Grecian Formula

[Aaron Burr]

[Ironsmith]

They better take the bailout, if anything interrupts the supply of feta cheese and olives to my table someone's getting kneecapped.

[Aaron Burr]

Looks like you're headed for a diet my friend. It Has Come to This: Greek Towns Reverting to Barter Economies These people can't even grasp the concept of money, much less fiducial responsibility. How can you expect them to understand international trade? Oy. Isn't there a Greek equivalent of a banana we can toss these talking monkeys to keep them busy while we steal everything that is smaller than a cubic acre? My patience grows thin.

[Ironsmith]

Your patience? I'm tellin you many, many of those greasy hairlips are getting the ball bat on the knee caps if they fug up my favorite cheese supply.

[Uncle Al]

What has been described as barter in news accounts probably was actually the substitution of some other (semi-) universal exchange medium for official govt bumwad paper currency. Think tobacco in colonial American, or cigarettes in WWII POW camps. That's not really barter but rather a variant of Gresham's Law in action.

[Aaron Burr]

It's bullcrap. Look at what they use. It's written in gibberish.



These are the Greeks who still know what soap is used for...theoretically. I'm betting most of them have begun to crawl about on all fours whilst baying at the moon. Barter. Gah. I say we halt their societal decline at feudalism and teach Johnny Ouzo the meaning of indentured servitude with the butt of a lash.

Then we'll lash the Hell out him and steal his teeth.

[Uncle Al]

At least with barter you get something of value in return for something of value instead of finding yourself with a certificate of mass delusion.

[Aaron Burr]

And this is where we diverge. Money is a symbolic fetish object. Emblematic of a shared cultural identity and trust. It's a totem that everyone recognizes. Accepting currency means that you have faith that the institution it represents will be there tomorrow. You believe that America is good for the debt the note represents. "Oh, a dollar! yeah, those guys are good for it." You're tacitly endorsing America, it's people, and it's ability to produce and expand.

The Yurro on the other hand is shell game. The Drachma is even worse. However, if Greece is to survive it must accept the Drachma, take the economic hit and get back to work. They're the delusional ones for thinking that there's a free lunch in Yurrup. It's their stubborn refusal to accept reality, basic math and even a modicum of social responsibility that irritates me so.

That and their aversion to indoor plumbing.

But don't you see? The drachma is worthless to the Greeks because it is a physical representation of how they view there own society. Worthless. Until they can change that, the collectively held view that Greece on it's own is worthless, they'll be eating roots and berries before they know it.

[Zonga]

Why can't we all drink ouzo and just get along?

[Aaron Burr]

Because Ouzo is made from bum sweat.