To mangle the John D. MacDonald quote: when it comes to the Commies* running Greece George Will is the iceman, and he’s going to make one delivery only.
This protracted dispute will result in desirable carnage if Greece defaults, thereby becoming a constructively frightening example to all democracies doling out unsustainable, growth-suppressing entitlements.
[snip a long passage in which you can almost hear George Will sharpening his knives on a grindstone]
It cannot be said too often: There cannot be too many socialist smashups. The best of these punish reckless creditors whose lending enables socialists to live, for a while, off other people’s money. The world, which owes much to ancient Athens’s legacy, including the idea of democracy, is indebted to today’s Athens for the reminder that reality does not respect a democracy’s delusions.
(Admiringly) Wow, that is Old School. That brings back the days of the Cold War, once we worked out that the best way to kill off the Commies was to just put inexorable pressure on them and let their integral, internal self-contradictions do all the work for us. And I’m reasonably sure that George here is ready to let history repeat itself.
Hard to argue effectively with that, although as I’ve noted earlier Greece is still an ally, which leads me to rather sentimentally not want it to collapse into some sort of Anarchy Free-Fire Zone. But, hey, elections have consequences. Greece has been making some very bad calls all throughout this crisis; not least of which was its inexplicable decision to hire Marxists to solve its economic problems. That’s like hiring a radical Greenie to run your fission pile; he doesn’t want to do the job, and even if he did he still doesn’t know how. Hopefully the Greeks will wise up, soon… because the end result of that fission pile analogy would quite likely be a pile of corpses, and that is something that Commies are quite good at producing, alas.
What, you don’t think that you can have a Third World collapse in Europe? Why? It’s not like there’s some sort of Cause And Effect disruption field covering the continent…
Moe Lane (crosspost)
*The ruling Syriza party is not actually ‘merely’ socialist. The socialists are the public face of a party that’s one third flat-out Commie. And the hard stuff, too: so, they’re Commies. And, remember: Marxism is intellectualism for stupid people.
*makes popcorn* I am also ready.
Good on George Will, and you’ve nailed the so-called Syriza party, Moe. Alexis Tsipras and the radical Left managed to delude the people into thinking money was going to fall like fairy dust and they could end their so-called “austerity” measures. Let it burn, and then maybe, something worthwhile can rise like the Phoenix from the ashes.
Ripple effect? Yes, maybe Europe will wake up.
While everyone thinks the example benefits the Spanish and Italians, this will really snap “ole Moneybags” Angela and her volk out of their leftward drift. If not, they will have to learn Russian.
What? Dad – what do you mean I have to live on my own earnings? That’s so unfair!
*slams down phone, kicks furniture, rants, and then pouts*
I’m not sure how helpful they are as allies although I guess they could let the Russians in and cause a bunch of mischief.
The Russians would love to have some naval bases on the Mediterranean. Is there anything in the NATO membership rules that would preclude this?
The Russians can’t afford them. Esp. with Fracking driving oil and natural gas prices down.
Least shocking headline ever today: “Greeks eye Bitcoin”
Now that would be hilarious. A trust-based currency in the hands of people who have shown to everyone with a functioning IQ that they cannot be trusted? Yeah, let’s see how that works out for them.