I was listening to the news broadcast coverage of the Greece debt situation recently, and here is how the information was being delivered in all of the coverage.
- Greece has a debt problem
- Because Greece is part of the “Euro Zone”, this means that the “Euro Zone” has a problem
- Because French and German banks are heavily vested in Greek banks and debt, they stand to lose the most if Greece defaults
- In order for the “Euro Zone” countries to “bail out” Greece, the government and citizens of Greece must accept restrictions and cuts – so-called “austerity measures”
- The Greek government and citizens don’t want these cuts and restrictions
My response (out loud many times) has been, “OF COURSE, you don’t want cuts and restrictions – NO ONE does! BUT your economy is BROKE and everything has been financed and leveraged to oblivion – with OTHER PEOPLES MONEY!” Based upon recent data I have seen, nearly 95-percent of Greek debt is owned by foreign entities.”
Let’s explore this in terms that we can all understand better. Suppose you let your neighbor borrow $10,000. Then your neighbor spent all of the money with no real plan for repayment, and when you approached them for repayment, they said, “But if I pay you back all of the money I borrowed from you, I will have to reduce or cut out some of my lifestyle. I’m not willing to do that.”
How would that work for you?
I have said it 10,000 times if I have said it once. The day I stopped whining and complaining and started taking the tough and difficult actions necessary to get my financial house in order is THE DAY that I started winning with money!