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[Zenith]

Greek workers strike over market reforms
AP

Greek tax collectors and taxi owners have started two-day strikes in protest at austerity measures and market reforms aimed at keeping the cash-strapped country solvent.

Today's action comes amid increasing market alarm over the Greek government's efforts to save the rapidly contracting economy, and a day after a new blanket property tax was imposed.

The Socialist government claims the new belt-tightening - after 20 months of austerity - was dictated by revenue shortfalls which are threatening the country's vital international bailout programme.

Revenue-collecting tax and customs workers are angry at cuts in their bonus pay, while taxi drivers object to the abolition of protective licensing restrictions. Taxi owners also held a disruptive strike for weeks in July, blockading airports and harbours.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greek-workers-strike-over-market-reforms-2353353.html

That's the spirit! The economy's sure to get back on its feet now there's even less revenue going to the government and the tourist trade is being disrupted.

 

[Kurtofan]

To be fair, the Greek people is getting fucked over by the banks and the rich who don't pay enough taxes, I'd be angry too.

 

[Fox318]

Have people started leaving Greece yet?

 

[Bboy AJ]

Go on strike? As in, they just started to refuse to work? That can't be right.

 

[Amagon]

To be fair, the Greek people is getting fucked over by the banks and the rich who don't pay enough taxes, I'd be angry too.

To be fair, most of Greece is not paying their taxes either.

 

[archnemesis]

When is the next bailout due?

 

[jorma]

I'd be on strike too if i'd just been fucked up the ass by the european elite.

 

[Meadows]

Greece, where being lazy is disguised as protest.

 

[Kurtofan]

To be fair, most of Greece is not paying their taxes either.

Yeah, I'm sure all Greeks are corrupt lazy people, how convenient.

 

[Skin]

Yeah, I'm sure all Greeks are corrupt lazy people, how convenient.

Generalizations are fun! Are you saying the Greeks are paying their taxes just as well as, let's say, the Germans?

 

[runningjoke]

I live in the Netherlands, because of the economy (and the Greece bailouts) I will need to work till the age of 67. I will continue to hate every south European who stops working younger than me.

 

[Kurtofan]

Generalizations are fun! Are you saying the Greeks are paying their taxes just as well as, let's say, the Germans?

Perhaps not, but I'm not the one making the generalizations here.

 

[Zenith]

Yeah, I'm sure all Greeks are corrupt lazy people, how convenient.

Except his statement is accurate. Tax evasion is astronomically high and corruption so endmeic that bribes are needed for even stuff like visiting a doctor. It was you who decided to extrapolate it to mean that all Greeks are lazy in everything they do.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

Go on strike? As in, they just started to refuse to work? That can't be right.

LOL this and the thread topic.

 

[Shorty]

Except his statement is accurate. Tax evasion is astronomically high and corruption so endmeic that bribes are needed for even stuff like visiting a doctor. It was you who decided to extrapolate it to mean that all Greeks are lazy in everything they do.

I can't believe how dumb you are.

 

[Kurtofan]

Except his statement is accurate. Tax evasion is astronomically high and corruption so endmeic that bribes are needed for even stuff like visiting a doctor. It was you who decided to extrapolate it to mean that all Greeks are lazy in everything they do.

I never said that what the hell?

Greece, where being lazy is disguised as protest.

Go on strike? As in, they just started to refuse to work? That can't be right.

I'm not the one who said Greeks are lazy.

 

[Kentpaul]

Paying for taxes is robbery, i respect the Greeks.

30/40% of my wage going to tax, fuck this shit.

 

[Meadows]

Paying for taxes is robbery, i respect the Greeks.

30/40% of my wage going to tax, fuck this shit.

really?

I mean really?

 

[Dennis]

Long time since I laughed so hard at a thread title.

Keep shooting that foot, Greeks!

 

[SmokyDave]

Yeah, that's a cracking thread title. Might start a fight but it gave me a good laugh and that's the main thing.

 

[Wiseblade]

How is striking supposed to work? They have no leverage, and not working is only going to make things worse.

Paying for taxes is robbery, i respect the Greeks.

30/40% of my wage going to tax, fuck this shit.

Yeah, you have nothing to contribute to this discussion.

 

[[Nintex]]

Greek tax collectors and taxi owners have started two-day strikes

lol

 

[Bossun]

This is no laughing matter.

No more Greece means no more feta cheese.

How are we gonna live?

 

[xbhaskarx]

So according to Kurtofan, saying that rich Greeks don't pay enough taxes is NOT a generalization, but saying that most Greeks, whether rich or not, don't pay enough taxes is not only a generalization, but also the equivalent of declaring that "all Greeks are corrupt lazy people"? Did I get that right?

 

[Akkad]

Who's gonna supply the world with Gyros now?

 

[Darklord]

Who's gonna supply the world with Gyros now?

Australia has been collecting Greeks for decades for this very reason.

