And Here Comes The Shock

Faced with a choice between a total collapse into a 3rd World country and capitulation to their European lenders so they can borrow still more money, Greece's negotiators have opted for the latter.

Greeks greeted news of a deal with creditors on Monday with a measure of relief mixed with much anger, particularly at Germany, after it became clear Greece will have to swallow more austerity that could fracture the government and spark a backlash.

A sleep-deprived Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will fly back to Athens to sell an agreement that ended up being tougher than proposals Greeks overwhelmingly rejected in a referendum on July 5.

So they voted a few days ago to reject the evil banksters' offers of settlement, showed defiance to their creditors, lost most of their foreign credit, suffered runs on banks, stores, gas stations and more, had their banks close down due to capital flight, watched their pensioners weeping in the streets because they lacked money for rent or food and now ...

Prime Minister Tsipras returns in triumph from negotiating holding an agreement harsher than the one they rejected in the election.

Maybe socialists, when confronted with the inevitable starvation and destruction "social justice" brings, can comprehend the basic nature of lending - that if you don't service your loans, you don't get any more money. And if there's one thing socialists always need, it's more money.

Over at the Wall Street Journal, commenters on the story are less sanguine.

• "By doubling down on Greece the EU is wasting another $90 billion. It is past time to let this ship sink."
• "I'm betting they'll be back in two years, flat broke and even deeper in debt."
• "Instead of admitting that the EU was a socialist failure and liquidating the failed experiment, the political elite foist more unpayable and uncollectable debt on the people of Europe. Never has the gulf between the socialist dreams of the European elite and the reality of their poison on the common European citizen been greater."

For me, the amazing thing is how the faithful continue to cling to the religion of social justice fascism in the face of harsh reality. Nowhere in the Greek news or interviews do I see anyone connecting producing with having. No one is saying, "We got into this mess because we don't make anything anyone wants at a price they're willing to pay." Instead, it's all politics all the time.

Crazy, man. Just crazy.