Fletch, Greece is not allowed to announce that the state has already defaulted. All the money coming from the new loans, are used to pay the debts. The Greek IRS, owes people so much money in form of tax returns, but can not afford to pay any of them back. And this is going on for at least 1 year!In addition it does not accept offsetting, except if it is on their interest. So if they owe me 1000 Euros and I owe them 100, they don't refund me the rest 900, promising to return it when they find the money, but without interest!. If, on the other hand, I owe them 1100, they will hunt me down and charge me with 5% interest for the first month up to 10% from the 6th month on. Of course the ones that owe more than 100.000 are usually free to open new businesses. They cut down med expenses-so life expectancy will drop dramatically, education-less than 2% of the budget goes to education, and this is used mainly for new buildings and teachers' paychecks. No research, and last year not even books (I don't know if they have solved this particular problem). And so on, on all aspects of life.
So Greece default is only a matter of announcement. They will not let us announce it, until we sign to give everything as collateral and the prices for land, housing and labor drops, so that it will "attract investors" . When our politicians bite the hook, then they will announce it, without warning, so that they can confiscate everything. That is why we were protesting a few days ago. They were passing laws and signing new treaties and a new memorandum ( that the British courts will supervise- strange eh? but it is the British "colonization" justice system that favors the one who lends the money! But it is still illogical since Great Britain is not a member of the common monetary system!) If this happens, they will send the clerks to evaluate all public property and take it. And since they set the prices, we will still own a great deal of money, that will only increase with the interest rate (3-5% at least) and with no means of production in our hands! So I will be a slave in my own country! Of course people will not accept this, so they will have to find ways to "convince" us that it is for our own good. Sending troops, is a solution, but that would reveal that the EU countries are not such a friendly co-operation of nations. So they have to spread fear and create reasons to send them here. Turkey is a nice reason! And they don't have to actually invade!
The youth tries to flee the country. The well educated, never return from their studies. But it is hard to leave. The crisis has hit hard the whole world. Canada and Australia, the most liberal countries in terms of immigration, have raised the bar very high. If I was a doctor or an engineer, I would be able to leave today, but all the rest have to wait and wait. I know i have tried for both. But even the strong family ties that keep us going, are not enough to save us with all these new taxes. The unemployment is reaching officially 20% and unofficially it must be way over 30%. My family is helping me in any way, ( for the first time in my 15 year work life I receive unemployment benefit, but they are reducing it as well) so it is not enough and I also try to sell my things and do one day jobs, but it is very hard. Hopefully my wife still has her job, but as I said, all the prices are so high that we hardly make ends meet. We only think on a day to day basis, otherwise we will go nuts. Any kind of future is so bleak that we try not to think of it. Our two daughters are the only ray of hope.
30.000 NEW homeless people, since last year. 25.000 people loss their job every month, and the rest that still have it are forced to get reduced pay and longer hours.
So the short answers to your questions.
So what happens now VG? Nothing good for the Greeks and for the rest of the EU population.
Will Greece default? It is already on default, at least for the Greeks.
Will the youth flee the country? It is getting harder, but they do and also the well educated never return after their studies.
Will your country be forcibly reduced into an economic backwater? It surely can get much worse, but after signing the first memorandum the solutions, unfortunately, are a one way street. We can not negotiate, we can not search for funds from booming economies like Russia or China (this alone is a great scandal.)
Is there any chance Turkey will take military advantage of the situation (would they want to)? Turkey has never stopped claiming Greek territories and Turkish airplanes breaks into Greece's air space almost every day! So yes the danger is always there.
You said you are unemployed now? Yes for the first time in 15 years.
If its not too personal, how do you see this affecting your short/medium term future? In a city it is always about the money. I've never looked for a job with a higher pay, if I didn't like it or felt creative. But this is not about money. It is about my country.
