarket again. I sent him a pm and we had a small discussion.
Some of you may have seen there's a basement under my shop. Some days ago, a waste pipe from the toilet, broke in that basement. The basement was empty except from cockroaches, mice (one dead) and poo. Someone cleaned it for 30 euros, it took him 4 hours and he looked grateful and happy at the end.
The first thing I remembered was the unemployed guy that refuses a "degrading" job at a supermarket. I'm not a medium but sometimes I can see the future... and I have a much better job but I look up to the guy who cleaned the basement.

[alkis21]

Thank you for this great optimistic post Vagelis, I rarely see those any more and I honestly feel better after reading it. I am not complaining about my personal situation, if anything it is quite good and certainly better than that of other friends and acquaintances of mine. And yes, I agree with the sentiment of what you are saying, that money is not everything. If one can tell me that the situation will continue as it is, with pay cuts and increased taxes for several more years, I'm pretty sure we'll manage to survive even with a very different lifestyle than the one we're accustomed to. However, what I am terrified of is the default. The prospect of seeing all my savings turn into drachmas and then immediately devaluate, the thought of stores where there is shortage of bread, milk, medicine and other essentials, crime sky rocketing due to people starving, me having to support my parents who won't receive their pension any more... these are the things I am afraid of. At least for the first thing I have the power to do something, I have already begun the process of taking my money to a foreign bank.

[JBeman]

Wow guys, I've been away for a while but I didn't realise things are so bad in the EU these days. Australia is boomings, it avoided the crises a few years ago and now mining exports are greater than ever. The AUD used to be approx .75 USD but it's been over 1 now for 2 years, currenly 1.07 USD.

A simple answer is come here guys, move to Oz, it's a great place My salary is now 3 times what it was in the UK 8 years ago if you convert back to GBP.

Obviously I wish all you guys well and that the EU sorts itself out soon.

Good luck John

[kofoed]

Golden Dawn?

[Saint-Ex]

Something of a knee-jerk reaction, me thinks. That's what you get for neglecting your immigration problem for far to long. They (Golden Dawn) won't last long under the spotlight though...

[Tripod]

Fairly funny, if you can still laugh about the situation:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-m ... rance-vote

[Steve1977]

Goldie Hawn?

[Rodolfo]

While I hate that parties as Golden Dawn find seats in any parliament (as much as I hate it about comunists and any enemy of freedom) I still see this as a chance for those assholes, so easy to find all over Europe, who are quick calling "fascist" almost anyone for anything, to learn what a real fascist is.

[Binary]

While I hate that parties as Golden Dawn find seats in any parliament (as much as I hate it about comunists and any enemy of freedom) I still see this as a chance for those assholes, so easy to find all over Europe, who are quick calling "fascist" almost anyone for anything, to learn what a real fascist is.

+1

[alkis21]

Something of a knee-jerk reaction, me thinks.

Apparently the jerk-offs' knees are still jerking. Fucking assholes.

[Binary]

So now that victory in the elections seems to bring a coalition of the two parties that led Greece to the actual state of affairs, should anything different be expected in the next few years (or months even)?

In the end, wouldn't it have been better, in the big picture (and speaking as a non-Greek too) if Syriza had won?

[alkis21]

Wow, that's a very long discussion and you know that I hate discussing politics online... but the short answer is NO, it wouldn't have been better. Just because things are bad it does not mean that they cannot get much worse. Syriza got all these votes by promising a shitload of things they have absolutely no way of making happen: The promised they'd renegotiate the memorandum, increase the unemployment benefit and double its time period, that no civil servants would be fired (in fact they boldly stated that the civil organizations that got discontinued would be reinstated), he promised the farmers that their loans they owe would be cut off, they gave the same promise to everyone who owes money due to business or home loans to the banks, an immediate increase of the minimum wage, an immediate increase of the pensions and the list goes on, I probably missed more. How the hell would they do all those things? Their president is nothing more than a brat who fantasizes about taking the money from the rich and giving it to the poor. This is a very dangerous time to have a dreamer for a prime minister; we need hard but realistic solutions.

Yes they are the two parties that led Greece to this state of affairs but at least this time they won't be free to act as they please, that is why we need the EU to keep an eye on our politicians, they are too corrupted and too incompetent to be trusted.

Of course all of the above is my personal opinion and if you ask 10 Greek you'll get 10 different ones. That is why you see such a spread out vote result.