Looking for readers from Greece and Spain to share their observations

Hi, I am a CM reader from Greece since 2008 and saw this request from views from  on twitter some minutes ago. Here are my 2 cents:

- Has daily life changed since austerity measures began? If so, how?

The recession here really started in 2008, while the austerity measures began after May 2010, when the insolvency problem was made public and call for EU and IMF supprt help was made. Every goverment here, and as long as I can remember, claimed that will fight tax evasion which is a plague for our finances. What they end up doing lately is applying more taxes to the 40% that do not tax-evade and horizontally reduce wages of pentioners and public servants. 

Daily life becomes harder by the day: as I use a lot of public transportation I have witnessed first-hand the increase of unoccupied shops around Athens and also the increase of beggars, criminality and general misery. Me and my wife are still employed in our early forties and haven't suffered much yet, although I had to cut down summer vacations to save for tax payment (I had already paid taxes for 2011, yet the government decided for every loyal greek citizen to give one more salary to the state !!!). Price of gas is ridiculously high (around €1.80/lt - should be around $8 per gallon or so)

On the good side, traffic is a lot thinner these days in Athens and a lot of "bullshit" shops were gone ("Cheese boutique" anyone ?)

- What impact is the high rate of unemployment (especially on younger workers) having?

Younger people are the real victims of the recession and austerity: jobs are scarce for them and the most talented are leaving the country to seek a better future in othe places in Europe or Australia. There are some initiatives for them to saty and invest their effort in agriculture (once an important wealth-generating activity in Greece that was ruined by EU subsidies). The good thing here is that families in Greece are really suportive for the youngs - most of the colleagues that are in their 20s and 30s are still living with their parents.

- What are the most comment sentiments expressed by your neighbors? The media?

Everybody here has a sad story to tell: how they lost their job, how their salary or pention was cut or how they had to go out of business because of the recession. The media does what they do best: selling fear and uncertainty to support the austerity agenda of the government. I stopped watching the news on TV some months ago and took on hiking and trail running, having a great time since I did !

- How are your elected leaders perceived?

My opinion is that both the coalition government that are pro-austerity and the leftist opposition that want independence from EU (and return to the drachma, although they may openly deny it) are unrealistic in their claims. I mean, how can more austerity initiate the economy which is in a recession for the 5th year in a row ? A return to the drachma on the other hand will bring very high inflation for sure. There is a lot of mistrust to the public about the performance of the politicians as none of them seems bold enough to go on with their agenda, whether it is to reduce public spending, counter tax evasion and negotiate with EU/IMF lenders.

There are more things to write here but have little time today.

My regards from Greece :-)

Dimitris

To hear the boots on the ground observations...I wouldn't limit this to just Spain and Greece...Portugal, Italy, Ireland, etc...and if you didn't catch it, our own Erik Townsend on FSN a few weeks back gave his take from Spain.

My dad is currently in Italy...I'll pick his brain when he gets back next week and add anything of interest here...

I just thought I'd chuck some observations in, although from Australia, we recently visited family in the west of Ireland earlier in the year. 

We stayed in a small town, surrounded mainly by agricultural land.  About a third to half of the shops in town were closed down.  We heard this was the norm in all towns, with the younger people saying almost every week another shop was shut; they were particularly gutted when their favourite pub closed it's doors! The house we stayed in was in a housing subdivision built in the boom - I would say half the houses were empty, we got to stay in it for free as the owners just wanted them lived in.  What we found out was due to the constant damp and cold conditions, once the houses are left disused they fall into disrepair.  Our house had buckled floorboards and doors that wouldn't shut because the damp gets in when the heaters are not on and soon the houses all become worthless - which they already are as there are no buyers for them.  There was talk that some of them may need to be demolished - brand new houses never even lived in! 

Most of the younger generation in our Irish family are professionals (doctors, physios, pharmacists, teachers) and had moved to other areas for work, some of them Dublin or London.  The teachers have all had their pays cut, my second cousin who has been a teacher for 11 years said she's back on her starting pay, earning now what she earned as a new graduate.  A lot of young people live at home.  The older generation of our relatives are farmers living on land passed down from family, so they are doing ok.  They did speak of losing a lot of young people to emigration to other countires for better opportunities.  In Australia we have a lot of young Irish workers here trying to get into the building industry (trades) which is still reasonably strong due to our strong mining industry riding off the back of China's previously strong growth.

Everyone was still continuing on with life there, very scathing of the governemnt who they believe got them into the mess they're in, and particularly the greed.  I think like everyone though, there's a sense that after the rough patch things will start to pick up, that was the sense I got, that things were a bit stuffed now but in the long run it'll be OK.  I think until you hit things like the CC that's what we're all programmed to believe.

That is the general sense I get here in Australia as well, although to be honest we've had no hard times where I am, but we get brief and intermittent news of other countries' troubles (blink and you'd miss it) but she'll be right mate, China's boom will last at least another 20 years....right?

As part of this request Adam I am reporting from here, our home. I visited while going to last nights Tigers game a city, my birth place, that is stripped of its street light wiring, read daily stories of bodies (murdered) from out side the city limits and within being dumped in empty garages, open fields, and abandoned homes, 12 in total just in a month. That's just dumped bodies and not what occurs daily during normal activities, living life. The neighborhoods are non existent, no one really walks the streets, crime is out of control, drugs on every street corner and no police did I see during my visit except for outside Tigers stadium. I did not drive the freeway to the game but took the heart of the City's road, E. Jefferson, Detroit.

