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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: A green-letter day ... Guest Opinion: Little room to compromise with deer ... Guest Opinion: Let’s talk turkey, Dear ... Our View: A green-letter day ... Guest Opinion: Little room to compromise with deer ... Guest Opinion: Let’s talk turkey, Dear ... ANOTHER VIEW On the road to a Grecian spurn Comment By Jeffrey Gillespie for the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Jeffrey Gillespie for the Tidings Posted Feb. 20, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Jeffrey Gillespie for the Tidings Posted Feb. 20, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Ordinary Americans are starting to feel vaguely optimistic about the economy again. Gas prices are down. Job creation is up. The markets are bullish. The storm has passed, for now. But a quick skip across the Atlantic and into Europe tells a different story. Many of America's closest European allies are under threat, and not just from outside their ranks. Greece, after five years of brutish anti-bankruptcy measures implemented by the European Union, has finally started to fight back. At the writing of this article, Europe and Greece are squaring off. To the (far) left is the newly elected government in Athens, the Marxist-Socialist Syriza Party, led by Alexis Tsipras. To the right, the richest countries in Europe, and, most importantly, Germany, the de facto economic enforcer for Brussels. At stake is whether Greece will continue to acquiesce to its agreements and pay up, or whether it will stop participating in the process and leave the Eurozone, returning to the drachma and causing unspecified harm to the world economy. Five years have passed since Greece reluctantly agreed to an austerity diet, and things have gone from bad to markedly worse. Unemployment is at nearly 26 percent. Greek debt is at 300 billion Euros, 175 percent of GDP. The people have realized that reliable payments to the international banks are only a solution for the banks. Significant blow-back has occurred against capitalist institutions, and less than a month ago, Syriza, or The Coalition of the Radical Left, was swept into power in a popular election.The Syriza government is far more focused on socialist ideology than they are on economics. As such, the party is more than willing to use the loaded gun of a departure from the Eurozone as leverage for a showdown. Currency balkanization in Europe is a dangerous thing. The European Union is still in recovery mode after the Great Recession. With Russia making land grabs in Ukraine, not to mention a rising threat from radical Islam, it is more important than ever that EU member countries show a united front. Germany has stated that it wants the Eurozone to remain intact. But there is a growing consensus that Berlin may, in fact, be willing to allow a breakup of the Eurozone in favor of preserving its own financial power. After all, when countries like Greece (or Spain, or Portugal) are in need of a bailout, it is Germany, as the largest economy in Europe, that must most expand state spending to cover those debts. Added to the financial problem is a far more nefarious historical one. Syriza does not have to look very far to be reminded of its tough history with Germany. Manolis Glezos, the oldest active member of the party, is now 92. A hero of the Left, he lived under the Nazis when they occupied Greece, and fought fiercely against them. Across Europe, and especially in the Hellenic Republic, there is a quiet sentiment that goes something like this: Germany has thrown us all into chaos once before. It does not have the moral authority to do so again, under the guise of economic stringency, or for any other reason. Up until now, Greece has offered to refrain from implementing their own economic program for six months under a European Central Bank agreement. However, Syriza has refused to abide by any of the rules of that extension, effectively telling Brussels that the Greeks are only interested in a longer timeline, without any conditions attached. Greece says it will not be intimidated into a bailout extension because the people have already rejected it at the ballot box. As of today, some small concessions appear to have been made on both sides, but a workable outcome remains elusive. One thing remains certain; under EU rules, when any one country in Europe sneezes, the rest are poised to catch a terrible cold. Jeffrey Gillespie's writing has appeared in the Santa Fean and Art Collector magazines, the Portland Mercury and Willamette Week. He lives in Ashland. By Jeffrey Gillespie for the Tidings DailyTidings.com By Jeffrey Gillespie for the Tidings Posted Feb. 20, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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