The Full Catastrophe Quotes

“The Troika sought to undo the steep pay raises civil servants had received in the decade preceding the crisis, and Greek government workers saw their paychecks cut by as much as 35 percent. This was intended not only to reduce the government’s wage bill, but to make the Greek economy more competitive. Since public wage levels have a direct effect on private wages, a reduction in the former would result in a cheaper overall labor force, allowing Greece to export products at more competitive prices, the thinking went. Or as I heard some Greeks put it, the plan was to make wages as low as in China, so that Greeks, too, would one day supplicate for jobs assembling iPads until their fingers went numb. The Troika’s plan certainly seemed to work, as average incomes in Greece fell about one-quarter in the years following the outbreak of the crisis. It was not clear, however, that the Greek government would be able to sustain all the public wage cuts it had been forced to implement.”
― James Angelos, The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins

“Karikis then uttered what I thought to be a pretty fair assessment of the larger political situation in Greece. “This society is a society that has been very dependent on state money,” he said, extinguishing his cigarette. “It’s a communistic capitalism which gives people a small slice of state money so they will shut the fuck up and continue to bear the stealing. Now they say it’s our fault because we received the state money.” He paused and snapped: “Bullshit!” Then he added in a calmer voice, “We are bearing the weight of the public deficit because of our very big salaries? That is a myth. That is not half true. It’s maybe one-quarter true.”
― James Angelos, The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins

“Not surprisingly, nearly all Greeks think poorly of their public administration. In a 2012 EU survey, 96 percent of polled Greeks characterized it as “bad”—the worst result in the EU. The sentiment is so pervasive that one can assume most of the public administrators share it. The poll result was similar in the years preceding the financial crisis, and therefore cannot be attributed to subsequent cuts in services. Despite Greeks’ dissatisfaction with the way their government works, public employees in the decade leading up to the crisis received very large pay raises. During that time, public sector wages per employee grew by over 100 percent, near the highest increase in the eurozone, according to a report published by the European Central Bank. By contrast, in Germany, where people were satisfied with the way the state bureaucracy functioned, public wages grew around 13 percent. (That low rate, when one factors in inflation, essentially meant a pay cut.) Greek civil servants also received an array of benefits that sweetened their jobs. Until 2013, when the Greek government put an end to it, those working in front of computers—a condition considered a hardship—received an extra six days off a year in order to provide them some relief.”
― James Angelos, The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins

“Other eurozone nations—Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus—also needed bailouts, but German disdain was mostly reserved for Greece. That was not only because Greece needed more money than all those other countries combined, but because most of the other governments got into financial problems after having to bail out their irresponsible banks. In Greece, the banks were doing fine until the government got into financial trouble on account of its own considerable failings. Germans judged the excesses of politicians and citizens more harshly than those of banks and consumers, and saw the Greek government’s negligence as a betrayal of the European project itself.”
― James Angelos, The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins

“Doomed to perpetually contrast themselves with the unmatchable splendor of their predecessors, Greeks often confront a nagging sense of inadequacy and strain under the weight of their own historical narrative like few other people on the planet. This sentiment is expressed by a common Greek quip: “We gave light to the world and held on to the darkness.” And yet Greeks also often see themselves, on account of their ancient legacy, as a kind of chosen people, superior to others. “We had culture when they were still living in caves!” I have repeatedly heard Greeks say of their northern European counterparts. Greeks consequently often feel that Europeans should be grateful for being shown the way out of the cave and into the light. This sometimes grand self-image has also had the effect of making the country’s perceived subjugation at the hands of its creditors all the more bitter. After all, the Europeans owed them.”
― James Angelos, The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins