Greece yesterday and today at the summit of European leaders and finance ministers asked to get out of some of the proposed austerity measures. They met wit a resounding no. Merkel addressed the Greeks personally, telling them they would have to make sacrifices as she and Sarkozy neared an approval on the new bailout for Greece to last through 2014.
There is a certain cultural appeal to austerity in Northern Europe. It comes from the Protestant tradition and the belief in sin and redemption. Southern Europe derives from the Catholic tradition. In the case of Greece, we have the far more foreign Orthodox background. Neither Catholics or Orthodox Greeks are Puritans. So don’t expect them to want to sacrifice for the abstract goal of the greater good of Europe.