Our country and its people, for the most part, like to to live with myths, while ignoring reality.
However the way things have turned out, we must face certain basic truths, foremost and primarily for ourselves.
Greece today is a country totally dependent on its creditors and partners, who have supported the country financially, averting the technical bankruptcy.
The country essentially went bankrupt in 2010, when the open and free markets refused to offer any new loans to pay off the older ones.
It was not documented as a technical and definitive bankruptcy because the country’s partners and creditors offered to settle the old loans and grant new ones.
It is also true that this happened simply because Greece was a member of the Eurozone and a bankruptcy would threaten the entire European foundation.
Any other country in the world with a mound of debt like ours would quick simply have gone bankrupt without a lot of fuss.
In exchange for this rescue then, Greece agreed to many commitments and was forced to a fiscal and structural reform that is unprecedented in the postwar world.
The truth is that most of these were implemented. Some though – which according to our partners and creditors are critical – were left on the shelf, causing reactions and doubts about our will and capability to implement what was promised and to ensure the payment of our debts.
Because we continue to remain financially dependent, we do not have the resources to return to the credit markets, so we endure the consequences, the pressure, the humiliation and the constant depreciation that these long-term negotiations are causing.
So long as we are bound to foreign money, we cannot have any rights or pride.
In essence we have two options: to either conform and accept everything they demands or to make a brave effort to restructure and reform the country, having fully accepted the cost and weight of our choice.
The first choice, of compromise and acceptance, we know it, we have experienced the consequences and its results, just like the feelings it leaves behind.
The second though we do not know. It quite possibly encompasses more dangers and insecurities.
However it is worth evaluating, because it simply requires a consistent and complete plan and demands the mobilization and participation of the entire Greek people. Furthermore it is entirely our own, it enforces self-awareness, coalition and can create the circumstances for a true rebirth of the country and our people – which is something this place needs more than anything.
Antonis Karakousis
Originally published in the Sunday print edition
