My father worked like a son of a bitch. Like I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, he was a corporate slave to the CIBC and managed to keep a spoiled kid like myself fed and clothed. I didn't always agree with my father, but I did respect his Judeo-Christian work ethic.
Imagine my surprise when my ex-mother in law announced that people like my father should be shot.
Beatrix, my ex-mother in law, was one of those people who always wanted a Utopian society, but never had the insight on how it was to be delivered. According to this well intentioned, but ignorant, misguided social crusader, rich people (a.k.a-my father) had somehow managed to sign a pact with the devil that allowed them to get rich while exploiting the poor, huddled masses. Never mind the fact that my dad worked twelve hour days,went to night school and got posted to some shitty back alley jobs: His success was so obscene to her, that it was obviously some nefarious dealings that hoisted him there.
Beatrix wanted a society where no one paid taxes ( this always slayed me because she was a health care worker....How was she going to get paid?), the work days were short, people all had the "same", and there was lots of leisure time for all. This. according to her, was Utopia, and all quite attainable if people could only be civilized and worry less about money and more about society.
The people of Greece wanted all the same things that dopey Beatrix wanted, however they got a stern wake up call from the rest of the European Union that there their bill was due and that the proverbial pipe had to be paid, and quickly.
The country of Greece has been striving for a country that has a shorter work week, the benefits of a socialist society that is just, and one that can be competitive with the rest of their brethren in Europe. The only problem with this equation is that the people of Greece had become used to an "underground" tax free workforce, whist the national debt ballooned to obscene proportions.
As a result of the Greek government fiscal mismanagement, countries such as Germany have had to bail the country out. The Germans, the most prominent player in the Greek loan, have made it quite clear that they will lend money, but only if the Greeks take some strict austerity measures.
The Greeks, however, were not exactly receptive to the idea of fiscal management and paying loans back with interest. The city of Athens has been virtually shut down for the past week due to protesters like the one pictured above, while the government of Angela Merkel teeters on the brink of disaster.
The lesson out of all this fiasco: There is no free lunch for any of us. No matter how many crazy Beatrix's come out of the woodwork, someone has to pay for fiascoes like the one in Greece. Unfortunately of the Greek people, they are now left with a check that no one is willing to pick up.
Sorry, Beatrix.
