As a public-relations person just e-mailed to remind me, the 5th Avenue Theatre is currently running a production of Grease. But whenever I hear the word, all I can think of is Greece: the debt crisis, rioting in the streets, millions shoved into poverty, the election of an anti-austerity government, and that government's inability to actually reverse the tide of austerity. (Oh, and the fact that after WWII, Greece voted to forgive an enormous chunk of Germany's foreign debt.)
Following months of fruitless negotiations, the country voted last week to reject the latest cuts, tax rises and privatisations demanded to deal with the disastrous impact of the first phase of austerity. The response of the eurozone’s masters was immediately to ratchet up the pain still further. For the “breach of trust” of daring to put the terms to its people, Athens was to be punished...
In exchange for what is called a bailout, but is in reality the imposition of new debts to pay existing creditors, the Greeks must hand over €50bn (£35bn) of public assets to an “independent” privatisation fund. On top of that, they have to inject more austerity into a shrinking economy and reverse any legislation deemed unsuitable by the eurozone’s overlords – in other words, the opposite of everything Tsipras and his Syriza party were elected to do.
In honor of the dissonance...