This all from a city that had 1.5 million people in 1970, and that's not long ago folks believe me. The fabric of this city was torn apart in early 1970's and now lays waste to decay. Maybe, maybe 500,000 live in the city today. Of those I would be shocked if  75% is not on some welfare or government assistance. The city is without question left for dead, no hope, a battle zone. 

While very sympathetic to all human beings I think we look at Detroit, Vegas, Miami, California, Baltimore, and so many hundreds of towns and cities all over this country and maybe we focus only on ourselves. Time really to save ourselves from ourselves.

Folks, have you never been hungry, for days, ever had your heat turned off, water, electricity, been able to work and yet can't get a job? Have you ever been sick and couldn't afford treatment or been refused? Have you ever been a parent, had kids and the weight of all that when times are tough?

Have you ever worked for free because the things you were doing were too important?

Life is a bitch, it's hard, and while I feel for everyone I just want to focus on the good ole USA for now.

Tigers won 6-5 against the Yankees and while that is always a delight the world around us are all ready to hit the twilight zone and are unaware. Get ready for these type discussions only we will be reporting from our small towns and city's USA. If the wires haven't been stripped from the poles and we have power for our lap tops!

Let me give you a visual, military being used as police in our cities, they will be instrumental repairing our supply chain as workers and truck drivers won't work because they aren't getting paid. How crazy is that thinking. People will go thirsty and hungry within 3 to 5 days and they will be bugged eyed for these items and if you have them they will attempt to get them. You may have to ride shot gun, literally, to safely get your Dad or Mom or Wife or Husband to work if there is work for a loved one. You will do this because street thugs will want the gas in your car, the money in your purse. People are going to beg, barrow and steal and you better get mentally prepared because it is coming, no question about that. We will delight in martial law and curfews just from a peace of mind and safety perspective. Honestly, these things will happen and you will not mind the intrusions.

We all know tough times are ahead, math don't lie.

Some will scream about our freedoms and all that shit, look, history has always been dotted with these type happen stances and everyone on this site will beg themselves when hungry, beg for protection when everything you have is stripped from you because you lack the will, and are too fearful to raise a weapon in protection of what you have from people just trying to survive. These won't be criminals folks, they may be your own family members. Their hungry, thirsty and have the means to take what you have from you, and will. Get real and prepare for all eventualities. 

As an exercise how about we report what is happening in our own towns USA too. Really stop and look people, there are folks out there that are professional people, educated people, and people no matter their lot in life who deserve our assistance, they did nothing wrong. Yet are going to really get hit and harder than they know because just getting by, to no assistance at all, is a long way down, and is in fact a whole different story. It is a desperate time where you will do just about anything to survive, no question about that. Last I looked 50 million Americans are on food stamps, many millions more will need help too, and you take that away, and the streets of America will EXPLODE!!! Guaranteed, and this assistance may just go because we can't afford it. Crazy, just crazy.

Folks that you know will approach you with one hand out, a smile on their faces, and warmly greet you and then sucker punch you so hard that your face will hurt for a month just to get what you have in your pockets. I have seen this too many times, and you must really prepare for this, you MUST! As you prepare for every eventuality you have to understand that people normally of good intentions will strip you of everything if in need themselves as you try to explain that you only have enough for YOUR family. Good luck with that.

Yes, I know hunger, no heat, electricity, no work, food stamps, government assistance, military on my street corner and curfews, violence in protection of body and home, and all that jazz. Still, the world, this life, is worthy of giving it all you have. It is why I prepare today to help as many as I can. I owe so many, I have no idea, so I will help as many as I can, and I will need help so that the sharing is managed as best as can be,  and someone has my back. I have those type Men and Women in my life. 

You will take one peanut butter and jelly sandwich and cut it 10 ways to feed equally 10 people when that is all there is, you will, and survive the next hour. Sliced pickles on two pieces of crusty bread, topped off with a combination of ketchup and mayo makes for a feast when that is all that is in the refrigerator. You will take log cabin syrup and mix it in water and visualize a nice glass of lemonade when that is all there is. Your body craving calories. Has anyone here ever eaten cow tongue, duck blood soup, dandelion soup, and other delicacies? You will.

Respectfully Given

I wish you all well

BOB

This post is one of the most compassionate and heart breaking accounts of what the breakdown of the economic system looks like in America. I have read accounts written by people that have lived through the turmoil in places like Argentina and they sounded very scary. But this piece actually brought tears to my eyes. Reading this post helps to me appreciate how difficut will be to find a safe and secure place to live in what sounds to me like a kind of post-holocaust environment. And it's important to note that this kind of economic and social decay began decades ago in places like Detroit. The war correspondent, journalist and writer Chris Hedges has just written a book with illustrator Joe Sacco called Days of Destruction Days of Revolt. He visited four of the poorest communities in America and his observations of the conditions in Camden New Jersey, Immokokalee Florida, the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the mountain towns of West Virginia  also provide a startling preview to what could be coming in America's near future.  

Thank you Adam

I sympathize somewhat with Occupy but the fact is they do not know why they are angry.  To paint the whole banking industry as corrupt is naive and dangerous.   Civil War?  World War?

This series adds nothing to the understanding and is more an entertainment piece.

Adam, I came across this today. As things get worse this is an expectation we must contend with.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/economic-crisis-triggers-wave-of-suicides-in-greece-a-850129.htm

l concern myself with everything because I have seen these things. Just go downtown in any town/city U.S.A., and people survive on the garbage and trash of others for sustenance. It ISN'T sad so much especially if you slip them a $10 dollar bill but it very well could be us through a looking glass at some point in the future!

Respectfully Given

BOB