By Pete Papaherakles
As the European debt crisis was being launched
in Greece in early 2010, the global media, at
the behest of international bankers, started
spinning their web of deceit in order to portray
the crisis as the result of laziness and mismanagement
on the part of the target countries. The acronym PIIGS
(Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) was even deliberately
created to unfairly characterize the citizens of
those nations as gluttonous Eurozone slackers. If that
wasn’t bad enough, the major news outlets then worked
to pit the people of economic powerhouses like Germany
against countries like Greece in order to take the heat off
the bankers, who are really to blame for the financial
mess that plagues Europe.
Once the Greeks were forced to accept a “bailout,”
Germany had to guarantee much of the Greek debt. The
Germans were not too happy about having to bail out the
Greeks, who were portrayed in the media as working far
fewer hours—and much less diligently—than the Germans.
A Der Spiegel cover showed Venus de Milo giving
Germany the finger. In America,mainstreamcommentators
railed about the Greeks and their “16-hour lunches.”
As it turns out, however, the story about the laziness
of the Greeks is completely unfounded.
Reports by the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD), a source of global economic
statistics, show that the Greeks are actually the
hardest workers in all of Europe. The Greeks are the only
Europeans to average over 2,000 hours a year on the job.
In it’s latest available statistics chart for 2010, the
OECD shows that Greeks work an astounding 48 percent
more hours than Germans. Greeks spend 2,109 hours at
work, compared to 1,429 hours by Germans. A distant second
in Europe is Italy,with 1,778 hours, the exact same as
the United States. This translates to 41 hours perweek for
Greeks, 35 for Italians and Americans and only 27 for Germans.
In fact, the only country in the world that averages
more hours at work per year than Greece is South Korea,
with 2,193. Greeks have been working longer hours than
all Europeans since at least 2000, the first year listed on
the chart and are the only people to be working longer
hours in 2010 than they did in 2000.
The point of this is to show that the Greek worker has
been doing his part. He is not to blame. It was the Greek
government that allowed itself to be systematically driven
to bankruptcy. Greece was set up for a fall decades ago
when it entered the European Union. A relatively poor
country, it lacked the capital and industry of the larger
Western European countries. It could never havemet the
standards of entry for the Eurozone 10 years ago unless
Goldman Sachs and corrupt Greek officials hadn’t manipulated
Greece’s eligibility with currency swaps and
used other dubious accounting tricks to hide the truth.
As a result, Greece kept getting deeper in debt in
order to maintain the illusion of solvency—the price it
paid for EU membership. This debt was a ticking time
bomb threatening Greece’s economy. A decade of massive
infrastructure spending, the enormous expense of
hosting the 2004 Olympic games, growing corruption and
scandal on the political front—all on borrowedmoney—
made Greece ripe for the planned debt crisis of 2010.
In order to cover their tracks, the bankers, corrupt
politicians and the controlledmedia pitted theGreek people
against theGerman people as a diversion. InGermany,
the Germans are being told they now have to work even
harder for less money. Meanwhile, the Greeks are being
told that the Nazis committed atrocities in Greece during
WWII and that the Greeks deserve billions of dollars in
reparations. At the same time, the salaries and pensions
of the Greeks are being are slashed in half, prices and
taxes have soared and the country—along with its resources—
is being stolen from the Greek people.
——in Greece in early 2010, the global media, at
the behest of international bankers, started
spinning their web of deceit in order to portray
the crisis as the result of laziness and mismanagement
on the part of the target countries. The acronym PIIGS
(Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) was even deliberately
created to unfairly characterize the citizens of
those nations as gluttonous Eurozone slackers. If that
wasn’t bad enough, the major news outlets then worked
to pit the people of economic powerhouses like Germany
against countries like Greece in order to take the heat off
the bankers, who are really to blame for the financial
mess that plagues Europe.
Once the Greeks were forced to accept a “bailout,”
Germany had to guarantee much of the Greek debt. The
Germans were not too happy about having to bail out the
Greeks, who were portrayed in the media as working far
fewer hours—and much less diligently—than the Germans.
A Der Spiegel cover showed Venus de Milo giving
Germany the finger. In America,mainstreamcommentators
railed about the Greeks and their “16-hour lunches.”
As it turns out, however, the story about the laziness
of the Greeks is completely unfounded.
Reports by the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD), a source of global economic
statistics, show that the Greeks are actually the
hardest workers in all of Europe. The Greeks are the only
Europeans to average over 2,000 hours a year on the job.
In it’s latest available statistics chart for 2010, the
OECD shows that Greeks work an astounding 48 percent
more hours than Germans. Greeks spend 2,109 hours at
work, compared to 1,429 hours by Germans. A distant second
in Europe is Italy,with 1,778 hours, the exact same as
the United States. This translates to 41 hours perweek for
Greeks, 35 for Italians and Americans and only 27 for Germans.
In fact, the only country in the world that averages
more hours at work per year than Greece is South Korea,
with 2,193. Greeks have been working longer hours than
all Europeans since at least 2000, the first year listed on
the chart and are the only people to be working longer
hours in 2010 than they did in 2000.
The point of this is to show that the Greek worker has
been doing his part. He is not to blame. It was the Greek
government that allowed itself to be systematically driven
to bankruptcy. Greece was set up for a fall decades ago
when it entered the European Union. A relatively poor
country, it lacked the capital and industry of the larger
Western European countries. It could never havemet the
standards of entry for the Eurozone 10 years ago unless
Goldman Sachs and corrupt Greek officials hadn’t manipulated
Greece’s eligibility with currency swaps and
used other dubious accounting tricks to hide the truth.
As a result, Greece kept getting deeper in debt in
order to maintain the illusion of solvency—the price it
paid for EU membership. This debt was a ticking time
bomb threatening Greece’s economy. A decade of massive
infrastructure spending, the enormous expense of
hosting the 2004 Olympic games, growing corruption and
scandal on the political front—all on borrowedmoney—
made Greece ripe for the planned debt crisis of 2010.
In order to cover their tracks, the bankers, corrupt
politicians and the controlledmedia pitted theGreek people
against theGerman people as a diversion. InGermany,
the Germans are being told they now have to work even
harder for less money. Meanwhile, the Greeks are being
told that the Nazis committed atrocities in Greece during
WWII and that the Greeks deserve billions of dollars in
reparations. At the same time, the salaries and pensions
of the Greeks are being are slashed in half, prices and
taxes have soared and the country—along with its resources—
is being stolen from the Greek people.
Pete Papaherakles, a U.S. citizen for more than 35 years, was born in Greece.
He is AFP’s outreach director. If you would like to see AFP speakers at your rally,
contact Pete at 202-544-5977
He is AFP’s outreach director. If you would like to see AFP speakers at your rally,
contact Pete at 202-544-5977
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