How the European Union destroyed Greece

[@KingRoayal]

As a Greek growing up in the crisis, ive seen the hatred that Germans held for the Greek People, labeling them as lazy and blaming them for their situation in Germany. The same Greek People who suffered severe unemployment and huge risk of homelesness, scandinavian-like tax rates with none of/ if less benefits than most European nations. This video is truly something to share, so that people become aware of who was blatantly using Greece as a scapegoat, and a whole nation's suffering to keep their pockets intact.
Remember Europe...

[@page8301]

As a German, I am sorry what my government and the EU did to your country. I am disgusted by Germans who hold such ridiculous blatantly racists conceit about the Greek populace. It is not better than anti-Semitism.

[@KingRoayal]

@@page8301 🫂

[@simonsays6557]

You watch too much tv and read too many newspapers. It’s not the Germans. Germany lost the war. Germany has a puppet occupied government and is falling apart itself. It’s the central bankers - Rothschild and their religion destroying the all the Europeans

[@unsrescyldas9745]

lmao, you are just a slave, and a master can complain all he wants about his slaves.

[@KingRoayal]

@@unsrescyldas9745 Very sympathetic of you to call anyone a slave, how kind

[@esti-od1mz]

The EU used the greek tragedy as a example of "what would have happened" to the other euromediterraneans if they didn't accept the austerity. How sad...

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

What should they have done instead, if not austerity then?

[@dobrasilaomundo.8086]

​​@@tomorrowneverdies567usterity did not fix the issue though, Portugal still suffer from heavy deindustralization, lack off jobs, lack of homes and everything else, European solidarity is a myth.

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

@@dobrasilaomundo.8086 so try to answer this question: what should have happened instead?

[@Agate717]

@@tomorrowneverdies567 The ending of the reactionary ECB dent policy

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

@@Agate717 I don't quite understand what you mean.

[@rekonizakilamilkshake8421]

I'm a nearly 40 year old black Briton, and I'm seriously humbled and optimistic about the politics of people like yourself. Yugoonik, FinnishB, BE, Hakim etc.
Great video.

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Thank you mate, I'm very glad to hear that.

[@suprithAnCom]

Another cannel is re education, about anarcho communism

[@panoskatrin4910]

​​@@BalkanOdyssey_ There actually is a communist party within greece which has helped workers unions and fights against large monopolies as well as accepting the violent overthrow of the capitalist system as something neccesery while at the same time preparing to become illegal again.Yet in all this documentary the fights of the greek working class during the years of crisis and even today were never mention in this documentary,its as if what happened was just behine closed doors and although it failed workers movements were just sitting around supporting syriza or the new democracy party all this time

[@TheHungarianOak]

How is the color of your skin relevant?

[@rekonizakilamilkshake8421]

@@TheHungarianOak because of capitalism, slavery, colonialism and historical to contemporary anti black racism... Especially in the anglosphere.
How is your question relevant?

[@josemaria8177]

Seeing the greek crisis unfold in real time and seeing it being used by the EU and the IMF as a threat of what they would do to my country (Portugal) If we didn't comply with their austerity and neoliberal agenda was one of the most radicalizing experiences of my life. Thanks for the video

[@MrCubassss]

was legalizing weed really so bad?

[@Guilherme-nc5li]

We need a video like this but about Portugal

[@game_boyd1644]

@mwfp1987 "live within your means" lol

[@MrSilverfish12]

@mwfp1987 you can´t just blame Portugal. They have been put into a debt honeytrap just like what the Chinese do in the pacific. The EU and the IMF should have done what any good creditor should have done and assessed whether Portugal is productive enough to pay the loan. But no, lets put them into a debt bondage instead so we can control their country.

[@MrSilverfish12]

​@mwfp1987 I get where you are coming from, we the voters should be held to account but my thing is this; why did the EU and IMF give the loans out? This is why I compare it China´s debt trap, get a country into debt then gain control of it through the guise of debt management or selling it´s resources and assets. As for people voting for this, I feel this is why democracy often works against itself sometimes, I´m more of constitutionalist.

[@alancantu2557]

Holy cow, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for. My wife and her family are all Greek, and I’ve been wanting to learn more about the economic crisis that hit the country. All the videos I’ve come across have been decent, but Balkan Odyssey’s video quality is leaps and bounds better. Keep up this great work!

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Very glad to hear that the video met your expectations. Thank you for the support!

[@antifacho9294]

same happened to us in Portugal

[@kylelundgren5133]

​@Maja Atanasova We realize that there is no such thing is non bias and everything is bias. Balken Odyssey isn't trying to hide his bias unlike neolibrals, and thier supporters. Before you ask this includes both "progressives" and "conservatives".

[@BalkanSpectre]

One can't really describe how it felt growing up at this time. I know people in other parts of the world can attest to much more horrid conditions. However, due to the contrast between what was portrayed as reality prior to the crisis and our lived experiences made it quite a terrifying experience. Growing up knowing not much about politics I remember the horror of not understanding what is going on. Not knowing who to blame. Seeing the most rotten elements of greek society re-appear after for years they have mostly acted in the shadows. In order to picture what it felt like to live at this time as a teenager, I would have to say numbness. The feeling that every single one of your dreams have become unattanable. You couldn't demand for anything, at your school, at home, at your city. There simply wasn't any money, but at the same time you would hear about the billions and billions been fed to the banks and the creditors. You haven't done anything wrong. You didn't tax evade, you didn't steal. You were a kid but you were called to pay with your future. I could relate the feeling of having to relive that,by this video, as a form of PTSD if it wasn't for the fact that things are only getting worse. The difference now being that I am equipped with the knowledge and the theory to not be ignorant to the forces that keep my country subjugated. At the end of the day, Greek society has the same ill it always had. Collaborators. We are occupied by the west since the end of our civil war, denied of our freedom. Run by puppet governments hell-bent on delivering us to a life of meaningless servitude to the other powers of Europe, a "banana-republic". All that just for some traitors to get disgustingly rich. What a tragedy indeed. My people can break free and they will, when the establishment will run out of solutions and we will fight back the fascist onslaught. This time we will succeed and they will sink once again this time for good. The times are changing and people must choose: "Which side are you on?". Thank you, Balkan Odyssey for this video and I hope other peoples will learn the lessons of our suffering. It is confronting to think it was not all for nothing.

