Documenti di Didattica
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By Harris A. Samaras
www.pytheas.net
About the Author Harris A. Samaras
An Economist and presently the Chairman & CEO of Pytheas, an international investment banking organization,
Harris has also worked with the Bank of America Group, Thomson Financial BankWatch, and Moodys Investors
Service.
His expertise lies primarily in the areas of investment and corporate banking, private equity and finance,
corporate restructuring, risk management and business development, strategic advisory and thought
leadership. His research and extensive publications in these areas range across practice rather than theory,
economic and business thought, entrepreneurship and geopolitics.
He has been an adviser to various governments, central banks, financial institutions, and other corporates and
has been a member of the board of directors of multinational organizations.
Discussing the Chancellors comments with my daughters and their friends (early- and mid-
20s of age, all university students or graduates), I was sad, but not regretfully surprised, to
realize by their startling and vividly upsetting remarks of how disheartened and demoralized
they are about the European idea and family. They spoke of their experiences and the
provocative taunting and mocking towards them, the humiliating remarks and resentment
just because they are Greek not only by Germans as they exclaimed, but also by Dutch and
British, Norwegian, Romanian, Bulgarian, American, and Swiss itemizing one incident after
another
I patiently argued with them about politics, geopolitics and polarization, politicians bigotry
and populism the importance of critical thinking skills and the lack of these skills in the
world of today as a cause and effect of such attitudes about prejudice and stereotypes, self-
serving bias and ethnically stigmatized groups but also about the importance of one being
proud of her/his heritage and history vs. narrow-minded nationalism about civility, human
dignity about the significance of the citizens conduct and behaviour within society about
the detrimental gaffe of blaming only others for our misfortunes
I attempted to analyse how it is primarily Greeces fault that triggered the economic
distortions and the crisis in the country, the bailout, the austerity measures and the misery
How the inefficiently functioning EU is also to blame; not only because of its late to react and
then hastily designed and imposed decisions but also because it is apparent that the
decisions of the EU had been and still are influenced and orchestrated with intention and
premeditation by the most powerful and their pack for own country benefits and politicians
vote mongering
I attempted to analyse how all these along with a disillusioned Greek society made the
country fertile terrain for populism. How on one hand populists preying on peoples fears
secure a political advantage in a time of crisis, change and uncertainty, and how on the other
they, the populists, do very little to help a society to navigate itself out of a painful and
complex reality that requires long-term planning, and compromise simply because most of
their arguments (of the populists) are based on fiction!
Gave the rise of Hitler and Nazism in power as an example, also Brexit and the current
happenings in the U.S. where facts did not and do not matter, only the emotions of the
polarized and manipulated masses
It is all showbiz!, they cried. Showbiz for politics of domestic consumption with both lead
actors and screenplay writers, the hypocritical politicians themselves; mocking us, again and
again, while at the same time stealing our future!.
But you are also obligated to contribute actively (and not only as sideline critics) to changing
the wrong-happenings, I said. So, I spoke about the ancient Greek philosophers and their
teachings about social and patriotic values, altruism and self-sacrifice our responsibilities
as citizens of the world and our obligation towards a learning continuum, and our social duty
to communicate, enlighten and make aware
My arguments were met with dismay Thermopylae cannot exist today they argued with
dry realism and pragmatism neither magnanimity nor nobility they exclaimed. Only self-
preservation matters and how one achieves it has been proven to be totally immaterial.
I attempted to respond by comparing Platos view of the ideal State (the Republic) that its
existence should depend on wisdom, courage, moderation and justice with Thomas Hobbes
materialistic philosophical approach of the Leviathan that a society can function only if fear
is a weapon under the absolute power of a Ruler as us humans are in our vast majority
selfish, cowards and vein
The Greeks have always been on the side of good against evil and look where it got us!
most of them exclaimed as if in a chorus. Nobody cares about sacrifices or facts. More,
nobody cares about what triggered the downturns and what contributed to the recession and
the behaviour of the Greek of today! The Greek people for more than 60 years have never
claimed for WWII reparations from Germany. Only when they felt and experienced the
injustice, the humiliation and arrogance of those very same they had forgiven! And what
Greece has sacrificed or endured during World War II it is neither acknowledged nor even for
some reason recorded. The world does not know or doesnt want to know.
At more or less the same time Churchill was stating that Heroes fight like Greeks and not
the other way around, he was orchestrating the destruction of Greece during and right after
the War. As a result, Greeks had to go through a bloody civil war for four very long years
thereafter. And then our very same allies, those very same that had been praising and
glorifying us during the War, orchestrated again the establishment of the junta that ruled
Greece for another seven years and then more civil war While the rest of Europe was
rebuilding itself, we were fighting their wars in our country Where is justice, magnanimity
or nobility in all of this?
