Yes, No, Maybe: The Complicated Path Forward for Greece
Over the last week I’ve spent a lot of time talking to Greek relatives over the phone, as well as my family here in the states, and my sister in the UK, all of us wondering, where are we going? What’s going to happen?
I was born in Greece in 1976. My grandparents belonged to the generation that built modern Greece out of the rubble of the second world war and the civil war that followed. My parents were part of the generation that fought to free Greece from a military dictatorship in the 70s and to establish a democratic nation that would join the European Union in 1981. They were the university-educated liberal future of their country.
And yet my family, like many others, emigrated to the US in the 80s largely because of what they saw to be endemic, pervasive and unavoidable corruption that would eventually impact all levels of Greek society. Much of the fiscal mayhem evident in Greece today has its roots in the legacy of AndreasPapandreou, during whose stay as Prime Minister public debt in Greece tripled from 28% in 1980 to 88% in 1990. (More on Papandreou here)
But the worst part of the Papandreou legacy was the political and social impact on Greece. The corruption and cronyism evident in the Papandreou government became socially acceptable. I remember my parents’ outrage (especially my physician mother) as the first “fakelakia” scandals broke in Greece. Fakelakia meanining “little envelopes” of bribes in the form of cash donations which patients and family-members would increasingly need to give doctors and hospitals in the government-subsidized national healthcare system to ensure family members received adequate medical care. Fakelakia were not limited to healthcare, they became the way you got things done in Greece. For my parents and many others, this was not a system they wanted to be part of. And so like many highly educated Greeks with options for employment abroad then and again now, they left.
As a Greek of the diaspora, watching the current drama unfold from a distance, I am overwhelmed by a mixture of guilt, anger and frustration. Guilt for not being there, anger that it’s come to this, and frustration at the lack of viable, actionable options.
The current situation is a complicated one. Beyond the global financial implications of the Greek debt crisis, there are some very real humanitarian consequences and potentially some geopolitical ones as well. Unemployment in Greece is unprecedented. One fifth of Greeks live below the poverty line. Suicide rates have doubled since the crisis began.
Talking to family in Greece, the feeling on the ground right now is one of fear, frustration and betrayal. They have questions and we don’t have answers: How could the government gamble with our future so recklessly? What is the meaning of the referendum and what is the right way to vote? Whichever way we choose, what happens after that? What can we do?
Sunday’s referendum is viewed by many in Greece and abroad as a self-serving political maneuver on the part of the current Syriza government, which essentially failed to deliver a mutually agreeable bailout proposal. The specific question put forth in the referendum is whether the Greek people agree to the bailout proposal of June 25th (said proposal is off the table, btw) or not. Note that the Greek constitution prohibits holding a referendum to decide fiscal matters, which in my mind calls to question the whole premise.
The Eurozone leaders have since come out and said that they see the referendum as a choice to stay in the Euro or not. On Friday, the President of the European Commision threatened that a “no” vote would weaken Greece’s negotiating position, but wait, he also said that a “yes” vote wouldn’t necessarily help either.
Conflicting statements both from the Greek government and from world leaders abroad have confused matters for the Greek people, but more than that they have opened up a new can of worms: there is no precedent for a country leaving the currency union (Eurozone) and not the political one (European Union). Many in and outside Greece fear that leaving the Eurozone jeopardizes Greece’s ability to remain in the European Union, which would open the country up to altogether different and much more severe problems.
When the Syriza government was elected a few months ago, I like many Greeks was hopeful. At the time of the election I wrote on Facebook: “I have lived away from Greece for more years than I have in it and cannot pretend to understand its politics expertly, but I do understand human suffering and the need for hope. There is no political perfection, but Greece needs hope and a chance to get out from under the yoke of austerity. I hope from my heart that this is the start of change for the better.”
As the referendum looms I am no more certain of what exactly will happen and polls show a relatively even split between “yes” and “no” votes. I still hope, with all my heart, that even in this debacle there is an opportunity for change toward something better. On a personal level this will require the same commitment that my family and so many others with strong connections to Greece have shown to our relatives and friends, to provide support where we can.
On the institutional level a change for the better will require that the Troika backs off on some of the more aggressive points of the austerity plan, insisting on necessary internal reform, but providing a clear pathway for Greece to meet its financial obligations while maintaining the Euro as currency and while maintaining Greece in the European Union.
No matter what the outcome of the referendum, the only way now is forward.
Anastasia Liapis, PhD is a scientist and writer born in Greece. She lives, thinks and works in New York.