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Thank you for sharing your story with us. Solidarity with Greece!

[@SpartanChief2277]

latam

[@amazing.r.5789]

Η μόνη λύση είναι μετανάστευση

[@knasiotis1]

I feel this post very much, as I was a teen during those years as well.

[@hermenegildoc3933]

@@BalkanOdyssey_ do an analysis of dismantling of public services in Spain and Portugal

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

If you're really interested in how the whole story played out dramaturgically, check out the 2019 movie "Adults in the Room" directed by Costa-Gavras, based on Varoufakis' book that I used as the basis for this documentary.

[@ytbaccount5513]

Your video is great but now tell us what is the ethnicity of these great capitalists that have desotryed us. What religion do they obserbe? These are the questions that matter.

[@MJ_Convey]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@josemaria8177]

I love that film. Costa-Gavras is one of my favourite film directors. Every socialist should watch Z at least once in their life

[@peterlorios612]

No mate, that's bullshit movie. WTF

[@Leonfromre4and2]

Small but important note, SYRIZA is more center-left than far left oriented

[@ornessarhithfaeron3576]

Σε ευχαριστούμε για το βίντεο, φίλε μου

[@schadowizationproductions6205]

For me it's always a bit disheartening when I talk with immigrants in my country that come from the east or the south and they start talking shit about the people down there in Greece or elsewhere. I kinda try to find some solidarity in them but they're often happy to avoid it.

[@BlueLena]

They have internalised a lot of negative sentiment / even racist stereotypes. It’s really sad.

[@Gaff.]

In many cases, the people who have it the worst can't even afford the opportunity to emigrate. The people you've met probably think that because they worked hard and 'made it', anyone that didn't make it must be lazy or unwilling to sacrifice. This doubles as a coping mechanism any time they have doubts about their own choices and even relative privilege.

[@macedonian_catholic_]

Greece was destroyed by her own elites, who wanted to continue their lavish lifestyles whilethe regular citizens suffered

[@user-we2on3nj4o]

You obviously didn't watch the video. Watch it and then you'll realise why you have to delete this absurd comment.

[@Reivehn]

​​@@user-we2on3nj4o I would argue it could be both. Why couldn't both horrors be simultaneously true?

[@user-we2on3nj4o]

@@Reivehn Because with that mindset you focus your view on one explanation and you miss the whole picture. Yes, the greek elite certainly played a role, but it was small one. In the grand scheme, the EESC (European Economic and Social Committee) made an experiment in new ways of stabilizing an economic crisis, with us Greeks being their lab rats. Wages, benefits, insurances, pensions, all went downhill for their statistical analysis. And you know what's the worst thing? We all suffered for nothing. Because these new methods are already outdated, with the upcoming crisis being even bigger. That's why I said that.

[@alohatigers1199]

@@user-we2on3nj4o
Basically capitalism has once again failed to eliminate poverty and homelessness.

[@vladerag]

@@alohatigers1199 But capitalism doesn't try to eliminate poverty and homelessness...?

[@page8301]

As a German, how Greece was forced into austerity in large parts due to my hypocritical government disgusted and still disgusts me to this day.

[@bertrecht913]

Its not "our" government...

[@toast2300]

The political decisions of the EU do not represent the beliefs of the average German, I hope so at least. Let's hope that we shall once again be friends :)

[@HedgehogZone]

You mean the germans who forgave halve of the greece dept? And did so TWICE! Shame on the greece people!

[@bertrecht913]

@@HedgehogZone Yeah Yeah the collective bad german people! Satans chosen people! Not the EZB or the occopuiers in Germany, rather the PeOple! How stupid humanity became... most of the greeks fought for this shit System and now the people are paying for their stupidy.

[@robbenfelix]

A Balkan Odyssey thing based on Varoufakis' work? I might be crooked, but that sounds like delicious, proper use of language to me.

[@xkumanekox]

It really does break my heart to see Greece constantly getting destroyed, for centuries now, by so many different players. Power corrupts, and greed destroys all.

[@mrsalvator266]

Solidarity comment from a resident of the post-USSR

[@gnas1897]

Gotta love watching this as a Greek who had to leave and ended up in (predominantly Greek) Cyprus.

[@nodspruductionss3812]

So you left greece for a forcibly indipendified and partly occupied post colonial Greek Island.

[@CMR10500]

Gotta love how many fell for this….

[@rebellefleur2993]

Your profile picture 🤣🤣🤣

[@pg3856]

The fuck you saying

[@Ercan-fc2oq]

PrediomintantlyGreek doesn't mean anything, Greeks were deployed there during the decline ottoman empire, they fought never for this island, it was changing hands between venetian and ottomans, so don't come here with your fake pseudo ancient history and Greek nationalism.

[@liamtahaney713]

I really find your use of language tremendously eloquent and a genuine pleasure to listen to.

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Very glad to hear that, thank you!

[@tonypalios7882]

Finally! Balkan Odyssey paid a visit to our banana republic🇬🇷
Amazing video!

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Banana republic solidarity is real

[@nektariosorfanoudakis2270]

Excuse me, we have no bananas here; Olive tree republics🤓

[@stelios5314]

@@nektariosorfanoudakis2270 We have, in Crete :)

[@fotis1964]

There are two parts: What EU made and what eurozone have made to Greece.
EU using the benefits offer to Greece literally destroyed primary (agricultural) production. At the same time implemented restrictions in amount of production for example we Greeks consumed 700.000 kilos per year and Greek Sugar Industry allowed to produce 400.000. So made a factory in Serbia to overcome the restrictions of EU. Or drove fishermen to retire their boats and we import fisretifrom Turkey.
Eurozone.
In order to enter eurozone Greece took economic measures which drive productive companies to move abroad mainly to Bulgaria. In 2001 Greece entered. In 2008 public bebt been raised 110 billions because ECB considered as public the banks' loans. Only in Greece this been made. Greece published collateral bonds for banks and this raised the public debt which was from 60 to 80% depending on the source. Then started the racists propaganda for lazy Greeks who cheated EU and lived beyond their means taking wages more than had to. By the way wages never were more than 70% of the average wages in EU.
Of course public debt is not the problem. Euro currency is. So because can't devalue it we implement internal devaluation (reduce of wages and prices) which literally destroys everything. Population is reduced fir firstvtime since war. Deaths are 600.000 more than births since 2010 not mention the immigration. Privatisations are scandalous. Unemployment is 18% in summer and 22% in winter more than 1.1 million are registered in DYPA/OAED. Germans are looting everything like the 14 profitable sairports which by the way are in public company.
If we don't exit euro and implement currency devaluation Greece or rather Greeks will be a happy memory.

