Expensive Friend:Walter Wullenweber’s Letter to the Greeks

This is a letter written by a Stern Magazine Journalist which i republished from AthensPlus.A Greek Newspaper!It should get African governments thinking about living on the goodwill of others indefinitely!One thing we share in common with Greeks;we blame everyone but ourselves for our economic woes,be it colonialism,racism,Nazi occupation!

“Dear Greeks,

You probably remember her – that aunt who used to fill your piggy bank when you were a child – putting a little bit on the side for your first bicycle or your first vacation.
And all she wanted in return was the occasional thank you.

Dear friends, this is a letter from that aunt. Don’t worry, she is not seeking thanks. She just wants you to put yourself in her shoes for a moment.
Since 1981, we have belonged to the same family within the European Union. In all this time, no other family member has put so much cash in the common savings box as we have – around 200 billion euros to be exact. And no other family member has received as much as you have – nearly 100 billion euros. That is nearly half the cash we have thrown into the EU pot. Put differently: over the years, we Germans have given some 9,000 euros for each of you Greeks. Just like that. It was kind of nice of us, don’t you think?
No one nation has willingly – and so generously – supported another nation for such a long period of time. You are by far our most expensive friend.

All these years, you have never asked yourselves how we get by. I am guessing that you are not concerned about this now either but I’m going to tell you anyway.
Our streets are full of potholes because we don’t have the money to repair them; libraries and swimming pools have been shut down due to a lack of funds. In contrast to yours, our wages have hardly increased since the introduction of the euro.

And now we are being called upon to save you Greeks. As if we don’t have enough problems. You have earned our mistrust. In summer you torch your beautiful country. Then you call on our fire service for help because you can’t douse the flames yourselves.
You all want to work in the public sector but no one wants to pay taxes. If any of the reports we have read in recent weeks are true, then you are only willing to work for kickbacks. Doctors are among the worst offenders.

You swindle each other whenever possible. We couldn’t care less about that. But you are also swindling us. And have been for years now. We do care about that.
You collect EU subsidies for more olive trees than you actually have on your land. You obviously know a thing or two about accounting as you fiddled your books so systematically and adroitly to meet the criteria for joining the euro that officials in Brussels didn’t even notice. In reality, you never earned the right to join the euro.
But spending beyond your means for so many years, swindling and living at the expense of others cannot continue indefinitely. Have no illusions. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel says, “Greece will not be left on its own,” this does not mean that she, and we, care about you Greeks. We are concerned about our own future.

Unluckily for us we are chained to you. If you go down, you will take us with you.
You are undermining the euro and the threat of inflation is looming.
This means that the savings of German citizens are ever dwindling. Because of you.
It is slowly dawning on us Germans that we must save the banks, then we must save Greece as well as the other so-called PIIG countries, namely Portugal, Ireland and Italy.
The bankruptcy of one of these countries would be a tragedy that would make the global financial crisis seem like a tea party. Smart German legislators had warned before the introduction of the euro that economic union cannot function without political union. They were right. Now we have a democracy deficit.

The fate of us Germans depends on the decisions of Greek governments. We would like your government to push through reforms, at the very least. But you clearly don’t want this. You do what you always do: You strike.
Dear Greek Finance Ministry officials, please do not strike, but impose taxes on your country’s millionaires.

Dear Greek doctors, please do not strike, but tend to your patients, without seeking under the-table payments.
Dear Greek pensioners, when a German works his whole life, he gets 45 percent of his average wage as his pension, not 95 percent as you do. With the money that we have given you over the last 30 years, you can enjoy a comfortable retirement. Do you consider that fair? You are the generation that is responsible for this miserable situation.
Dear Greek citizens, please do not retort that your politicians are solely to blame for the current crisis.

As the founders of democracy, you should know that you – the people – rule and are responsible for government. No one forces you to evade tax, take kickbacks, strike against sensible policies and elect corrupt politicians. Politicians are populists – they do what you want.

You may protest that we Germans are not perfect either. You are right. We have many problems, including a pension system that no one trusts and a questionable tax system.
Once upon a time, you Greeks showed us the way by giving us democracy, philosophy and the first concept of a national economy.

Now you are showing us the way again. But it is the wrong way.
And it has reached a dead end.”

Best regards,
WALTER WULLENWEBER
JOURNALIST AT GERMANY’S
STERN MAGAZINE
P.S. Please respond. An answer would be most welcome!

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