Situation in Greece

[Half-Saint]

Hi guys,

just read a news article stating that PayPal doesn't really work in Greece anymore because you can't fill your account using your credit card.

We've had lots of news from Greece these days, mostly negative. I'd like to hear from the members here. How bad is it? Is it really as bad as they say? How are you guys doing?

And most importantly, is there anything we can do to help? If not the whole country, at least we can help you

Cheers,
SainT

 

[portarinos]

First of all thanks for the interest SainT! As far as Paypal is concerned, yes, there seems to be a problem because as we all know, all the accounts are linked to a credit card or bank account, so, since all the banks in Greece are closed because of the fragile situation (bank run, haircut rumours etc) there is no way you can top up your account. In case there is money in your balance, then no problems occur.

As for the bigger picture, i think that we are in a shitty situation over here with both sides (Greek governments over the years and EE officials) to blame for different reasons. To be honest, it is one of the most embarassing and frustrating situations i've ever experienced in my life so far. It's not that i have any serious financial problem but it's all about the uncertain future. On Sunday, there is going to be held a referendum on whether the greek people want or not to accept the bailout offered by the troika (IMF, EE, ECB) under specific circumstances. For the time being, people can only withdraw 60 euros per day from their bank accounts so this causes problems to any transaction and of course to the whole market. In fact, we need deep and serious reforms of our fiscal system, of the public sector and many more which no government has dared until now but for now what is mostly important is to have our banks reopen and secure our participation in the eurozone or go back to the drachma (which is something that most people fear). Anyhow, a default or "semi" default is what is going on here. We try to keep calm and see what happens after Sunday's referendum.

 

[Jameson]

Didn't Greece already go through the exact same situation and default on all its loans about 5 years ago? I seem to remember hearing a lot about this at the time..... how did it happen again?!

 

[portarinos]

5 years ago, Greece signed the first memorandum with the Troika just when our economic system seemed to hit the wall after years of fruitless loans that inflated public debt. Officially and in theory it wasn't a default back then but if you want my opinion, it was something like a silent default about which everybody knew in the EE headquarters but they kept on pumping in billions of euros. It is rather difficult to explain the situation on an amiga related forum. The causes are way too many but greedy/corrupt Greek (and not only) politicians plus all their voters throughout the years should be mentioned first.

 

[Countraven]

I will sell my Amigas to portarinos and be a rich guy again.

 

[Jameson]

Thanks for the explanation portarinos - appreciated.

Interesting, if not unfortunate, situation. Please feel free to update this thread as news comes to you - I am sure many of us will follow it with interest.

 

[BLTCON0]

This has been a political trap in many ways, and a lot can be said about the attitudes of both the local government (present and past ones) and the EU/IMF etc but the real deal is what portarinos said - reforms are needed.
It seems that parties here, in one form or another, were established long before a solid, party-less state had any chance of being established. So instead of having the per-election winner party act through an established state, a 'state' was established anew each time a party took over.
Enough is enough though and I hope better rationalisation of what has and what should not have happened will commence.
The media have not helped. No surprise there of course. It's sad to see an ill-conceived political move becoming a feast for the usual vultures, ultimately endangering national coherence even at the theoretical level. Often history repeats itself - I hope it does not in this case.

 

[slk486]

Going on holiday to Greece in a couple of days. Not the best time I suppose, but on the other hand I get to support some local businesses Also pledged in the IndieGoGo campaign, but as that has a snowballs chance in hell to succeed, that won't amount to much

 

[portarinos]

Slk486, no need to worry about your holiday. Life over here is going on as usual (well, almost) and it should still go on no matter what. You'll meet friendly people all over the place and you will definitely have fun anyway. Tomorrow is the referendum day and after that i suppose that things will clear up a bit. Time for decisions and action but let's hope that everything will end soon. What places are you going to visit btw?

 

[slk486]

Good to know portarinos Someone else ordered the tickets and the place to stay, so I don't actually know where we're going, except for it being one of the smaller islands

Hoping for a sensible solution.

 

[leof]

What I dislike most is that this referendum boosts polarisation and discord between the Greek people. Between left and right, between yes and no. I also dislike the use of big words from the Greek prime minister and finance minister. When they speak of dignity they should behave like that themselves first.
I think big reforms are necessary but also debt relief. European leaders now need some time to get their people used to this idea. You cannot change Europe in 5 months time as the Tsipras government is trying to.

I will visit Greece in autumn. If I'm still welcome...

 

[keropi]

I don't want to write about the failures of our political system over the years or about EU/IMF failures the last ~6 years that only made things worse , I only want to remind people to take with a grain of salt all what the mass media say...

Everyone wishing to visit Greece was, is and will always be welcome here and will have a great time, don't ever think for a second that people hold a grudge towards EU/world common people for the situation.

 

[supaduper]

I had the best holiday on Crete ever ! wonderful place and people. just watch out for that landing on Heraklion LoL its a screamer

 

[Templar]

About PayPal, it's obvious that greeks cannot send money abroad for goods, but I don't think there's a problem when we want to sell something. That way, money will stay at paypal's balance and we can at least buy something.

 

[limboy777]

Yasu Malakas

I had quite a few Greek friends at Uni. Really nice people, great culture, great food. Its a shame whats happening but Im an optimist so I think eventually everything will get back to normal.

I think something like this happened to Argentina a while ago and they recovered.

 

[Templar]

"Malakas" isn't the best of the words you can use actually to anyone.

 

[keropi]

it's a bad word but used widely amongst friends, limboy777 means the best

 

[Templar]

Like in GTA IV, you "stupid m@l@k@"....

 

[limboy777]

it's a bad word but used widely amongst friends, limboy777 means the best

Thats right, it was common to greet all my greek freinds with this saying. In fact I dont ever remember the phrase never being used when meeting people!

- - - Updated - - -

Like in GTA IV, you "stupid m@l@k@"....

LOL

 

[SaviorX]