[@GTAVictor9128]

The background music is excellent - most creators opt for generic stock music (which is understandable), but your choice of background music just stands out greatly.
Excellent video, I've only heard about the Greek debt crisis on state television (in Poland) as a kid, with only the very basic surface-level problem being mentioned, but no explanation whatsoever on how it was caused. I've only ever heard it being blamed on the Euro that Greece couldn't print to sustain its finances, but nothingness deeper than that.
This video finally allowed me to understand that it after being in the dark for so long.

[@gregoriochavez9881]

I think this is one of your best videos. I hope you keep enjoying making such great content.

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Thank you for the kind words. Absolutely! It's always immensely satisfying to see this kind of support and people enjoying the stuff I make.

[@bmaurus]

I in general think the EU is a useful and benign entity, but what it did in the case of Greece was cruel, irrational and vicious, and will be remembered for a long time.

[@Spido68_the_spectator]

I do to. It could be the most wonnderful organisation in history.
But it needs reforms BIG TIME. Like a parliamentary democracy and a central government responsible towards it.
Also, the euro experiment needs changes too. It has been 21 years, enough data is there to formulate further elaborations to fix it's incredibly obvious issues

[@AceFromGorillaz]

Finally a detailed analysis of the Greek debt crisis, the majority of Greeks have no idea what truly happened. Varoufakis is a very interesting political figure who continues to fight to fix this damn mess but sadly Greeks cannot understand what he's trying to tell them.

[@nektariosorfanoudakis2270]

It doesn't help that he constantly gave mixed messages; he started saying that the "Memoranda" were all bad, then he said that there are some good parts about them, then that approximately 70-80% is actually good! He stopped calling the EU/IMF dictators "Troika" and he invented the term "the Institutions" giving them extra legitimacy.
As a finance minister he accepted Schauble's crazy idea of limiting the amount of cash we can withdraw from ATM's per day, to prevent a bank run, but not his other proposal, to "temporarily" leave the zone, so that we can devalue our currency and print money again! So he went with the "internal devaluation" strategy, that was practically suicide.
So eventually, when his political leader (Tsipras) decided to become a traitor and backstab the people, he was ousted under orders of "the powers that be", so that he won't cause problems in the future, and was replaced by a different economist who was de facto a puppet. However Varoufakis himself was instrumental in laying the groundwork for this ultra-rightist turn.😤

[@AceFromGorillaz]

@@nektariosorfanoudakis2270 I don't think varoufakis had a choice when it came to the whole shutting down of the banks. Till today he's in court with dragi because dragi consulted a private firm whether shutting down the banks was legal or not. All yanis did was sign the order that he had no way of overturning. I could be wrong though

[@ThePussukka]

you just keep upping the quality of your content, bravo!

[@Anarchidi]

Bravo! We really should have just declared bankruptcy on the loans to individual banks in 2009 instead of getting more in debt to the IMF and ECB.
Now the country can never recover. Almost 10% of all of our national budget goes to servicing interest payments every year (add also to that the forced 3% surplus that gets removed from the economy).
But even if we left the Euro, we don't have the FOREX to able to maintain our own currency. As we dont really produce any essential commodities to world markets (to be able to pull foreign funds).
We will never escape the IMF dictatorship. All of our profit-producing enterprises have been bought up for pennies by foreign capital. We still are at 30% lower GDP than 2009. And my family's income has fallen by 50%. The middle class took the crisis to the chin.
Let Greece be a leason to all. When shit goes bad, the population either turns to the populist "facististic" right, or to the opportunist left (and this was especially true for the now bankrupt, petty bourgeoisie, that were looking for someone to save them from proletarianization).
Only people will turn to communism if you build personal connections with them (industrial unionism, and creating a communal duel-poweristic social safety net to take the place of the failing government, and also to provide a heroic hopeful narrative for emancipation). But also, the material conditions need to be there where you could survive the break with capital, where youll be isolated from world markets. The KKE didnt really think that the conditions were ripe for that, and now they are paying the price fornot pushing the economy to the breaking point wth striking (they really did control almost all industrial sites that necessary for the base functioning of the society, through their unions, but dont really anymore). I really dont know what else they could do (other than reworking their Stalinist political programm, and incorporating more cybernetics into what they wanna build)
So the only hope for Greece is if our whole regional block somehow attempts to overcome capital together (The Balkans and South Europe), somehow. But I dont know how this internationalism can be manifested.
But other than that, in the short term we could try playing the IMF off of the BRICS countries, to try and get better deals.
Lets hope this new profitability crisis might push somehow countries to start coordinating more as regional blocks.
I can maybe imagine the Sao Paulo Forum starting to become more autonomous from foreign capital after this crisis pops off.

[@charlesk22]

The danger is that once greece courts BRICS, the EU, NATO and IMF will quietly get Turkey to turn up the aggression against you. To again counter this means improving relations with the BRICS countries and getting security assurances from Russia and China. But the way the govt joined in the sanctions, was forced to seize Iran's oil tankers, etc means its almost too late on that front. And the US will never permit Greece to be independent.

[@batessdd]

Great comment!

[@Kelek0400]

Or we can leave the EU adopt the drachma again and tell the IMF to fuck off, and then prepare to die with honour.

[@fotis1964]

Check on internal devaluation.

[@vladerag]

This has to be the dumbest comment I have ever read in... Well, this is UA-cam, so sadly it really is just the dumbest today. The point is, it is really dumb.
Really, just follow the logic out - what happens when a country declares bankruptcy? Well, the obvious answer is that the creditors don't get paid. Except the creditors are banks, who make loans with money that comes from their deposits, so if they don't get their money they risk becoming insolvent and then that creates a crisis as people rush to withdraw their money from those banks. The banks collapse and, honestly, the people who lose their money in that are the least of the problems.
Because, see, let's say you magically discharge the debt, that doesn't *give* you any money. You've gone from having no money and debt, to having no money and people still need to be paid. But no one will loan you money because *there are no banks,* you've just destroyed them, and even if you find a foreign creditor, they won't loan to you because you won't pay it back.
So now forget austerity, the government *literally* can't pay its bills.
But what if you left the Euro? Well now things get *worse* because Greece benefits from the inherent trustworthiness of the Euro as a currency. Greece is a net importer of goods and you have to deal with exchange rates on a new currency created by a government that just defaulted. Costs would skyrocket!
Forget a 30% GDP drop, you'd be lucky to have an economy at all.