And just to clarify, they highlighted, Goebbelss children are not to be blamed for the
wrongdoings of their dad! They were also victims and helpless martyrs, like all the millions of
children that were sacrificed, whether those were German or Greek, Japanese or American,
Bulgarian or British and so forth They were both victims of a madman and his conscious
followers as well as victims of those forces within the Allied Powers that could have put an
end to the War long before it started but chose instead to shut their eyes and/or ignore the
signals because of personal or geopolitical benefits We, your children, are today victims of
similar packs, of similar politicians, using in principle the same modus operandi to dominate
the rest of us, as if we learned nothing from our so recent and devastating history.
And they continued: The fact remains, that the EU and the IMF placed rescue of their banks
far above any concern of the consequences of such exploit to the Greek people; an
undignified action! They, the EU and the IMF, committed a financial fraud to a bankrupt
nation, there aim to differ inevitable losses by alleging that the Greek debt was sustainable
(Basic Economics teaches that you do not grant new loans to a bankrupt entity but
restructure its debt); a fraudulent action! And proudly projected then in 2011, (which is a
perjury even by the standards of the most cynical of all cynics), that the inevitable sharp
fiscal adjustment would produce a recession of a decline of about only 5% of GDP with full
recovery by 2013 Greek output instead dropped 25% and never recovered since; a
disgraceful action!
What have we done? What have we forced our children to become? Traumatized cynics,
without a civic purpose but political correctness, an anathema to collective responsibility,
alien citizens with valid passports of European Union countries that belong in essence to no
Union disillusioned with poisoned souls
So, you wish to become and behave like all those opportunists and ignorant?, I uttered.
You wish to replace compassion with cruelty and goodness with greed, just like they do?
Become just like those that you very much accuse of, selfish and Machiavellian? Would you
wish your children in turn to feel so lost as you clearly currently do?.
But it is Your generation, You, our parents, that have chosen this path for us. Isnt You that
taught us to be whatever it is that we are?, they replied.
Whether the ratification of the policy of the economic desolation of Greece had been effected
for its transformation into a country that would be controlled and exploited by the European
powerful and whether this is premeditated and deliberate I wouldnt know. I can only
interpret and deduct: How can one explain policies that,
(a) are based on presumptions that are fundamentally erroneous? (Greece was and is
bankrupt; its debt was and is unsustainable; bankrupt entities cannot receive loans but
their debt restructured).
(b) lead to forced emigration of Greek capital and talent?
(c) lead to merciless wages and pension cuts and to a handicapped nation?
(d) lead to tax shortfalls that force more and more spending cuts?
(e) lead to an avalanche of loan defaults, foreclosures and bankruptcies?
(f) ultimately lead to a foreign takeover of the banking system and asset stripping of public
assets?
(g) lead to suffocation of a whole nations economy and dependency on foreign elements
only?
Now, is the economic desolation of Greece and its total dependency to powerful non-Greek
elements only, part of a grander despotic plan? A plan that would incorporate later on and
when appropriate Portugal, Spain and Italy for instance?
I wouldnt know. What I do know though is that our actions as European Union turn our
youth into monsters, the unfeeling monsters that we have proven to be.
Mrs. Merkels yesterday statement, European integration is about the protection of human
dignity, is a beacon, a beacon of hope for humanity. Just like when not so very long ago,
Greeces heroic resistance and sacrifice against the Axis Forces became humanitys beacon of
light and hope, demolishing the invincibility of evil and its despotism.
Despotism aims to suppress, minds and the souls of the free, the dignity of the individual,
the ability to think, the essence of life. And Mrs. Merkel knows that despotism can only lead
to one outcome: Civilization and humanity to descend to chaos.
About the Greeks in WWII their sacrifice, its importance and their humanity
When France, a world power of the time, crumbled in just 43 days and other much wealthier
ones, triple and quadruple the population of Greece, surrendered to the Axis in just 3 or 4
Who in her or his right mind fights a war that is knowingly going to lose? Yugoslavias
partisan movement for instance fought the Axis Powers with bravery and the whole country
paid dearly for it, with one of the
highest population losses during the
period of the War. Yugoslavia,
however, surrendered in just 3
days Couldnt the Greeks had
chosen to do the same?
At the end of the day there are truths that we all have to grow into
Adolf Hitler:
"It must be said for the sake of historical truth, I must verify, that only the Greeks, of all the adversaries
who confronted us, fought with bold courage and defiance of death..."
