Peter's Viewpoint

The Greek Diaspora loves their homeland, but enough is enough.

President Papoulias announced on the Greek holiday, the 25th of March, that he wants all the Diaspora abroad to support Greece.

For years, Greeks abroad have been sending money to their parents like my father and uncle did.  Then they moved back to Greece bringing with them their hard earned money and assets like cars and the goods from their homes in search of a Greece from another era which they did not find.

After completing the bureaucracy of forms and being forced to pay kickbacks to whoever they came in contact with, they finally managed to settle the dust of moving into their homes.
I remember my father telling me stories about why Greece was less expensive than living in the USA but what he didn’t tell me were the real reasons – simply put, Greeks were not paying taxes because the political parties had created an infamous corrupt system.

As it is with all immigrants, they love to remember the places that they grew up with fanciful delight of greatness and splendor but the facts are that Greece was a simpler land only before the 1940’s.  After the institutions of Pasok and New Democracy, corruption became the standard that made Greece the most expensive country in Europe today.

The following articles are from two newspapers, one in Los Angeles and more recently the other from an English newspaper in Greece.

Greek Americans love their homeland, but there are limits by By Anthee Carassava, Los Angeles Times

President calls for unity in message to Greeks abroad by ANA-MPA of the Athens News

It is hard to write a condensed blog on this subject especially when there is more actus reus or wrongdoing than right but Greece has more millionaires that have made fortunes by corruption.  It would be wiser for the Greek government to impose a special assessment on those with incomes in the top 5 percent and assets totaling more than 5 million euros than to risk becoming a country under a revolution like other neighboring countries.

President Papoulias, I respectfully ask you not to ask the Diaspora to support a country that should have become the paradise of the Mediterranean.

It is time that the Greeks of Greece change their country to either a European or other model and to do it on their own, please do not insult the Diaspora by constantly asking for hand-outs.

The future of every Greek citizen is in their own hands and they alone are responsible for the future of themselves and their children.