[@mojojojo2888]

As a Greek Communist, I think this video is an absolute masterclass in what happens when you play by the system's rules. Thank you for this.

[@spirosgreek1171]

Thank you for this video. It informs the world and greeks like me about the horror that was the debt crisis. Back then i wasnt sure were i lay politically. I was jumping from one ideology to the other but none suited my beliefs (i had even taken into consideration the far right). But since i finished school and started working and seeing how the market truly operates, i have settled to Democratic Socialism and Syndicalism. I just hope that my country manages to find an alternative that can drag it out of this hole.

[@mclovin9165]

Solidarity from the Netherlands.
Greece can have it's alternative when other EU citizens stand up against our capitalist system.
We must never forget that capitalism is international.

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

So you are in favor of less beautiful people immigrating to Greece (or any country), therefore slowly replacing a more beautiful population with less beautiful ones?

[@dea690]

It was the American derivatives speculators, the too big to fail banks, that would have lost if Greece would have been allowed to restructure the debt. Obama himself called Germany and forbid EU to restructure the Greek debt. The Greek disaster came from only one source.

[@spirosgreek1171]

@Dea no matter the foreign intervention, the greek disaster is a problem we the greeks created. It's the hole we dug up and threw ourselves in. The fact that others don't want us to come out of this hole is a problem, but our own mismanagement carries a lot of the blame

[@dea690]

@@spirosgreek1171 I would honestly say you have the Stockholm syndrome with no relationship with how the fiat currently works and the balance of power works. If that’s what the Greek people think then they have no hope, as such no escape. Romanians are the same. There is an escape though but both you Christian Orthodox nations should trust yourself when you see the truth through the fog and should have hope.

[@GeorgeofGondor2]

When they came for the Greeks, no one complained. Instead they relinquished that a small nation took the blame of worldwide bank affairs. Like there is any country with small dept. Now that they came for you, there is no one left to complain

[@suprithAnCom]

Very well done video! I'm from India, and witnessing the slow destruction of institutions & democracy by our govt here. I'm really scared about ending up as Greece or recent Sri Lankan economic crisis..
It's unbelievable to see what the rich people & their pet institutions can do to common people, & i can't comprehend what can we do to not let that happen🤦🏾‍♂️.

[@chrisabruzzi2803]

Greetings from Greece. Could you please elaborate a bit more and give us a more detailed view from your eyes about what is happening in India? Thank you.

[@suprithAnCom]

@@chrisabruzzi2803 in 2014, BJP, a right wing Hindu nationalist party was elected with majority. Once in power, they have effectively legalised corruption, by passing laws to anonymize political donations, rapidly privatising state owned industries, spreading right wing religious nationalism among people, so they won't question their policies. appointing their puppets to control institutions, judges in courts, raising prices on petrol, gas, etc. Centralising federal political power by reducing powers of state govts, slowly moving towards dictatorship.
And they enjoy popular support, I think they will keep winning elections for many decades to come. Religious nationalism manifesting as hatred towards minority communities, etc..
Basically slowly chipping away at democracy , towards establishing a dictatorship.

[@strugglinggamerzone3399]

​@@chrisabruzzi2803 the Government is taking back India from the hands of Communist , anti Indian forces. ❤

[@DipayanPyne94]

​@@strugglinggamerzone3399 No. It is not. It is transferring power from the hands of the common people to the ultra rich. It is a continuation of what Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher started. Capitalism can work, but only when Well Regulated. Today, in India, we have NeoLiberalism, which is obviously not healthy at all. People will see the negative after effects, sooner or later.

[@fotis1964]

As long as you have your own currency you won't end up implement internal devaluation like Greece does. Enter eurozone and you will be destroyed.

[@petrosstefanidis6396]

So excited to watch that brother❤️‍🔥 I am currently reading the book under the same title.

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

I hope you enjoyed the video and the book!

[@emmaivanova3965]

Thank you so much! This is EXACTLY what I needed.

[@boeotian-warrior]

Thank you for this video bro, greetings from your friend country, Greece!

[@georgios_5342]

Although I have disagreed many times in the past with the Marxist approach on certain topics, I think that in this one you nailed it. You're giving a spherical view that not many outside Greece know. The European elites truly damned us in order to create a debt colony.
Thanks Balkan Odyssey, I appreciate your work ever since Serbian Mapping.

[@seetheious9879]

Social policies in Greece before this crisis where quite generous, pension at 55 was it?

[@Fantabiscuit]

No

[@BlooFinguhz]

Though there are a lot of things I agree with, the video is far from fair and unbalanced. It's cynical and tendentious and does not help anyone, especially those who views this to understand the Greek Debt Crisis. It only helps those who want to understand the perspective of Yanis Varoufakis.

[@36shadowboy]

No media is unbiased, it's better to view openly biased media with a critical lense

[@oliverbohn8861]

Thank you so much for making this amazing video, in Denmark it is sadly forgotten by the majority.

[@antoniosdimoulas3566]

Like the old saying, “ The golden rule, who gets the gold makes the rules”.

[@bernardheathaway9146]

Damn man, this is a great presentation of what happened. Of course, it's not enough to describe the feelings we had getting through this stuff... Nothing could describe it. I hope it will soon be translated into practice, because not only in Greece, but in the whole world, they are preparing for something similar to happen again

[@marlene.tm161]

It would be so nice if you had English subtitles as well. Or some bullet points in the video. Because sometimes it's a bit hard to follow since there are only pictures. But all in all your videos really helped me understand the complexity of the Balkans! And I love how you bash capitalism all the time, and how you keep subtly referring to marxism👏

[@blackmoon2128]

Didn't watched the video as a whole yet, but well, the only other video I really saw more in depth about the situation is Kraut's take on it, and while I appretiate learning new things about some stuff (like what "low trust societies" are, specially because I can see those things at home), it kinda left a bad taste in my mouth because it sorta "blamed the victims" of the situation for their misfortune, it was "their mishandling" that led to this situation (I could name other stuff on his videos that could be said to be extremely elitist, eurocentric or otherwise in his videos that leave a bad tase after watching, but well, I digress), so seeing this take here is most refreshing.

