Witnessing History

As Ariadne and I prepare for our trip to Greece, this weekend provides an interesting hinge moment for both my two nations.  The short and accurate take on things is America continues to get better, towards a more perfect union, while things in Greece are somehow actually getting worse.

And that phrase from the Constitution is a succinct reminder why America is America and Greece is Greece.

The legalization of gay rights in all 50 states, a lightening bolt of civil rights from the Supreme Court, is another example of what makes America America: citizens organizing and striving for their rights in a democracy, and believing they can win because of our democratic institutions.  They did, and they won at the highest court in the land.

Greeks, on the other hand, have neither the belief that their democracy works nor that their institutions are just or that they can win.  There was hope that PM Alexis Tsipras would be a little different but he seems to lack political skills and has completely overplayed his 'hand.' As soon as he took office he started to negotiate via blustery press releases and press conferences. Instead of saying, 'look, I know we messed up but the big question is what does Europe do with Greece now'  Tsipras has done the opposite for 4 months. That attitude seems to have played into the hands of Eurozone hardliners in Germany who obviously have no sympathy for the Syriza government.

But Europe should have sympathy for the Greek people.  But they don't.

I imagine the only solution is for President Obama or Treasury Secretary Lew to call German PM Angela Merkel and say "Cut Greece some slack. Your banks have been reimbursed and there is no reason to be putative. After all, Germany should remember what happens when you rob a nation of it's dignity and ruin it's politics. Bottom line: the US does not want a NATO ally being driven out of the Eurozone and into the arms of rogue like Putin or China."

Hopefully that will happen. And in turn Greek voters will demand institutions that serve the public good and the Greek political class will show some patriotism, pay their taxes and stop stashing their money in Switzerland (like Nazis, climate change-loving sheiks and other ne'er do wells).

And Ari and I will have a front row seat. We will be in Thessaoloniki on June 30, the day Greece may default, and in my mom's hometown village on July 5, the day Tsipras wants a referendum on the Eurozone deal.

I'll try to blog as often as possible, looking back at a country that continues to strive to be more perfect while typing from hotels in a nation just trying to survive.

A few more notes:

• I'll never understand the opposition to gay rights or gay anything.  Until it's mandatory gay marriage, what is there to get fired up about? The small-minded opponents of gay rights often say that that community is outside the mainstream, but that's exactly the opposite.  In my lifetime gays have only asked for mainstream American rights: join the Boy Scouts; openly serve in the Armed Forces; get married.  Who are these weirdos?
• As I blogged before, Greece needs to be more like America. Instead of looking towards Russia or China what Tsipras should really do, if Greece is forced to leave the Eurozone and into a Grexit with drachmas, is ask for a TPP-style trade pact with the US.  It could be a play at regional stability in the shaky, ISIS-haunted eastern Mediterranean that links the economies of Greece, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and other countries that are democracies. Greek olive oil could completely dominate the US market! I'm not an economist but seems like a good idea, right?

The Senate as a solution?

One of the indignities of living in DC is that we have no representation in Congress yet states that are barely inhabited such as Rhode Island, Alaska, Wyoming, Vermont, etc. not only have that but also TWO Senators.

Though DC does not have the representation it deserves, one has to applaud the Founding Fathers for designing a legislative body that balances the interests of large and small, rich and poor, states. 

I thought about that design when reading all the stories about the latest turns in the eurozone and Greece in the Sunday Post and Times. One problem plaguing the eurozone is that nations share a currency but not much else. Their budgets, bonds, borrowing and spending - and politics - is each different. Exhibit A is Greece and Germany, with Germany obviously fed up with Greece's spending and politics.

One goal of a united, post-war Europe was to put an end to political rivalries and nationalism.  Another goal is economic; the eurozone is supposed to create one, big, united economy much like the one in the U.S. As you know, in our united states wealthier ones such as California and New York support their poorer brethren like Mississippi and Alabama. Unfortunately, now that the chips are down Germany does not want to eurozone to function like that. Instead of propping up they have decided to force austerity on the poorer nations of Europe. 

In doing so, Berlin has cynically prioritized their banks over their fellow European citizens. Clearly, German-imposed austerity has not worked. 

As the New York Times editorialized today, one way to make the eurozone actually function is to unite European financial markets and economies - not just currencies. The Times goes on to point out that that kind of unity is unlikely since countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Ireland do not trust eurozone bureaucrat in Brussels (even though the Greeks would obviously benefit from being as transparent and prudent, etc. as the Germans), and vice-versa.  

That's where the Senate comes in. Though it slows things down, which can be but isn't always a bad thing, I am still a big fan of bicameral legislatures (sorry parliamentary democracies and Nebraska). Perhaps integrating currencies, economies and markets would work better if the existing European parliament was given greater authority AND was complimented by a Senate that functioned exactly as ours did - complete with the filibuster and cloture, and most importantly, every member of the European Senate, no matter how big or small, had 2 seats.  

Countries would be equals financially AND politically. Joining such a union or zone would also force a nation to decide, "Do you care about a union of equals or do you only care about YOUR national interests" -- and in this case German banks.

New Day, Old View in Ελλας

Two days into the Syriza era in Greece and the world economy has yet to collapse!

