tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185595217241271425.post1322712647114860243..comments2023-03-25T02:07:16.709-07:00Comments on Living In Philistia: The Media's Greek Myths.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04880996831778197602noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185595217241271425.post-54374818687976286402011-09-16T03:12:57.679-07:002011-09-16T03:12:57.679-07:00I think its not correct to say that Greeks don'...I think its not correct to say that Greeks don't earn very much; certainly the ones I knew earned a lot more than they would in say Germany or the UK. Lets be under no illusions, Greece is a poor country full of very rich people. The Health Service is absolutely fantastic by the way.<br /><br />I think the comments on here are missing the point. I think most people won't deny that Greeks are among the luckiest in Europe in terms of personal economics and social welfare- However, the article does make the point that the austerity measures are also caused by bankers greed.<br /><br />Perhaps if the banking system had been regulated better, and the government had collected taxes more efficiently Greece could have still maintained such a high standard of living for its citizens, whilst also remaining a strong EU economy. I think that Greece is capable of not being in huge debts, AND managing to pay cleaners 60K a year.Georgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185595217241271425.post-10713062057886050722011-09-14T07:53:39.289-07:002011-09-14T07:53:39.289-07:00Further to my previous comment (I am the teacher),...Further to my previous comment (I am the teacher), I accept the proposition about hours worked after looking. However, regardless of how the media portray Greece (which incidentally a wonderful country, I think it is time that Greeks stopped complaining about their economic situation when they have it so good compared to the UK or Italy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2185595217241271425.post-26317113615641815352011-09-14T07:47:52.444-07:002011-09-14T07:47:52.444-07:00I'm sorry, I simply don't agree with your ...I'm sorry, I simply don't agree with your article. I am from the UK, and have lived and worked in Greece. <br />Greece is just a ridiculous enclave of staggering opulence and greed. Whether or not Railway workers do get paid £60,000 PA, certainly the cleaners at my public sector workplace (in Thessaloniki) were being paid 30 EUR per hour- representing an annual wage of £55,000 a year. In the UK a similar role would attract a salary of around £11,000 a year. <br />The claims of the metro in this article are totally true, no one pays.<br />Greek pensions are ridiculously high, with some pensioners receiving as much as 5,000 EUR a month- IN the UK a state pension would be something like 700 EUR a month if you were lucky. <br /><br />Greek schools are overstaffed and over-resourced (this is where I worked on an EU teacher exchange programme), with far to many teachers spending hardly any time teaching; and getting paid twice what I get paid in the UK to do so. In my school for example, there were more computers than children. <br />All of the kids have the very latest technology which their parents have bought for them with their high wages; in fact nearly every single child in my class had a iPad as well as one or two iPods. <br />It is virtually unheard of for a 16-18 year old student at school to have to work. This is the opposite case in the UK. <br />In addition, the social welfare provisions in Greece are simply staggering. One can receive 440 EUR a month just as basic unemployment benefit; with the paper claiming that some families receive 45,000 EUR a year in benefits. The comment about hours worked is simply untrue; I do not know where you got that statistic from, because official EU statistics show that Greeks work the least amount of hours for the most amount of money. An EU report also shows that, based on *accurate estimates" of income (i.e. including actual income and not stated income), the average earnings of a Greek are the highest in Europe by 5-6,000 EUR a year. And I can believe it. The difference in the standard of my life in Greece compared to in the UK was staggering. Most of my colleagues in the school were frequently making trips to Singapore or the USA. <br /><br />Its nice that Greece has such a terrifically high standard of living for all, and that the entire population seem to live in a permanent state of luxury and indulgence; but not when other EU countries are footing the bill.<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Teacher (Greece and the UK)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com