[@SolarFlareAmerica]

As somebody for whom Kraut played a role in helping find his way to the left, I'm pretty disappointed with a couple aspects of his recent content. Idk, it's hard to explain, but you can clearly tell he's probably not going to go any further leftward anytime soon.

[@transfemme5749]

@@SolarFlareAmerica Kraut was very far-right and hated Muslim immigrants. He’s still an Islamophobe and has a history of racism, misogyny and chauvinism.

[@mrremoveyoureyes1924]

Thanks so much for finally covering Greece!

[@1926paoktsis]

Once again you have created an amazing video both from the production and context perspective. Nevertheless, being a Greek who grew up during the Dept Crisis I have to make two observations about what you said and how.
My first observation is about what you said. It seemed absurd to me to call the Syriza Government "Ultra-left" even though it was and still is barely central -left. Also, it wasn't only Syriza governing at the moment. It was a coalition government and actually with a far-right party called "Anexartiti Ellines" (Independent Greeks).
There is an ultra-left party in Greece and this is the Communist Party Of Greece (KKE) with its own problems and failures of course.
I have heard the same naming of Syriza from other Europeans and I never understood how this came to be.
My second observation is about how you said the "story". I understand that it is a really big and nuanced topic and it would be difficult to have a multi-sourced and multi-voiced video but it didn't seem right to me having Varoufakis as the main protagonist of the story. He played indeed a big part in the negotiations but it wasn't only him. I understood an idolization from your part towards him and it seemed to me that many parts of the story and "players" were missing.
In conclusion, thank you for dealing with this issue and creating a video which can create a discussion about a topic which has ruined the present and the future of Greek people.

[@hereforit2]

Bulgaria is expected to switch to EUR soon and I am expecting the worst...

[@gelipterzg]

so are we in croatia, we're adopting EUR starting 2023.

[@ELD0E]

Right?! I know it's been put off a few times (feels like it anyway), and whenever my neighbours have spoken about it, they have always said "it's going to be like Greece".
It's so sad. I hope it won't be the same... But it's always in the back on my head.

[@hereforit2]

@@ELD0E
This time the general situation is much worse as well, the inflation is already massive even without the EUR.

[@ELD0E]

@@hereforit2 the changes in price at everything, especially good has become stupid. € is just gonna make it so much worse, like you say. I don't blame Bulgarians travelling into turkey to grab bits for half the price.

[@Anarchidi]

WHAT? Why would you do that? Your whole economy is based on cheap production. If you join the Euro, you'll not be able to devalue your currency, and make exports more competitive.
You now have the best deal possible, for a subserviant to the EU country (at least your productive capacity is improving).
But your economy is pretty much completely dependant on EU tariffs, so if I was in your case, Id be very afraid of this profit squeeze (that might push the EU to loosen up tarrifs, so as to be able to get cheap products, but tbh I dont think the US would allow the EU to allow China/Russia to get more intergrated into the EU economy)

[@thegreekguy1124]

Syriza isn't radical left or ultra left it's central left

[@aeternal7187]

😂😂😂 there is radical word in the name of the party (Coalition of radical left=Συνασπισμος ριζοσπαστικης αριστερας)

[@thegreekguy1124]

@@aeternal7187 that might be the case but it's center left. And it acts as center left. Also ριζοσπαστικός doesn't always mean radical. That's Google translate. Ριζοσπαστικός also means ground-breaking,there's also the word ρηξικέλευθος for that but most people don't about it

[@Dababy_12inch]

Amazing video keep up the great work already becoming one of my favorite people on the platform ❤

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Thank you for the continued support!

[@Hellenic_ionian08]

Thank you for making a video about my Fatherland ❤️🇬🇷🇷🇸❤️

[@giwrgosnikolopoulos]

Thank you for finally making a video about greece!!!

[@Alex-ff1mk]

This channel aint for a facist like you

[@gnas1897]

Nice name

[@giwrgosnikolopoulos]

@@gnas1897 🤫

[@Katze400]

clitoris pissdopoulos, another greek who supports genocidal nadsi mongols,
why doesn't this surprise me...

[@giwrgosnikolopoulos]

@@Katze400 I don't support ukraine😂😂😂

[@procrustes7669]

My Greek 90's generation was completed MASSACRED.

[@williampeterson7044]

Yes, by your own government. Don't blame the EU when it was the fault of your lying politcians

[@HedgehogZone]

Rightfully so. They deserved it!

[@petros5155]

The saddest part is that this isnt the first time the major powers ruimed Greece

[@greibert1447]

Had it not been for the lies of the Greek officials, Greece wouldn't have been able to enter the eurozone, which it so irresponsibly did. Greece is at its own fault completely.

[@evolvedape2161]

What I notice is how “the imperial core” just describes a country which has been a part of capitalism a long time.

[@destroctiveblade843]

one of the best things about this channel is the writing, the style is really engaging not just the content

[@diabeticalien3584]

Great video! Very informative and well written

[@OrixDalgrath]

I have a technical/productional note to this video: would you consider chosing different tone or otherwise differentiating between your own input and quotes and quotations?

[@9tankie]

Another Balkan Odyssey banger! This was an excellent overview of the crisis; thanks for putting it together. Solidarity with the Greek people! ☭

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Thank you!

[@ritamosss8589]

great analysis, really really incredible the detail and so correct, really congratulations for the effort.

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!

