Orban, Hungary's Prime Minister, said that the country must be ready for a decade of turbulence. "Speaking honestly, sovereignty is at stake. There are only two paths here: we either get drifted back to the Greek path; or we continue with austerity. Greece cannot pay back its public debt and the condition for its survival is that Germany takes its decisions."
12 comments:
Sounds reasonable.
Anon.
Your point is valueble for me. Thanks!
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J, I think you're being spammed.
Anon.
I'll ignore it.
I always get the feeling that leaders of 3rd rate countries (and the followers that they stir up) are more concerned with sovereignty than the man in the street. The average person would probably be better off with the Hungarian or Greek economy run by honest Germans. In all the Arab kleptocracies, the people were much better off when they were ruled from Paris or London or even Istambul. Zimbabwe is an extreme parody of what happens when you put locals in charge and the rest of Africa differs from Zimbabwe only by degree. But for the handful of locals in charge, foreign rule means no opportunities to line their pockets.
K
K,
"The average person would probably be better off with the Hungarian or Greek economy run by honest Germans."
How is a people to develop without responsibility? Are they to be the eternal wards of the Germans?
If you recall, third-rate Greece and Hungary ruled themselves for long periods. (For instance, the Byzantine Empire was considered a successful state by some.) But the Greeks were a truly sovereign people then, who lived or died by their own strength and judgment, rather than quasi-sovereign professional beggars.
And then, of course, very few people in the 19th century could have believed that Jews could rule themselves, since they had so few soldiers and farmers...
Best,
s.n.
I tend to agree with K that the Germans would provide better governance to these countries. In my times, the Canadian Government had set up a consulting company offering free governing services to African countries. Canadian bureaucrats volunteered for the service. Very nice people. They longed to help Africans in running a national treasury. It did not prosper, there were no takers.
There is some logic to a voluntary trusteeship where the people of dysfunctional countries could agree to be run for a certain period by administrators from a well-run first world country such as Germany. This could work, I think, but it would need to last for a generation.
The way I'd do it would be to test the population in Greece or Zimbabwe, or wherever, and send the brightest teens to schools in the administering country. Then, after a couple of years in high school where they gain fluency in the local language, send them to universities to get degrees in various crucial fields -- medicine, engineering, law, accounting, etc.
Then, once the bright locals have their degrees, install them at the bottom rung of the civil service, the military, and key corporations in their country. Continue the process every couple of years, and promote the most capable locals, and after a generation, you'd have enough competent locals to run the whole country.
Hungary was ruled by Austrians for centuries.
I agree with s.n., the Hungarians need to grow up and take the responsibility for their own fate.
I hate to say this, but the vocal, activist Canadians are naive beyond anybody's wildest imagination.
Anon.
There is a Canadian movement of people retired from the public service that volunteers for teaching and working in Africa. It makes the Canadians feel good, but the practical effect is nil for the Africans.
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