From a speech, delivered to Reichstag on 4 May 1941.
The entrance of Italy to the war was proven catastrophic for us. Had the Italians not attacked Greece
and had they not needed our help, the War would have taken a different course. We would have had
time to capture Leningrad and Moscow, before the Russian cold weather set in.
From the memoirs of Leni Riefenstahl quoting Hitler (1944); Hitlers cinematographer and member of
his inner circle.
Winston Churchill:
"The word heroism I am afraid does not render the least of those acts of self-sacrifice of the Greeks,
which were the defining factor in the victorious outcome of the common struggle of the nations, during
WWII, for the human freedom and dignity. If it were not for the bravery of the Greeks and their
courage, the outcome of WWII would be undetermined."
Paraphrased from a speech, delivered to the British Parliament on 24 April 1941.
"Until now we used to say that the Greeks fight like heroes. Now we shall say: The heroes fight like
Greeks."
From a speech, delivered from the BBC in the first days of the Greek-Italian war.
Charles de Gaulle:
"I am unable to give the proper breadth of gratitude I feel for the heroic resistance of the People and the
leaders of Greece."
From a speech, delivered to the French Parliament after the end of WWII.
Georgy Zhukov, Chief of the General Staff and Minister of Defense of the USSR:
"If the Russian people managed to raise resistance at the doors of Moscow, to halt and reverse the
German torrent, they owe it to the Greek People, who delayed the German divisions during the time
they could bring us to our knees."
Quote from his memoirs on WWII.
Benito Mussolini:
"The war with Greece proved that nothing is firm in the military and that surprises always await us."
From a speech, delivered on 10/5/1941.
Sir Robert Antony Eden, Minister of War and the Exterior of Britain (1940-1945), Prime Minister of
Britain (1955-1957):
"Regardless of what the future historians shall say, what we can say now, is that Greece gave Mussolini
an unforgettable lesson, that she was the motive for the revolution in Yugoslavia, that she held the
Germans in the mainland and in Crete for six weeks, that she upset the chronological order of all
German High Command's plans and thus brought a general reversal of the entire course of the war and
we won."
Paraphrased from a speech, delivered to the British parliament on 24/09/1942.
"The heroic struggle of the Greek people... against Germany's attack, after she so thunderously defeated
the Italians in their attempt to invade the Greek soil, filled the hearts of the American people with
enthusiasm and moved their compassion."
Paraphrased from a speech, delivered on 25/04/1941.
Wilhelm Keitel, Hitlers Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces & Field Marshall (1940-1945):
The Greeks delayed by two or more vital months the German attack against Russia; if we did not have
this long delay, the outcome of the war would have been different.
As stated during the Nuremberg Trials.
On 10 April 1941, after the capitulation to Germany, the northern forts of Greece surrender. The
Germans express their admiration to Greek soldiers, declaring that they were honored and proud to
have such courageous warriors as their adversary such an army and requested that the Greek
commandant to inspect the German army in a demonstration of honor and recognition! The German flag
was raised only after the complete honorable withdrawal of the Greek army. For the rest of the War
German soldiers who fought against the Greeks were authorized to wear a black armband on their
uniforms signifying the role in Germanys toughest battles of World War II.
A Luftwaffe German officer declared to the commander of the Greek Eastern Macedonia division group,
Lieutenant General Dedes that the Greek army was the first army the Stuka fighter planes did not cause
panic to. "Your soldiers" he said, "instead of fleeing frantically, as they did in France and Poland, were
shooting at us from their positions."
The Greeks originally surrendered to the Germans only while it was the only country during WWII that
was at the same time fighting against four other countries (Italy, Albania, Bulgaria, Germany). Mussolini
learned about it and got furious, demanding that the Greek Army also surrender to the Italians. He
ordered additional attacks against the Greeks who were then in the process of surrendering to Germany.
The Greeks resisted, and defeated the Italians once more After the embarrassment to Mussolini, Hitler
relented and had General Dietrich convince General Georgios Tsolakoglou to include Italy as well in the
surrender.
In the late spring of 1944, Nazi ships of death were making stops in the ports of the Ionian islands; final
destination Auschwitz. The German commandant called Metropolitan Bishop Chrysostomos and Mayor
Lucas Carrer to his office and told them they have 24 hours to submit a list with the names of all the
Jews that lived on the island, together with details of their assets. They returned with an envelope soon
afterwards: The paper contained just two names; the bishops and the mayors.
On 23 March 1943, during the Nazi occupation of Greece, the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece,
Damaskinos, along with other prominent Greeks, signed his name on a letter defending the Greek Jews.