[@SimonReeves2]

@@BalkanOdyssey_ Hey, I was wondering if you would do a video on Brexit. This video gave great insight into the EU's ugly inner workings even if they are a bit too complicated at points for me to understand. Unlike Greece and the EU, where there's a clear exploitation of Greece and its people, Brexit is about the messy divorce of two imperialist entities in the UK and EU.
It's actually the left in the UK who are pro-EU under most circumstances, and recent polling data (not the height of accuracy I know) shows that people are regretting Brexit and becoming more pro-EU than ever before. It would be very interesting if you could show a new perspective on this because as someone who has flipped between left wing and right wing philosophies often I feel like that British leftists will not criticize the EU because it has become a linchpin in their culture war with the British right.
The UK is feeling the economic/financial impacts of Brexit, which is definitely reaffirming British left wingers beliefs about the EU, but most of those who voted for Brexit did it for ideological reasons, about the gaining of sovereign legal and institutional control over the UK itself rather than having European laws superseding UK law and having European institutions interpret their own laws from miles away on the continent.
There are also movements like Breturn or Rejoin-EU which seek to have the UK rejoin the EU. They have considerable support.
Lastly, there are a small fraction of people I've seen in the comment sections of certain pro or anti EU videos that try to proselytize people into this extreme pro-EU position where the UK rejoins the EU without its original opt-outs and adopting the Euro, but they say it in this really weird -- almost cucking fashion where the UK is framed as a dog running back to its owner (EU) with their tail between their legs or as though the UK is some kind of rebellious teenager that will eventually realize their parents (EU) was correct.
These positions are extreme and generally only held by British people who were particularly bitter about Brexit and loved the EU too much.
On Twitter you can also find Pan-European Federalists that believe that Britain will inevitably return to the EU in about 10-20 years.

[@user-nv4bc5cf1i]

I'm Greek and I felt that 😭

[@Hellenic_ionian08]

Και γω

[@EpaminondastheGreat]

Then go Grexit...

[@christosferizis-synodinos8851]

@@EpaminondastheGreat and reck our relathion with the french no way

[@EpaminondastheGreat]

@@christosferizis-synodinos8851 Keep destroying your country so that you shall secure "protection" from a power that would never fight for you. A shame how a nation that championed for freedom has turned out to be a nation of slaves.

[@christosferizis-synodinos8851]

@@EpaminondastheGreat the french have guarentid our sovernty and has stated that if a millitary incursion by any nathion the french navy will provide guns men and there navy for support so yeah

[@maronin5215]

What does this imply for future establishments of economic zones in the periphery, such as Africa and latin america? Are they all doomed to have their own Greek tragedy within?

[@pyotrbagration2438]

Another amazing video brother, keep up the good work.

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Thank you!

[@Quantumtalesxx]

Accurate and well-made. This is coming from a greek. Thank you!

[@nadjiguemarful]

I remember finding your channel years ago because you were talking about the State trying to direct the religious institutions in Serbia and closing churches.. Is that still happening? And Im stuck on Yugoslavia because Im Algerians and we're friends with Serbia but Im Muslim and I want the Muslims there to be okay. That region is so complicated and makes me sad lol.

[@slayzgames]

Whenever there is some crisis of these sorts it's usually around election time so government needs to stir up some hot(usually fake) topics to activate voters.

[@nadjiguemarful]

@@slayzgames I get that both Albanian and Serbian governments just use the issue for votes.. But tbh NATO is not doing them any favours they need to leave that region

[@slayzgames]

@@nadjiguemarful Oh, absolutely, just wanted to say that religious matters are usually portrayed as some big obstacle that comes between different nations when in reality people are generally quite respectful of different religions in entire region. Except for football hooligans but I guess you have those everywhere...

[@nadjiguemarful]

@@slayzgames You're right, Albania is hardly a Muslim country in terms of norms.. They regard it as a strong part of their identity only because it's something the Serbs are not lol.. Idk if you're interested but the Chechens for example, traditional Hanafi Sufis, have a tradition that is very conducive to cooperation with others.. Their government distributes books by Ibn Arabi, you can look up his views and compare them to Wahabis for example. Unfortunately there is a strong influence of Wahabism in the Balkans thanks to the Saudis.. This is a real danger and people should beware of it and fight against Wahabism because it's a tool for the US empire from the Middle east to the Balkans.

[@antoniosdimoulas3566]

Amazing, eye opening story for whichever wants to see which way humanity should go….

[@haydencrawford8552]

The Greeks lied about achieving economic goals in order to adopt the euro, its their fault.

[@patmorris9692]

Goldman Sachs has left the chat room

[@kounavi99]

Greece didn't lie. The eurozone members knew and helped.

[@haydencrawford8552]

@@kounavi99 no, they completely lied about achieving a low Debt to GDP on order to adopt the Euro and get cheap loans

[@longlostwraith5106]

@@haydencrawford8552 This is so idiotic... How can you lie about your debt to the very people you own it to? Use your brain for a moment.

[@neilbower9052]

Who told LIES about the strength of it's economy to join the Euro?

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

The Greek oligarchy.

[@fl00fydragon]

What pains me is that if we are to shake off capitalism in Europe we would need a pan-European socialist movement as I don't see any way in which an individual nation trying an alternative to capitalism and not get torn apart by the capitalist nations abroad.
If we could in some way use the ties between the european nations from within the EU as a base skeleton for a europe-wide leftist movement then we would have a significantly higher chance of success as unlike any individual nation the continent has the resoruces, infrastructure and industrial backbone to be able to stand unimpeded from outside attempts to derail it thus have the socialist project survive and succeed.
Unfortunately we will have to dance with the devil to try to win over his kingdom.

[@andrewpaddock7560]

I honestly didn't comprehend most of the mechanics at work. Finance and money have never made any sense to me. It sounds more like wild magic. Is it made so weird and complex just to confuse most of us? Nevertheless, I can see the outcomes, and they're terrifying. What would be worse? Collapse or revolution? I'm starting to think it'll have to be one of the two, and there's no way to know the outcomes. Which country will be screwed over next? Spain, Ireland, Poland? The UK has already pulled out. Will other nations in the EU decide to pull out? Will that negatively impact the Euro? European politics are mindbogglingly obtuse to me.

[@gianlucag100g]

Yeah...

[@sofiaormbustad7467]

I kinda feel like Poland will be the next to be screwed over as they are challenging german power and trying to get in a whole Ukraine before its old population has died off. Adding Ukraine as a largely Poland allied country in the EU would shift the power makeup in the EU completely.

