[Mentar]

Originally Posted by AmeNoJaku

@Mentar: Some Germans disagree with you, but that's a good thing, like Cypriots agreeing with you... discussing our opinions and the way others perceive them is not BS, but constructive discussion IMHO, unless we decide to curse each other, because for whatever reason we can not agree unconditionally to the ultimate truth one of us believes in

What is this confused sophism?

If I say that the moon consists of green cheese, then this is BS. And if my colleague also says so, it's still BS. This "some are of a different opinion" defense is very unconvincing. If you want to defend your point, do it yourself, don't hide behind anonymous others. I really hate this technique with a passion, it's the same nonsense Fox News is pulling off all the time.

Cyprus' economic disaster was NOT caused by German bankers, like you claim. It was entirely self-inflicted, and now they demand that they're bailed out - but since they don't like the terms of the bailout, we're Nazis. Lovely.

@sneaker: That was expected, after what all eurozone finance minister unanimously agreed in... I just hope that it was just a Cypriot/German/Dutch momentary stupidity, and not some idiotic long term plan to dissolve Europe as an emerging political entity

How about you grow up some and stop ignoring that you can't be living beyond your means forever? That there needs to be a balance between income and expenses?

Cyprus has been living beyond their means for a longer while (particularly their banks), and now they need to scale back. That's the way it is. Handing an alcoholic more booze in order not to let him suffer so much is no solution at all. There WILL be pain now, it can't be helped. Things will get better in 2-3 years, but until then, it's gonna be pretty painful. DEAL WITH IT.

Alternatively, drop out of the Euro, give your creditors the middle finger and start living on your own. Fine with me. Just don't come crying that your houses suddenly are worth only a fraction of what they were before, and that imports are suddenly hellishly expensive, and that you can NOT get loans for next to nothing anymore.

Look guys from my perspective (based on perceiving events first hands from UK, and later from JP, and from narratives from Germany and Greece), what Merkel administration imposed to solve the crisis outside Germany (because internally it did exactly the opposite) has failed everywhere.

No. Ireland is recovering nicely already. And in 2-3 years the rest of Europe will be through the worst, too. Germany had this painful phase 10 years ago, and we're sitting quite pretty now. It takes some time though.

The problem is not euro, EU, etc. It's the policies of the sponsors of the current German government. Thankfully, unlike mid-war Germany, this time there is internal opposition to these destructive policies, fortunately it won't be too late, since Germany got destroyed both times it pursued this route, and thankfully for its people some of its conquerors forgave their debts.

You really don't know much about German history, do you? It was _inflation_ - caused by printing massive amounts of money - which caused the economy to collapse, leading to the economic turmoil which eventually Hitler rode to power. This is exactly why "living within your means" and "fighting inflation" is hardwired into the German psyche.