WHO KNOWS.

The small group of men walked out of the door of the company’s building and walked
straight in to the nearby coffee house for their TGIF (Thank God Its Friday) ritual of
coffee and talk about their work, football, family and such. This Friday, however their
talk soon receded to mutterings about the gloomy prospects of the country. One of the
men said why all this pain from the austerity measures put in force when all we have
to do is sell the public real estate whose value is close to the size of the national debt.
Somebody disagreed saying it is not easy because there is no precise appraisal of it
all. Of course the Government can bring in the experts who can assess all the Public
property and recommend ways to market it profitably and to also re-negotiate the
leases of public real estate many of which are a scandal … leased to “favorites” for far
less than the norm. In theory it solves the problem, but it takes smarts and integrity. A
long silence evidenced the group’s thoughts … who has these qualities. Another man
said that if only the costs of the Public Corporations can be contained, some of them
restructured to stem the red ink they bleed, others sold off or closed down. The talk
thus turned to the Public Expenditures for useless Technical Education Institutions,
useless Local Government expenditures like Municipal Radio Stations with small
audiences and big costs, to accommodate “friends”. One commented about how the
minister in charge of Media scorned the idea of merging the three Government owned
National Radio and Television Networks into one. A substantially cost saving
measure but unthinkable for the politicians. He continued saying that Money loosing
municipal corporations should be closed and so should public organizations with a
vague or unimportant reason for their existence, other than the accommodation of
“friends” and sometimes with a board bigger than the staff of the organization. Every
one in the group nodded their concurrence and everybody wandered who is capable of
such action which would greatly help reduce expenditures and help generate surpluses
that can help reduce the national debt. With a shy somebody exclaimed what a waste
and went on to say that those who work for two years in the office of a MP have the
right to become public employees, and that public employees are sent to work in the
offices of political parties! ! That is not the only wasteful practice, somebody added.
There are more than a quarter million public employees that are redundant … not
really needed. They offer little or nothing and they cost a lot, but none can infringe
their right to be there. The unions and their allies in parliament secured that.
Unemployment is only for the private sector of the Economy, a consequence of the
recession. Efficiency, Productivity, Meritocracy, the hallmarks of the private sector
are inconceivable in the public sector, let alone Redundancy, so who can dare take on
the unions and the politicians at the same time ? Everyone in the group agreed it was
“mission impossible” and everyone agreed that a revision of the laws regarding labor
and public employment in particular is an absolute need for the country to become
competitive in international markets. One of the group went as far as saying : we need
a new constitution to start a new way of life. Major changes are in order. At that point
Yiannis started what seemed like a soliloquy. Police, he said, is ineffective. Hoodlums
disarm them and run away with their weapons. A Helicopter lands in the yard of a
prison in the Athens metropolitan area and whisks away inmates. We have a poorly
trained and unmotivated police and prison guard system. The courts usually pass
down “light” justice. A condemned criminal threatens with death from the hands of a
terrorist organization the prosecutor of his case, in the court room. Cases, especially
those of common, or, tax law, take very long to be processed. Prisons are
overcrowded and there is no provision for new prisons, or prisons built and run by
private concerns, as is the case in the USA. The Law is, generally speaking, not
enforced. Lassitude everywhere. Pedestrians crowded out by motorcycles on the
pavements, illegal immigrants peddling their wares for less than half price outside
stores that carry the same merchandise because they are peddling stolen, or, smuggled
“stuff”, yet others set up shops with none of the mandatory licenses and registration.
Fuel smuggling is big business, the state knows this but is unable (?) to control it,
thus losing hundreds of millions Euros in taxes. Customs officers and officials are
“lax” in their vigilance. Moslems pray in the centre of Athens, because politicians still
talk about erecting a mosque in Athens. Farmers block the highways to press the
Government, every time they demand something. Owners of trucks block streets and
highways, create trouble in reaction to the opening of their trade to all, as is standard
practice in the rest of Europe and mandated by the Memorandum signed by Greece
and its saviors. Violent behavior, everywhere, and youth seeing that there are hardly
any repercussions for misbehavior emulate adults. University professors beaten by
hooded young people and threatened with “consequences” if they answer the
minister’s call and meet to examine the appalling conditions in their institutions, in an
effort to upgrade standards and restore some respectability to the degrees from Greek
Universities, to say nothing about the EU funds squandered in research of no
particular value. Hospitals with no management of their finances, no budgets, no cost
controls, poor service in general, their managers not held accountable for any thing,
hence the fact that Greeks spend on medical services from the private sector 1180
Euros per capita annually, when in the rest of the EU that figure is 770. There are
thousands of public entities costing the Government Billions a year. Employees of
public corporations earn on average double what private sector employees earn - 44%
more than public employees/civil servants who earn on average about 40% more than
private sector employees – to produce those horrendous budget deficits. The Media
act irresponsibly, exaggerating, misinforming, confusing, spreading fears,
highlighting non significant facts for the sake of sensationalism. No dialogue, no
common vision, no sense of direction, no communication, no common values, no
mutual respect, no integrity in attitudes, no social cohesion, a disintegrating society
with a sore lack of leadership. People drawn to politics because the money is good in
national or local political office, in addition to the extras. Greece is nowhere near its
European cohorts, in terms of political maturity and standards. Consentient silence
followed Yiannis’ soliloquy.