[@dannyboy-vtc5741]

That's dumb and simplified, ireland is becoming the strongest eu economy, spain isn't bad at all, poland us developing at a very fast pace, greek example is an outlier, sure europe wasn't the most moral player here, but greeks in greece gave shark loans to their citizens, everbody bet on constant growth but some were more cowered than others, finances are always sketchy, similar was in croatia, especially for the ones that were "smart and business savy" and took their loans in swiss franks instead of euro, lol they were so screwed, in the end banks lost in courts but some people still didn't recover since then, shark loans happen when the state alows poor financial and other laws to pass, this video just like the ones that blame only the greeks is biased the same way and i don't trust all the accusations proposed here, but even without that you know the loans are always a trap, it wasn't the first time greece did bad with overspending from loans in their history, if anyone in the world they should have known, not that this exempts the debters, but this is by no means a one sided mistake or responsibility, greek gov and bankers as well as european ones, everybody wanted a piece of the pie and the pie ended up too small, again no other country ended up like that, countries that were poorer than greece at the time fared better in comparison, again we were hit pretty hard like others, but honestly everyone was greedy for the loans, nobody made anybody to take a loan, and banks lost in the court, and the state covered the part of it, but a lot has been lost, but not such a tragedy overall because not everyone behaves the same and you never put all the eggs in one basket, and other floscules, but they are floscules because they in general hold the truth.

[@dannyboy-vtc5741]

Oh and the uk left the union and sorely regretted it, nobody thinks of it any more, we all gain from it, nobody loses here that is for certain, nobody has been better off or got worse after joining.
This with greece is just mind boggling, you bancrupt the country and everybody is guilty but yourself, come on.

[@derekvanbloemen8415]

@@dannyboy-vtc5741 who’s regretting what?

[@leoemann379]

I disagree with you not because of your opinion, as the Euro crisis austerity measures can be seen as a wrong economical decision as it did not allow for some economies recuperate as fast and villifying the Greek nation was wrong. But you show only one side of the opinion, which does not make it a good video. It is easy to paint your opponent as a devil and yourself as a saint. But it is hard to make your opponent a fallible but still a person with their own rightful interests.

[@LiterarischeAktion]

Kartoffelsyndrom

[@xdlolfam2713]

What happened to your Alternate History of Europe series? 😭

[@zeevox1628]

Another Balkan Odyssey W

[@violetlatner6366]

I hope calling Syriza "ultra left" was done in ironic scare quotes.

[@vinniechan]

To be fair
Greece at the time had no business joining the Eurozone at the time
But EU enlargement and integration are seen as unquestionable good so there is no push back

[@karstenschuhmann8334]

Well, the Baltic republics had a lower GDP per capita when joining the Eurozone, and they made a success out of it.

[@vinniechan]

@@karstenschuhmann8334 it wasn't just the GDP per capita
Greece completely cooked their books to meet the criteria to join the Eurozone

[@karstenschuhmann8334]

@@vinniechan I agree, the EU should have kept a much closer eye on these parameters.

[@nektariosorfanoudakis2270]

EU always accepted countries with "cooked books", even implicitly promoted "book cooking", because the criteria of acceptance were political and geostrategical, not economical. They pretty much forced Greece into the EU against the wishes of the Greek public back then, due to Cold War politics; the Right-Wing was *pro*-EU and the Left was -*-contra-* EU; unless you are PASOK/SYRIZA and you pretend to be Left in rhetoric, Right in praxis.☠️

[@karstenschuhmann8334]

@@nektariosorfanoudakis2270 That is bullshit.The mayority of the Greek citizens appreciated a stable currency.
Not checking the books to the level needed does not mean cooking books becomes legal or even mandatory. It reduces the level of the nanny EU. But upholding the rules was in the self interest of every member country.

[@SnaRi-dc1nl]

Bravo. Extremely well made!

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Thank you!

[@keepitflowyartem3973]

Our current right wing government is trying to privatize everything and we still cant maintain a home.

[@MojoBonzo]

what did they privatize?

[@biohead66]

@@MojoBonzo Lots of things but the worst imo is education.

[@keepitflowyartem3973]

@@MojoBonzo Education, health care and road infastructure. Combined with the weakening of worker rights at collective bargaining through Hatzidakis's law.

[@MojoBonzo]

@@keepitflowyartem3973 education hasnt been privatized any more than it already was, last time i checked... the higher education keeps being public and you could argue that its shitty, but its not like they made it worse than before... you could argue they could give more money to the universities, but in all fairness having been in auth, myself, without accountability i wouldnt give them fuckers a dime... first they should be accountable for the money they spend and then we could argue how much money they actually need(which they do)... health care has had cooperation with the private sector for over a decade now, its nothing new and it helped the public system and its pretty transparent and not that bad(you cannot overcharge or w/e)... road infrastructure, now you are just talking out of your ass... road infrastructure has always been in the private sector... ever since EU started giving us money for projects... which is the last 30 years or so... the weakening of the worker rights, i havent seen that. elaborate what you mean, if its possible and you dont have to write a thesis about it.

[@suabalzanita1598]

Is the thumbbail a One piece reference?

[@tunahan4418]

Wdym with unelected bureaucrats?

[@hardrada2641]

Amazing video, great work.

[@axilmar254]

To anyone watching the above: please take everything mentioned in it with a grain of salt.
Greece wasn't forced by anyone to take up all these loans. It was a conscious decision of Greece, first by politicians, then by citizens.
It is on the citizens that are always pushing for bigger wages/pensions, which is understandable to a point, but it is also on the politicians that want to get elected, and for that they have to give money to the citizens, and while doing so, hugely profiting for themselves.
The foreign banks and the international monetary system has the smallest degree of responsibility in the Greek tragedy, mainly because the foreign banks accepted giving loans to us, while pretending that are economic situation is 'ok'.
The wrong doings of the international economic world are many, but in the case of Greece, the responsibility was 95% on us, Greeks.

[@batessdd]

This is one opinion but you didn't present any evidence unlike the video. And I bet you didn't read Varoufakis' book, the man who was literally there when everything happened, so I'm going to take his word over your feelings-based argument.

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Local stooges are always a part of the mix, I never claimed otherwise. I continously mentioned in the video how the Greek oligarchy is fully complicit in the scheme and aware of the consequences. It is not the peoples fault in regards to what these politicians, bankers and oligarchs do. We all live in a dictatorship of the ruling class and there is arent many options when you are ruled by stooges loyal to imperialism.

[@lowkeyconvert8971]

i agree. spending beyond your means and wanting to live the high life. surely the loansharks would've known that as a country greece doesn't really produce anything to generate capital other than probably olive oil and tourism, so why even lend money to them to the degree they did in the first place that they can't repay?

[@seustaceRotterdam]

Svaka čast! To je istina!

[@michimatsch5862]

Are we doing EU loans, finances, the Troika?
I studied that shit! Gimme!