Though Greece is still in the eurozone new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has shaken things up a bit already, starting with his inauguration. As the son of a Greek Orthodox priest and the nephew of two more, including one in the motherland, it is still hard for me to believe that an atheist could get elected Greek prime minister. Tsipras solidified his non-creed cred by holding a secular swearing-in service without a Bible or priest. 

Another change is that Tsipras appointed Greece's first cabinet minister to root out and fight corruption, a laudatory move that elevates solving one of the country's most intractable and urgent problems. Hopefully the minister's job will also include shaming/ cajoling/forcing Greece's wealthiest citizens to actually pay their taxes. [Republicans like to point to Greece as an example of a failed welfare state but as I blogged before it is a GOP paradise: the rich simply don't pay taxes.]

An atheist PM. Fighting corruption. Those are two new, never-been-seen-before qualities for a Greek prime minister. One other change proposed by Tsipras, an end to the European sanctions against Russia, looks new and bold but is actually an old, tired and failed policy. 

During the 400+ years that Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire, Greeks repeatedly looked to the northeast, to our Orthodox coreligionists in Russia, to come liberate us and restore a Byzantine Orthodox Empire with Constantinople as it's capital.

As you may know, that never happened. Nevertheless, too many Greeks have inexplicably always looked to Russia. It didn't matter if Russia was ruled by czars, Communists, dictators, or thugs; many Greeks continued to look longingly - and unrequitedly - to Moscow. 

It's ironic that a guy who wants to do things differently in Greece - which is admirable - includes a tired, old and failed attitude towards Russia on his to-do list, and that an atheist wants to nurture an old relationship built on Orthodoxy. 

6 great minutes

For six minutes on Friday, the world seemed back in balance.  After George Samaras tied Greece's game versus Germany in the EURO 2012 championships in the 55th minute - on a beautiful pass from Dimitri Salpingidis - it was as if Ellas was finally able to draw on some of it's civilization equity to make things even with the EU, European Central Bank and the IMF (AKA the troika).


We owe you billions in bailout money, you owe us for inventing most of what makes up modern western society.  Let's call it even, 1 to 1.


Then stubborn reality showed up in the form of a blizzard of goals from Germany, and all of a sudden it was 1453 again.  After overachieving, we lost Constantinople and the football game 4 to 2. 


Germany is very, very good.  They made great passes and were aggressive the entire game.  Ellas was on her heels most of the game, yet resiliently stayed in the EURO longer than anyone expected. 


Of course, the country looks likely to stay in the euro zone longer than expected, too.  All the hand wringing leading up to last weekend's election proved to be nothing more than that.  The Greek electorate was pretty mature (something you can't say about our electorate, at least in 2010) and elected enough members of parliament from the 3 'stay in the euro zone' parties - New Democracy, PASOK, and the Coalition of the Democratic Left - to form a new coalition government and ease fears that the motherland would leave the common European currency.


Much like the performance of our football team, the elections turned out as well as could have been expected. Though Greeks elected a pro-euro coalition into power, almost 60 percent of the electorate voted for anti-bailout parties. That number gives the new government some leverage to renegotiate the terms of the bailout with the troika.


With Merkel stubbornly opposing euro bonds or a EU stimulus package, Greece's best hope for economic recovery is a renegotiated debt repayment schedule. One reason so many Greeks voted for Syriza (the Radical Coalition of Leftist Parties) and other anti-bailout parties is the accurate assessment that Germany and the European Central Bank are more concerned with repaying loans to German banks then in helping Greece out of it's current crisis.  


Of course, that perception helped make the Germany-Greece football match so news worthy and prominent on front pages - not just sports pages - around the world. 


The Ethniki played hard and well in advancing to the elite 8 of the European championships.  Let's hope their play shows Greeks what can happen when the nation rallies together and thus inspires Greeks to pay their taxes and keep their heads up as they face the crisis. 


Let's also hope the elections inspire the troika to cut Ellas some slack and renegotiate our debt repayment schedule.  


After all, the Germans scored 4 goals to our 2 - how much more do they want?


And don't forget, for six minutes everything was in balance with our contributions off-setting our debt.  Zito H Ellas!


A few more EURO 2012 notes:

• What are the odds that 3 days after Antonis Samaras is inaugurated as prime minister that George Samaras scores our game-tying goal? Big week for Ellas and that sir name.
• Though the game was not really THAT close, would have loved to see what would have happened if suspended Greek captain George Karagounis had played against Germany.  Tough way for him to go out.  At 35 you have to wonder if he will play for Greece again even if Ellas does qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
• Sports is always full of 'what ifs.' For Greece, hard NOT to wonder what would have happened if Karagounis had converted that penalty kick versus Poland.  If Ellas wins that game we play Portugal instead of Germany, a team we defeated twice in Lisbon on our way to the 2004 European championship. Tι εάν ...
• I'll blog about this later, but congrats to Labron James and the Heat.  I'm not a big fan of Dwayne Wade and strongly dislike Pat Riley, but James is clearly the best hoopster on the planet, worked hard after last year's humbling loss to Dallas, and Miami was the best team.  The decision show and the stupid and preening celebration with Wade and Chris Bosh will always be viewed as huge, ego-driven mistakes. However, James learned from those mistakes. Isn't that the point of life?  Congrats to him.