After a while someone said, to think that we can get out of this bind with good
leadership. The people who led us to this sorry state of affairs are not the people who
can get us out of this bind. Did you see the other night the evening news ? The head of
the Union of the Public Electricity Enterprise telling the minister that < We will never
permit it to happen> referring to the privatization of the company’s coal mines,
eventually the privatization of the corporation which he (unofficially of course) co-
manages, the Chairman being only a figurehead, or so it seems. The minister just
stood there almost “at attention” hearing the head of the Union threatening “all out
war if the Government dares to go against the Union’s dictates. His words were <we
will shed blood-we will go to prison but it (privatization) will not pass> we will
safeguard the interests of the Greek people. (!) Stipulations of the Memorandum that
saved the country from bankruptcy –National interest notwithstanding, it is “their”
corporation and they decide for it. Every time they want their will imposed they turn
the switch and the country is turned off … powerless and “powerless”. Never mind
the losses incurred by businesses from dead freezers and refrigerators and to small
manufacturers depending on electricity for their operation, losses to hotels,
restaurants, shops and to hell with street and traffic lights, offices, homes and such
insignificant owners of the Public Electricity Enterprise . . . the tax payers who still
own the 51% of the corporation that is not privatized. The minister is fully aware of
the Union’s potency (exhibited on several occasions) and so avoids confrontation.
Hearing this Yiannis said have you noticed that all Union officials of all the Unions,
from Pharmacists to Garbage collectors, end their statements with the words WE
WILL NOT PERMIT IT. They are above the law. Their prerogatives sacrosanct. In
our democracy law is the rights and privileges of each guild and Union. We are ruled
by various minorities. A small band of Union “troops” prohibited tourists from a
cruise ship to disembark, to see Athens and prohibited others from embarking to start
their cruise. The cruise companies of other EU countries were asked to employ a
certain number of highly paid Greeks in each of their ships in order to be permitted to
embark/disembark passengers in Greek ports. Naturally the cruise companies refused,
dropped Greece from their schedules and Greece is loosing hundreds of millions
Euros from the passengers that would have come to Greece, gone around sights and
shops, stayed in hotels, eaten in restaurants, spending money and what of the jobs lost
as a consequence. It takes just a hundred people to inflict blows to the National
Economy. Democracy is supposed to be the Rule of the people, by the people, for the
people. Here we have the people (Parliament) by the people (Government) substituted
by small bands, or large Unions, acting (for their own people) contrary to the benefit
of (the people) … the majority. Every body seemed to agree, so Yiannis went on
with his little rhetoric saying we need a Government which can think out of the box.
One that will put in place everywhere Zero base Budgeting and Budget follow up with
monthly reports and immediate corrective action, where needed, just as companies in
the private sector do. One that will abolish the thousands of useless public
organizations, reduce the number of public employees and this should be effected
immediately, no more time should be wasted. All these thousands of people should be
paid for two years two thirds of only their basic salary and those who so wish should
be given Government paid training in whatever they choose, to thus be enabled to find
suitable engagement in the private sector. Those who prefer to start a business should
be assisted with Government guaranteed loans and be directed to NEW VENTURES
INCUBATORS set up by the Government in partnership with the private sector, so
that the new business-people will have both the start up funds and the operational
support they will need to start and to grow. A New Ventures development group can
be started, with private enterprise heavily represented, to study opportunities for the
creation of new ventures of magnitude, put together the Business plans and start
presenting them at the appropriate venues to the appropriate people, such as Venture
Capital Forums, that it can organize and to Venture Capital Companies, both in
Greece and abroad. This will also encourage a great part of the more than 25 Billion
Euros that fled the country in 2010 to repatriate and seek investment opportunities
through Investment and Equities Funds, that can be set up quickly, to complement
existing ones by specializing in different areas of business activity e.g. Tourism,
Metal Manufacturing, Organic Agriculture etc. The Government should foster
INNOVATION and COMPETITIVENESS. It can help Universities understand the
benefits to their finances of marketable research. It can encourage the mergers of
small businesses with Tax and other benefits to help them stand their ground in the
competitive environment of this world. It can encourage VOLUNTARY assistance of
small business from competent retirees, VOLUNTARY work for social care, foresting
etc. When motivated the Greeks will gladly volunteer for a purpose they relate to,
example : the volunteers of the 2004 Olympics. Volunteer work also helps the
Government with lower expenditures, the Volunteers with a sense of good purpose
accomplishment and the country with a sense of cooperative effort (good antidote to
the current apathy-frustration-despair evidenced in the recent local Government
elections). Confidence, Optimism, a Vision, a National Purport, these are the
prerequisites for a National Consensus, needed to get the country out of the current
misery and of course a Government brimming over Common Sense, one that can put
an end to the subjugation of the rational to the irrational. The small group remained
silent with a pensive look on their face. The silence was broken by one who said, with
an undertone of frustration : Yianni, this is Greece, it could never happen. Yiannis
took a deep breath and said : We are in a sink or swim situation, so maybe, just
maybe, this country may decide to move … forward, so … who knows … who
knows. He looked at his watch and said … time we move on. The conversation ended
there.