[@adnanporovic6210]

Now Italy and Spain are on same route as Greece. European central bank stop buying debt notes from those countries. Those countries constantly overspend on welfare programs. So only guilts could be governments and people that choose those governments.

[@iumbo1234]

They don't spend it on welfare, not at least in Spain. If you could see the things they do with the money day after day... It's terrible to be forced to see how my country goes down the sink.

[@mariadanielalavia8877]

the idea of "overspending" on welfare is nonsense. it doesn't happen. for example in Argentina my country, most of the government expenditure is in gives and debt relief for crony businesses and cheaping out the production of foreign companies.

[@nohandle822]

What about the millions of Europeans whose savings were going up in smoke as Greek would have defaulted? What about the Greek people indeed, if their country were to bankrupt? What about the Greek currency fluctuations (and new debt inflations), if Greece would have dropped the euro. Your video is unjustly one-sided. And yet you want to prove the world that communism you believe in is not totalitarian?

[@ZorroComputers]

If I go to Greek accountant she will not give me an invoice. So the problem is with Greeks and not with someone else.

[@patmorris9692]

Very nearsighted point of view. The EU would be proud of you!

[@habos]

so this is why my family was evicted placing us in life long debt consequently forcing us into the greek diaspora

[@ChiliForEveryone]

Great video. Some small criticism: the image at timestamp 19:14 (edit: at a glance) contains antisemitic imagery which is dangerous to the jewish proletariat. Jewish proletariat hang out with bankers just as much as other proletariat, almost none at all

[@unsrescyldas9745]

Oy vey. you are very right, there is no overpresentation at all, good goy.

[@pavloskaisseris7587]

Greece is doing very well now. All this stuff is a thing of the past. Move on and be positive

[@uditpinxit]

I think the story had its main point when over 60% of the Greek people voted to carry forward. Now the next vote will be next Sunday, to establish their position in a future EU government. Hopefully other countries in the EU will be a part of this too, and not worry about these mysterious groups that control but have no mandate.

[@nahuelpiguillem2949]

It just beautiful that this is a free video, it helped me a lot to understanddddd europe

[@ferdomravec1520]

Yes, let's ignore the fact that Greece's shadow economy, rampaging corruption and the fact that they had the highest amount of government employees per-capita and many ghost positions of people on payrolls that didn't actually worked. But let's blame the big bad EU .... bu bu bu.
And in summary you essentially made a video from a single source of Greeces apologist Yanis Varoufakis. Good job and congratulations, you are capable of reading a book and adopting it's premise.

[@muninnsays9296]

Communists will do all they can to criticise the Union, no matter how lacking the analysis or one sided the research.

[@PRSRod]

Strange thing to write while you do all that boot deepthroating, but okay.

[@VergiliosSpatulas]

Rampaging corruption my left nut, look and compare to literally any other Balkan country and say they're doing any better.

[@bolshevikboitoy3587]

Because of the population crisis, increased emigration, and people starting to realize their exploitation as toilers to work for the profits of German companies with nothing in return, basically a piggybank of cheap labour, and the subservience of their government to Berlin and Washington, as a result of de-communization and the loss of political and economic independence as well as a pathetic government that sucks up to US and Western European imperialism by joining NATO and the EU, and the PiS regime being both a terrifying force of persecution for LGBT; Jewish; Romani; organized working-class; and women regardless of whether it is cis or trans that is the prefix, etc citizens of Poland, and a blow to the egos of the ever "progressive" EU figurehead goverments in the "enlightened" Northern and Western regions, I think that Poland could be the next victim on the European Union's dartboard, and I can see this from the diaspora

[@melloncollic]

I lived through that and the German news coverage of it, already a leftist back then but not yet a Marxist. Revisiting that from that angle hits hard.

[@comrade_liam5466]

Relatively cold take amongst normies, but the EU is actually a pretty good idea. A virtual super-nation with common currency and economic policy would be a good tool in the hands of the working class

[@panoskatrin4910]

​​@Balkan Odyssey there actually is a communist party within greece which has helped workers unions and fights against large monopolies as well as accepting the violent overthrow of the capitalist system as something neccesery while at the same time preparing to become illegal again.Yet in all this documentary the fights of the greek working class during the years of crisis and even today were never mention in this documentary,its as if what happened was just behine closed doors and although it failed workers movements were just sitting around supporting syriza or the new democracy party all this time

[@_Nyx_Raven_]

Ευχαριστώ πάρα πολύ για την προσοχή που έφερες στην καταστραμένη πατρίδα μου! Ζήτω το Μερα25 ! Ζήτω η εργατική τάξη!

[@user-nv4bc5cf1i]

Μόνο ΚΚΕ

[@BalkanOdyssey_]

Thank you for the support comrade, solidarity for the Greek working class!

[@user-we2on3nj4o]

​@@user-nv4bc5cf1i Και τα δύο από σκατά σε απόσκατα περνούν

[@supermavro6072]

R.I.P. Greece !!

[@the__darkborne]

As a Spartan I would say that we are responsible for our actions,no one's fault. You are who you choose to be , no excuses.
Nice video man.

[@martinboskovic1009]

And most important question is why that... Cipras had capitulated, and for how much!? On the other hand, we know who didn't capitulated-Varufakis, so Greeks if some election came with him as a candidate you know what to do!

[@dakinayantv3245]

Good job of explaining that the EU is really a financial cartel

[@watermonke4599]

Intro song?

[@nikolasmacedonites917]

Thank you.

[@panoskatrin4910]

there actually is a communist party within greece which has helped workers unions and fights against large monopolies as well as accepting the violent overthrow of the capitalist system as something neccesery while at the same time preparing to become illegal again.Yet in all this documentary the fights of the greek working class during the years of crisis and even today were never mention in this documentary,its as if what happened was just behine closed doors and although it failed workers movements were just sitting around supporting syriza or the new democracy party all this time

[@ivansavic8087]

Great vid

[@gallectee6032]

I think if you want your channel to blow up, you will need to up the production quality. Look at Johnny Harris's channel and take some notes. With a few of his modus operandi, it will improve the digestibility of this material. Simply continually talking over a few pictures is probably not the correct strategy in our era.
Other than that, this is the best video that I have seen on this topic so far. The other videos ignore the literal system and institutions that eurozone countries operate under, and blame culture and some domestic policies, none of which were even present in the other PIGS countries (as they were so labeled by the creditors).