Greeks do not only dance syrtaki and avoid taxes

By Emmanuel Bouhalakis

Since the moment Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced that Greece could no longer afford to borrow money from the international money markets, a non-stop barrage of ironic, offending and exaggerated articles have been published concerning Greece. 

Especially in some German media, Greece is portrayed as a country in which tax evasion, corruption, laziness and greediness is a daily routine. Combined with an emphasis on demonstrations and social unrest about the unprecedented austerity package imposed by the government, it would seem that Greece is a few steps away from becoming France in its pre-revolutionary stages or Iraq in its post-war lawlessness.

There is no doubt that corruption exists in Greece as well as widespread tax evasion. But apart from specific areas in the public sector there are many services which do not operate within the baksheesh framework. I have seen countless doctors working under exhausting conditions with less than half of the money a German doctor would receive and yet they do not ask for money from patients. Teachers, policemen, firemen, all work for much less than their Western colleagues. Yet most of them do their jobs and some die while on duty. Some teachers who are hired with hourly compensation in the public sector receive 5 or 6 euros an hour and they sometimes work in 2 or more schools in order to earn just the basic salary.

In the private sector, things can only be described as worse, even before the crisis that axed 30 % or more of the average employee's salary. Many times workers have to tolerate fewer insurance stamps and they don't get paid for working overtime. And most of these people have families to feed.

There have been cases where in the past some Greeks spent more than what they ought, when the Greek banks gave them as many credit cards as they wanted. I am sure the temptation to spend is not a privilege of the Greeks and would ensnare Americans, Germans and Ugandans alike. Unfortunately, many Greeks have now learned that it is better to work your 700 Euros than live the "miracle" of cheap money based on low interest rates that the Euro Era supposedly brought.

Some people wonder why the Greeks don't throw themselves from the Parthenon when they listen to serious analyses and scenarios about the country going bankrupt. I say, it's good they don't. For, one, they still have their sea, sun and morning breeze. They still have the starry nights with the scent of flowers and their tavern with great food and better music. And they also have a long history of enduring hardships since the Minoan and Mycenaean Eras. Their endurance and hope will for sure remain intact, despite the irony and ridicule they now face. 

And thank goodness, the Parthenon was paid in silver talents, not Euros so that those who lend modern Greece can't claim that ancient glory must be given back with a 5% interest rate.