My Lengthy Greek Post Script

A week ago tonight, Ariadne and I were in Constantinople and visited Ayia Sophia Cathedral. Of course, this morning I attended church in St. Sophia Cathedral in Washington. Two Sundays in a row at an Ayia Sophia is pretty good.

Church this morning was nice, but the reminder of the other Ayia Sophia made me wish I was still on vacation. As did the folks at coffee hour who asked me to reflect on our trip, especially on being in Greece during the crisis.

As you recall from previous blog posts, even amidst the crisis Greece was fantastic. I continue to wonder if that sentiment is me being myopic, or a manifestation of the Greek spirit?  It's likely both, but more so the later. As one fellow Bank of Pireas queue member said in Kyparissia, 'to be Greek is to put up with hardship and challenges; we've done it before and we'll do it now.'  Despite 25 percent unemployment and 50 percent for young people, closed banks, billions in debts and acrimonious relationships with countries they are literally bound to and allied with, Greeks and Greece endure but also hopefully thrive.

Thrive is the key word. Greece and their partners came to a deal as we were leaving Athens, and a week later the Parliament approved it despite some violent protests in Syntagma Square (according to the Greek press that was a mild violent protest in comparison to others, and there were no major injuries). The protests weren't that significant actually. What is significant is that the Parliament approved an austerity package that just a week earlier had been rejected by the 62 percent of Greek voters.

Unpopular is one thing. If they were solutions with a proven track record in a country like Greece, and that will help Greece thrive, who cares if they are unpopular? The problem is austerity never works, at least if your goal is economic growth. The simple summary is in the U.S., President Obama and Democratic Congresses rejected austerity, increased spending and the U.S. economy grew and unemployment is now down to 5.3 percent. Europe led by Germany did the opposite and the entire continent's economy (save Deutschland and the U.K., where they DON'T use the euro) is stagnant at best with very high unemployment rates in most eurozone member countries.

But they did bail out the German and French banks who lent Greece the money.  So at least the Germans and the banks are happy!

Unfortunately, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and theh Greek Parliament had to agree to the latest austerity deal put forth by Europe. They needed the money to open their banks and thus allow their citizens to have at least some level of financial certainty.

Another factor behind the ratification of the deal is that Greeks want to stay in the eurozone, for a number of reasons. Politically, Greeks believe in a united Europe. Economically, they hope that one day soon Europe (not just China or Russia) will start investing in the Hellenic state and spur actual growth. Finally, and egotistically, it bothers Greeks that their nation, a sophisticated, modern (far from perfect) democratic state that gave the world the word for and concept of Europe would not be in the eurozone while lessor countries like Bulgaria, Latvia or Romania would.

Though austerity is terrible with a track record of being terrible, some of the reforms foisted on Greece are necessary. Trimming the size of the Greek government bureaucracy is overdue; the cronyism in hiring, and the corruption that comes along with it, has to end. Increasing the retirement age to 65 makes sense (though the deal with Europe increases it to 67), and privatizing some enterprises and increasing competition does, too.

Of course, though I'm not an expert I have two ideas of my own. If you go to Greece you'll notice two things during your stay.  One, everyone is friendly and seems to get along great with everyone - their neighbors, strangers, tourists, etc.  Filotimo, the Greek love of honor, is alive and well. Two, there is wifi all over Greece.  Ask Ariadne; the wifi situation in Greece is remarkably good (except in our χωριό: that's one reason to go to Spilia of course).

I believe those two strengths could be used to help Greece.

If I could have my dream job right now, it would be to raise a few million dollars and help advance or deepen civil society in Greece. The filotimo is there; I think Greeks would want to work with their fellow Greeks. But civil society, do it yourself/punk rock, citizens groups -  everything from Habitat for Humanity to the Sierra Club to the Junior League to Alcoholics Anonymous - are not as strong as they could be or need to be in a democracy.  Too often Greeks only look to their political parties for any kind of civic activity, which of course feeds into the cronyism and corruption. Again, the filotimo is there. Greece just needs more citizens groups to help fully utilize all that love of honor.

I could be completely wrong about civil society - though I know they do not have a Sierra Club that organizes hikes, happy hours, and grassroots lobby days in the capital. But I know for a fact that one thing Greece needs is more cash registers.  That's where wifi comes in.

Here in the U.S., where the hipster start-up economy is everywhere, iPad's and iPhone's often act as cash registers.  When I go to a food truck or the coffee shop near my office I use a debit card to pay, a tattooed cashier swipes it on their iPhone or iPad with a little attachment, and they email me the receipt.

Ah, the receipt.  It includes your order plus that magic wand, your sales tax. Greeks, both individuals and businesses, are notorious for not paying their taxes. And the Greek state is broke as a result of too many obligations and not enough tax revenue.

In at least a third of the shops and restaurants we patronized in Greece they did not have a cash register. Instead, merchants or waiters made change in old fashioned lock boxes, envelopes, fanny packs, or in apron pockets.  And those stores did not give out receipts.

Since there is so much wifi in Greece, why don't Greek banks emulate our start ups/hipsters and give each of their commercial customers an iPad? That way every business in Greece will have an on-line cash register. Greek citizens already pay many of their bills via ATMs and kiosks so the card culture exists. Greek banks can complete the deal by making sure that every citizen in the motherland has a debit or ATM card or better yet a credit card. A majority of Greeks sstill do not have credit cards.