When General Jurgen Stroop, an S.S. Officer and police official for Greece, found out about the letter, he
threatened to shoot the Archbishop. Archbishop Damaskinos responded to the Nazi Officer: According
to the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our prelates are hung and not shot. Please respect our
traditions!.
By the autumn and winter of 1941, Greece was starving. The death toll from starvation and typhoid,
typhus, cholera, pneumonia, and dysentery had risen to more than 1,500 persons daily in Athens and
Piraeus alone. By the following spring, the death rate from starvation in Athens and Piraeus exceeded
2,000 a day. Of every ten children born, only one lived more than four weeks. (Source: American Greek
War Relief Association)
Reports reveal that during WWII Greece lost 7.2-12.9% of its population, Yugoslavia 6.6-6.9%, USSR
2.8%, Czechoslovakia 2.3-2.4%, Holland 2.2-2.4%, France 1.4-2%, Poland 1.8%, Belgium 1.05-1.5%,
Luxembourg 1.69%, Norway 0.35%, Denmark 0.16%.
Hitlers troops lost more lives in one day in Crete than in any single day in the 15 months prior to
conquering 15 other countries.
Greeces disruption of Hitlers war timetable forced him into the deliberating Russian winter where he
met defeat. Leaders like Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Americas Sumner Welles and even Adolph
Hitlers Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel, credit Greece with bringing about Hitlers defeat. Greece was the
only David in WWII able to inflict a fatal wound that eventually brought down the Nazi Goliath.
[Published by Pytheas Social & Political Review on 11 May 2012 with the title The failure of the Greek
State engendered a disillusioned society.
Greece is a case of a state that failed, a case of despair that forced its citizens, those that are at least
self-conscious, to exclaim instead of the more than valid I am proud to be Greek, the self-pitied I am
sorry to be Greek. These are the same Greeks that abstained from voting in the recent elections or as
an immature form of protest voted for radical parties than now possess a catalytic say in the future of
the Country.
Overall the average Greek has been bombarded with jargons, polarized by an ignorant in the vast
majority, populist, irresponsible, anachronistic and scandalous political leadership and labor unions, and
sacrificed in the name of power and political party benefits!
Important to note that the Citizens of the Country are equally responsible for the crisis as are the
countrys EU partners.
The conditioned Citizens of the Hellenic Republic accepted the love of ease, a mindless attitude that was
provided to them via political favoritism and moral delusions and lived by it for decades to such an
extent that it became part of their DNA for the vast majority of Greeks not to cheat income tax was as
idiotic as to be efficient and productive while working for the over-staffed public sector; corruption to
that effect found in the eye of the average Greek a new synonym: Bravado ()!]
[Published by Pytheas Market Focus on 3 July 2015 with the title More than ten facts and one question
about Greece and the EU Financial Crisis.
While it is a fact that, (a) a number of Eurozone nations were complicit in Greeces fiscal irresponsibility;
(b) the EU was inadequate and deliberately reluctant to take a decisive action and to establish a
mechanism to effectively assist member countries with financing problems whilst aware and
acknowledged by the EU itself of the unique problem with the Eurozone, that countries in it share the
same currency but not a unified fiscal, banking or political system, leaving countries especially the
smaller ones with few tools at their disposal during a downturn; (c) Billions of Euros of net wealth have
been transferring from Athens to Berlin, and not only; German in particular, but also other European
leaders morality politics, sermonize endlessly about how their frugal and thrifty taxpayers are being
forced to endure the worse because of Greeces only irresponsibility
Although Germany is the greatest beneficiary of the European Union and the Eurozone, the vast
majority of Germans feel that Europe lives at their expense: As the largest economy in the EU, Germany
makes the largest contribution to its budget, but the EU's budget is small, about 1% of the GDP of each
member state. This expense pales into insignificance in comparison with advantages from which
Germany benefits.
To see further how far Germany's populist narrative inverts reality, you only have to remember that the
fact that Greece has a trade deficit (for which Greece is guilty) works to the benefit of the other EU
countries, and first of foremost to the benefit of Germany, which is the leading exporter to Greece.
Salary costs in Greece (another Greek fault) have financed private consumption in Greece, which has
financed German exports.
The aid to Greece will not cost the German taxpayer anything. Germany will lend to Greece at a higher
interest rate while Germany itself raises money a lot more cheaply. Greek recovery will serve the
interests of the EU and its member states beyond the common interest in preserving the stability of the
Euro. Despite all these, Chancellor Merkel did not have the courage to tell the Germans the truth]
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Pytheas Market Focus, 2015
Harris A. Samaras, The failure of the Greek State engendered a disillusioned society, Pytheas Social &
Political Review, 2012
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