Greece is the Word

After some dithering, it appears the European Union will come to Greece's financial rescue after all, to the tune of some $147 billion. Did they really have a choice? Anyway, among the conditions for receiving the cash are severe cutbacks to the country's overly-generous public worker salary and pension plans.

By American standards, the Greek's original employment and retirement conditions look almost ridiculously extravagant. Therefore, the deal's cutbacks seem not only necessary, but altogether reasonable as well. But as a result, we should be ready for more and more stories pinning the blame for that country's financial woes on the unreasonable, and even selfish Greek worker or retiree.

I suppose it's true that one deserves, ultimately, the government one has. But the more immediate blame in Greece should be placed squarely on the shoulders of that country's political leadership. This is also the case in every other country that comprises the European Union where similar fiscal catastrophe looms. Those politicians have routinely and irresponsibly promised for their citizens an increasingly unfunded and finally impossible financial future.

But more to the point, those promises have been informed, almost without exception, by a socialist, or quasi-socialist ideal. Regrettably, that ideal informs as well far too many in our own country's political leadership. Beware! Or Greece's present, and worse, will be our future.