Let them eat cake!

The Euro/E.U is the real insult to Greece , yet the majority of Greeks don't yet know it.

In your tweet you referred to your response to her 'INSENSITIVE' comments about Greece. Kind of says it all. Insensitive. Poor sensitive suffering Greeks, right? Who live in a democratic country and elected a government and ended up bankrupt, by their own choice, like it or not. The Finns didn't do that, did they.

So her comments about whose suffering we should feel sensitive about ring true, and the Greeks come lower than the examples she gives. Regardless of one's views of the merits of the IMF as an institution.

the useless Pouffiasse has spoken, and didn't even mention letting them eat cake....what a vile creature she turned out to be.

Unfortunately, as an American observer, your article just smacks of a sophomoric reaction to a very difficult situation. Greece is approaching a cultural breaking point, and there are either two solutions:

1- Leave the Euro and face the cultural upheaval of creating governance institutions, a taxation system that actually works (let's face it, corruption, tax evasion, etc. have been a large part of the issues of Greece - and Greek voters only have themselves to blame for prior political regimes...)

2- Change the culture. View payment of taxes as a part of one's civic duty. View sacrifice as a part of the national burden of dealing with the issues of the past.

Unfortunately, we are all (the U.S. included) beginning to realize that we have been living in a dream - spending far more than we earn. The way we all choose to handle it going forward will define us as a people for the next decades.

1- Blame others? Refuse to change, demand something for nothing, hold others hostage? How does that define the character of a nation?
2- Suck it up, suffer - yes there are human consequences. There have always been human consequences of government systems, none which are perfect and all which have faults. But we preserve our dignity this way, I believe.

I don't claim to have the answers. But I do know how some Americans perceive the situation in Greece - there is a fundamental problem with spending and income - you cannot sustain a situation where people receive $1,000 in social goods and benefits (roads, health care, pensions) and pay into the system only $500. It's just not possible. Europe has already written down a tremendous over $100 billion Euros of Greek debt.

I, too, care for my brother and fellow man - but I can only help to the extent he is willing to help himself.

Lagarde shame on you ! And its a shame she wouldn't waste her time reading NS, Im sure she would dismiss it as leftist dribble. What would be good to see is editors, writers from NS and like minded publications infiltrating the mainstream media, that would rattle the status quo....just a thought.