Live Your Myth in Greece

Jan 5, 2012
Stavroula Dimitropoulos

Sill Waving - tjuel

Some facts about the implications of the globalized economic crisis on the European scapegoat.

The land of gods, the cradle of civilization, the birthplace of democracy, the crossroads between West and East. These and many more comprise the descriptions of Greece, a country which, until 2007, was perceived in awe and with compassion…awe because of its glorious past and compassion because of its “mediocre” — then — present, as this is usually the case with all Empires that are destined to face their fate some time in the future.

A Family Story

Nevertheless, ever since 2007 and the gloomy dawn of the global recession, Greece has been regarded as the “black sheep” of Europe, the lazy little sibling that refuses to produce or keep up with his/her industrious and diligent bigger siblings. Of course, there are some other siblings that prevent the happy European Union family from prospering. These are the Portuguese, the Italian and the Spanish ones, who, along with their Greek brothers/sisters, have been proclaimed as PIGS in a demonstration of pure love and respect on behalf of the rest of Europe. Recently, the Irish sibling has been added, too, transforming the word PIGS into PIIGS as it must be shown that there exists no prejudice against all morning and all night sunbathing Southerners. However, the Greek sibling is the most libertine one and, subsequently, must be punished. Undoubtedly, nowadays the punishment is more than well felt in this tiny and eccentric Mediterranean country. Here are some facts:

Unemployment

Since 2007 there has been an increase in unemployment from 6.6% in May 2008 to 16.6% in May 2011. Unemployment among young people rose from 18.6% to 40.1% over the same period. The national debt rose from 105.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) to 142.8% of GDP between 2007 and 2010.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasted a further rise in unemployment numbers into 2013 as austerity measures and incessant recession “urge” employers to make their employees redundant. Construction companies, manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers are the professional categories most harshly affected, as 180,000 jobs in 2011 alone were lost due to tax hikes and spending cuts in an economy that has been troubled by the fifth year of an all the more worsening crisis.

Health

Since 2007 social services have been reduced and social welfare is at stake. National hospitals often run out of basic equipment such as bandages and patients regularly have to share a nurse with about 30 other patients. According to Kling (2011) non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been running street clinics primarily for immigrants, but have now come against an increased proportion of Greeks served, from 3% - 4% before the financial crisis to about 30% now. Some days ago the writer visited one of the biggest Greek hospitals, Evangelismos, where she counted her blessings because a part of the ceiling crashed onto the floor and luckily she and no one were seated below it.

Suicides

According to statistics released by the Greek Ministry of Health, there was a 40 per cent rise in people committing suicide between January and May 2011 compared to the same period in the previous year. Furthermore, whereas Greece had enjoyed the lowest suicide rate in Europe at 2.8 per 100,000 inhabitants before the beginning of crisis, it has now almost doubled this number. The Greek suicide rate constitutes the highest on the European continent now, and this regardless of the stigma that is attached to suiciders (and their relatives) as the Orthodox Church refuses funeral rights for those who take their lives (the latter’s relatives usually “justify” the death as an accident). According to the report, Eleni Beikari, a psychiatrist at the non-governmental organisation Klimaka, which offers a 24-hour suicide hotline says: “Most people who take their own lives are women aged between 30 and 50 and men between 40 and 45 despairing over economic problems,'' Klimaka would answer only 10 calls a day pre-crisis but now receives more that 100 a day.

Moral and Empathy

“This is what happens when you do not have strong work ethics” the hard working citizens of advanced nations assert. Unfortunately, it is not easy to persuade people abroad that due to dysfunctional and nepotic social structures aided by a gigantic and incompetent public sector led and manipulated by highly corrupted politicians there are nowadays many people facing no future. Nonetheless, empathy should always be available because history is fraught with economic and political empires whittling away.