The callous nature of Greek politicians never fails to amaze the outsider.
Today the Greek government has announced that if Greeks do not vote for a pro bailout party they are not sure if they have the money to pay pensioners in August.
And given how many people can claim pension in Greece due to the low retirement age this kind of government propaganda is just the sort of thing that will get pensioners voting for the mainstream parties.
I have written before about how the governments intimidate their citizens by threatening to withhold benefits but it always disappoints me when I see it happen.
Take this piece of government propaganda today.
Let us think for one moment what this actually means.
The Greek government by saying that they might not have money to pay pensions in August is saying this.
In August, if the Greek government does not get money from abroad we are not going to fire people from the department of tourism, we are not going to eliminate the department of trade, we are not going to close down the department of agriculture, we are not even going to lay off all unnecessary staff from these departments.
No, instead of laying off young workers in the public sector working in departments that have no real benefit to the economy we will instead stop giving money back to the most vulnerable people in society, we will stop giving money to pensioners.
Instead of firing a 23-year-old worker in the department of tourism we will not give money to 3 pensioners.
Instead of giving old people the money they are entitled to we are going to default on our pension obligations so we can pay a young worker in the public sector.
I don’t want to labour the point here but I want to make it clear what the Greek government is saying.
Sure it is not just the Greek government that targets the most vulnerable as a blackmail move when things get tough but sometimes it is hard to see if the government has any other choices but they do, millions of them.
In fact governments can make cuts in infinite ways before the most vulnerable should feel the pinch.
The next time you hear a government saying they are going to default on their pension payments ask yourself if that is a reasonable decision.
When a government threatens not to pay pensions it is saying that EVERYTHING that the government spends money on is more important than pensioners.
The government is saying that ALL government departments are more important that making sure pensioners get their money back.
Like I said, I don’t want to labour the point, but when a government says it does not have money to pay pensions it is in effect saying that pensioners are the least important people in the country.
The government is saying that pension payments are the biggest unnecessary expenditure that the government makes hence it should be the first thing to be cut.
Personally I disagree with this thinking.
Pensioners are the most important expenditure that a government makes and should come before almost everything else.
Pensioners have paid money to the government under the express understanding that they will get the money back when they retire. Pensioners are also the least able to provide for themselves which means they should be given the most protection by the government not the LEAST.
The ironic thing is that when a government threatens pensioners in this way, it is actually doing it to get their vote, at least in the case of Greece at the moment.
The irony is turned up to 11. The government is saying to pensioners, we think that giving you your money back is the least important thing that we do, that you are the least important people to us and because we think of you is such a despicable way and because we are willing to treat you so badly, you should vote for us.
I hope pensioners in Greece can see through the threat but I understand the government has got a pretty big bat with which to hit pensioners if it chooses. Personally, I believe if these kind of threats pass unchallenged then Greek pensioners can expect more threats like this in the future.
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