I am quite amused when I look at what's happening over in Greece. As you know, Greece had massive social programs that eventually caused their economy to collapse. The European Union stepped in to help them, but required significant spending cutbacks as a condition of the aid. In the US if you declare bankruptcy your creditors will make you cut back on your spending -- it's the same thing.
What's amusing, of course, is that there are thousands of people holding violent protests of these austerity measures. They think the Government should reneg on the agreements and continue the runaway social programs. I can understand their emotions -- they like their socialist system, and losing their benefits will be truly painful. However, that doesn't change the fact that the country out of frikkin' money. They're broke. They cannot possibly continue the way things are.
This is, of course, little different than what's going on in Washington. We're spending at an unsustainable rate, but our "representatives" refuse to do anything about it. The only way to save the country is to cut spending dramatically, and soon -- but doing so could cost a politician his job, so it's not going to happen. In short, they're trading away our future so they can hold on to power just a bit longer.
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