It's all WAR without any Love, compassion, understanding and without forgiveness.
Greece has been dealt a horrible hand of cards since the mid 30s, and have been advised by numerous politicians, economic advisors , generals, and dictators on the best way forward as have many other countries in the region. It is this center of democracy that has led perhaps to Greece being dealt the hand it has , as it has had more leniency awarded to it by it's lenders and also without any real compassion but on a pure commercial basis.
The difference between credit to a business and a country are huge although with corporations getting to the size they are now , bring some of them down certainly would have dire consequences to some countries also. Credit to most business is purely commercial and if repayments cannot be made then a rescheduling is done on what can be achieved realistically or the company is put up for sale and made bankrupt, with the state often picking up the pieces of the subsequent unemployment and lossof local investment is infrastructure of education, health and welfare.
On the other hand the state has no long term control of the direction of where its target is , governments change from left to right or vice versa, ensuring an unstable commitment repay loans negotiated by a policy which is often defunct after a few years, it is this which is now a major problem as the loans have built up to a level, where they are not only unsustainable but are self perpetuating, meaning that they in all probability will never be paid and so in effect the lenders have an income for perpetuity without the capital providing any services to Greece or any other borrower.
Other commitments of the state has to guarantee personal and state security, health and welfare provision as well as education and transport and other infra structural obligations which are set not just by the state but also by the EU and other global institutions.
These obligations to it peoples forces many governments to borrow far more than they can pay for , so as part of any lending to states there has to be a moral understanding that the lenders should not and cannot expect the same terms as a commercial enterprise.
The lending to states should only be allowed if is only for short term needs and be able to repaid in full within a normal term of office of one parliament.
Lending into the distant future as see applied to all countries globally is abhorrent, and indeed is is morally indefensible, as it seeks only to benefit the wealthy and rich within society as a hole and places the poorer in an impossible situation where they are unable to dig themselves out of, and will if perpetuated cause long term social deprivation at best and unrest and chaos at worst due to lack of respect and the bare necessities of life.
The creditors of Greece and indeed all creditors globally should quickly take stock of the moral implications of what they are doing, and must provide a let out in situations like this,in Greece. They are responsible often for the terms and conditions of such loans and they appear no better than the loan sharks we have seen in the UK as payday lenders , asking such high interest rates and take no mercy and force people into suicide and poverty rather than guiding them through with intelligent loans that we have seen applied to some countries in Africa.
Just because some states are "Developed" and others are not all should be treated with the same respect and dignity and terms that can be seen and applied that if all goes wrong will not in themselves jeopardize the State's ability to fund basic security for their citizens.
All this often is discussed and debated without ant reference to the effects of such loans have on the environment and indeed on climate change. It is in this area that far more has to be considered in how much, when and what terms any loans should be awarded.
Money use=Energy= goods and services+environmental damage and climate change.
No comments:
Post a Comment