It was shocking to see how many businesses in Greece appear to be off the grid and not tied electronically to their bank via a cash register. I have no idea if any of these off-line business pay any taxes but the safe money is they are paying way less of what they owe, if they pay taxes at all.  Making sure each business is online with a cash register that takes ATM or credit cards, linked to a bank, should increase tax revenue significantly thus helping the Greek state pay it debts and fulfill it's financial obligations and responsibilities.

Best of all, both of these ideas should be doable thanks to a very educated and motivated Greek populace.  More than 36 percent of Greeks have a college degrees, a higher percentage than here in the U.S.  Greeks are educated but they need opportunities to use those smarts.  A robust civil society and entrepreneurialism, aided by a electronically linked iPad cash register, should help.

Thanks for reading this lengthy post.  Let me know, particularly if you are in Greece, if any of this makes sense! Τα λεμε!

Report from ground zero: Athens

Our second to the last destination on our jaunt through the motherland* is Athens. For centuries, this city was the center of the universe and if you have been following the crisis, it is again!  At least it has been to the press.

As you may recall from previous posts, we did not really notice the impacts of the crisis in Thessaloniki, Crete, Messinia or Nafplion.  I assumed we would in Athens, Greece's largest city full of pensioners and protesters.

Only we haven't.

Even in Athens the tourist bubble is still intact: cash comes out of the ATMs; most places take credit cards; the streets are filled with tourists; the beautiful (that's the word for it) Athens Metro is clean and orderly and normal. Additionally, during a walking trip into a residential neighborhood near our hotel I found the mini mart full of food, a larger market also fully stocked, and a vegetable stand bursting with produce.  Even the graffiti, which mars large parts of Thessaloniki, is relatively mild here.

Granted, neighborhoods outside of downtown probably aren't in as good a shape, and there are many store fronts whose only sign is 'ενοικίαση' - for rent - but in general Athens seems to be in decent to good shape.

There definitely seems to be a disconnect between the press and the facts on the ground.  For instance, the day after we saw a report on the BBC on the dire shape of the Monastiraki flea market we went there, and found it full of opens stores, merchandise, and tourists. Later that night we saw the BBC reporter on the square behind the Acropolis Museum but resisted the urge to ask about his coverage.

Or maybe I am simply too ensconced in my tourist bubble but the Athens and Athenians we have interacted with has ranged from awesome to normal.  I hope that our experience here is less me being insensitive to folks who are suffering and more that H Ελλάδα ποτέ δεν πεθαίνει! Greece will never die!

I'll wrap up this post with a quote from Chuck D: don't believe the hype, and come to Greece if you can!**  Τα λεμε! - Αthan

* Of course, we wrap up our trip outside of the motherland courtesy of a 20-hour layover in Constantinople. But since my dad's family is from Anatolia it counts.
** The second part of that quote was NOT from Chuck D.  I believe that was Flava Flave.

Notes from Nafplio

As Ariadne and I head into the home stretch of our 15 trip through Greece we are starting to see some of the impacts of the crisis. You may recall that in our tourist bubble things have been great - but things were also pretty good when we ventured  outside of that bubble.  During our visit to my mom's home region of Messinia - which is not a tourist destination by any stretch though it has some great sites and beaches - we found ATMs full of euros and stores and shops full of food.

Here in Nafplio, an incredibly charming coastal town that like Crete should be on every itinerary if you visit our motherland, two merchants asked me to pay with cash instead of credit cards.  Both offered discounts for paying with euros, and both said Greek banks are starting to warn store owners they may run out of money if a deal is not struck soon.  The American banks behind my credit and ATM cards will reimburse the Greek banks instantaneously according these store owners; Greek banks will not do the same to local merchants out of fear.

We head to Athens in 24 hours so may see more signs of the crisis soon.  But for now, other than two merchants asking for script, Greece continues to function and be the greatest of destinations.

Να' τα πουμε! - Athan

Greece on the morning after

I'll try to post some photos, etc. this afternoon, but in the meantime I want to give folks a quick update on Greece on the morning after the big vote - more than 60 percent - against the bailout offer.  We have spent the last 2 plus days in Messinia, my mom's home region and more importantly not a tourist area so outside the bubble we have been in since landing in Greece last week.

1. the banks have money, with no restrictions on withdrawals from foreign accounts.  I was able to take money out without any issues - other then the guilt that unlike a local Greek a Greek-American tourist can take out more than 60 euros.
2. The guy in line behind me said 'to be Greek is to deal with difficulty/challenges; we've done it before and now we'll do it again.'
3. The stores have plenty of food; the Ola Mini Market is living up to it's name in Greek: they have everything from snacks to eggs to batteries.
4. The Greek people continue to be resolute. There is lots of anger but not much self pity.

That's it for now, but look for future posts where I hope to explore two ideas: the conflict in Greece between Φιλότιμο, the Greek love of honor, and their selfish, every man for himself behavior; and one simple solution for Greece's economy - iPads and cash registers.

 Να' τα ποθμε! - Athan