Greeks Laughing and Crying

"I'm finished with all of them because I am tired of hearing this every day. Basically, we're being told to sign everything. Whether we agree or not, I only know that I will be paying for this today, tomorrow and for many years."
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry"
Panagiotis Georgakarakos, Athens, Greece

"People really didn't understand what they voted for or against in the referendum, but we all know that we were voting on something that was better than what we have now been left with. Nobody understands this at all."
"You don't stop going to a restaurant you like because you don't like one of the waiters [so the rest of Europe must accept the authority to bargain invested in Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras]."
Ekaterina Yannakopoulos, Athens, Greece 

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, left, speaks with, from left, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, French President Francois Hollande and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel during a meeting of eurozone heads of state at the EU Council building in Brussels on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (AP/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Greeks are moody and upset. They are, after all, accustomed to a certain lifestyle, and it is exceedingly difficult to tear oneself away from that mode of living because of the recalcitrance of other countries' citizens in supporting beautiful Greece and its social values. Squeezing Greek banks, refusing to lend them their life-blood so Greek retirees can be enabled to continue living their lives out in their Paradisaical existence. It's all so unfair.

Germans in particular, a tight-lipped breed who suffer anguish at the very thought of a citizenry complacently living off the largess of their own country's patience which has finally run its course as Germany and much of the European Union finally understand that bankruptcy and an unwillingness/inability to pay back what is owed is a ploy, that their trust has been misplaced, despite which they are expected to relent and trust again.

"There's not going to be an agreement at any cost and not unity at any price", stated the mirthless Angela Merkel. She is opposed, as Chancellor of Germany, to forgiving Greece's lavish spending on the backs of her own citizens. Just as well, since her own citizens will not submit to any further such improvidence. The eurozone is suffering a breakage in communal agreement, with the north, on the hook for much of the debt that Greece would appreciate being forgiven, countering the generosity of the south which would like to forgive Greece with someone else's funding.

Mostly because some of those countries in the south may soon again find themselves in a position once again similar to that of Greece. And what may turn out to be good for Greece, should the EU finally relent, would turn out beneficial to their like condition as well. But there it is, Germany digging in its heels And if Germany has its way, and it certainly should on this account, pensions will be reduced and taxes increased for starters; the lavish Greek spending habit reduced.

That is, before any consideration could be given on extending credit yet again. To allow cash-strapped banks in Greece to reopen. To permit people to withdraw their money so that they can buy things so some of the VAT can trickle up to the government. To re-engineer the economy and produce more jobs and employment for Greeks. An advance that would please the European Union greatly and validate Chancellor Merkel's uncompromising stance -- after being too accommodating too long.

Finland and Slovakia are lined up with Germany, with Poland and the Netherlands uncertain, and Italy Spain and France bleeding compassion for Greece. The coalition is crumbling, polarized in opinion and attitude even as Greece dissembles and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras beams contentedly; his party's disowning his capitulation is of no concern, since the opposition can always make up the difference in support.

Greeks voted themselves a pig in a poke.