 

[Kurtofan]

So according to Kurtofan, saying that rich Greeks don't pay enough taxes is NOT a generalization, but saying that most Greeks, whether rich or not, don't pay enough taxes is not only a generalization, but also the equivalent of declaring that "all Greeks are corrupt lazy people"? Did I get that right?

Come on, people in this very thread kept repeating that Greeks are lazy/don't pay taxes, not in the comment I quoted but I thought it was obvious I was referring to the whole page( or threads about Greece in general).

Ok, maybe not ALL rich people evade taxation, but some do, and it is scandalous.

 

[saelz8]

Who's gonna supply the world with Gyros now?

Who needs Gyros when you can have Doner Kebabs?

 

[ruttyboy]

Come on, people in this very thread kept repeating that Greeks are lazy/don't pay taxes, not in the comment I quoted but I thought it was obvious I was referring to the whole page( or threads about Greece in general).

Ok, maybe not ALL rich people evade taxation, but some do, and it is scandalous.

Whether Greek people are disposed to laziness is up for debate, that they don't pay taxes is pretty well documented I thought?

 

[andymcc]

Who needs Gyros when you can have Doner Kebabs?

the truest of truths.

 

[PBalfredo]

What's the point of announcing that they're going to strike for just two days? Hard to bargain when the other party know how long they need to hold out.

 

[Manos: The Hans of Fate]

What's the point of announcing that they're going to strike for just two days? Hard to bargain when the other party know how long they need to hold out.

Its such an odd thing from an American perspective I mean general strikes or these random two day things haven't really happened in the US in the last 50 years.

 

[WorriedCitizen]

It appears that many Greeks still haven't realised how deep they are in the shit. I see no hope for the future of this country. Nothing is going to change their attitude.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Ok, maybe not ALL rich people evade taxation, but some do, and it is scandalous.

And not all non-rich people evade taxation, but some do. Is that somehow less scandalous?

The point is, tax evasion is common in Greece, it's not just rich people doing it. And yet YOU were the first one to mention both tax evasion and to make it a class issue: your first comment was that that ordinary Greeks should be angry because they are getting fucked over by the rich, who don't pay taxes. That certainly seems to imply that non-rich Greeks are paying taxes, but are getting screwed over because rich Greeks are not paying their taxes. Do you have any evidence to support that?

 

[SmokyDave]

Its such an odd thing from an American perspective I mean general strikes or these random two day things haven't really happened in the US in the last 50 years.

You should try it, you might get more holidays.

 

[Facism]

Who needs Gyros when you can have Doner Kebabs?

Doner and Gyros mean pretty much the exact same thing, chaps. Turning/rotating.

 

[Steelrain]

Is Greece like the Alabama of the EU?

 

[poisonelf]

I remember you OP hating on Greeks in previous posts, ignoring any links with facts I provided. Starting a thread over strikes, you have an agenda or simply hatred?

I will not go on a tirade of informing again, anyone who cares can find facts simply by googling and not live in a happy racist myth bubble of lazy Greeks who retire early (while on average we work the longest in the EU and retire older than the Germans for example).

Just please (for the rest, not the spiteful OP), don't be so hasty to judge on situations you can't know about. Tax evasion is a reality because on average there are 25 different taxes, even with tax evasion the average (small business) pays much more than normal taxation would require you to pay.
It's a system of endless corruption where 10% of the population leeches of the rest 90%. It's a system where our politicians are the second best paid in the EU, while salaries here are 500 and 600e/month, and just yesterday announced new insane taxation for property, essentially making owning property unbearable for the average person, while STILL not touching politicians/high ranking public officials/banks.

If you are older than 16-17, or have an IQ above 80 or so, can you REALLY believe that people are striking over their right to be lazy? That the 'bailouts' are out of generosity and the elite is not gaining? Please, some of you, stop living on a different planet.

 

[mre]

Is Steelrain like the douche of NeoGAF?

 

[Theonik]

I remember you OP hating on Greeks in previous posts, ignoring any links with facts I provided. Starting a thread over strikes, you have an agenda or simply hatred?

I will not go on a tirade of informing again, anyone who cares can find facts simply by googling and not live in a happy racist myth bubble of lazy Greeks who retire early (while on average we work the longest in the EU and retire older than the Germans for example).

Just please (for the rest, not the spiteful OP), don't be so hasty to judge on situations you can't know about. Tax evasion is a reality because on average there are 25 different taxes, even with tax evasion the average (small business) pays much more than normal taxation would require you to pay.
It's a system of endless corruption where 10% of the population leeches of the rest 90%. It's a system where our politicians are the second best paid in the EU, while salaries here are 500 and 600e/month, and just yesterday announced new insane taxation for property, essentially making owning property unbearable for the average person, while STILL not touching politicians/high ranking public officials/banks.

If you are older than 16-17, or have an IQ above 80 or so, can you REALLY believe that people are striking over their right to be lazy? That the 'bailouts' are out of generosity and the elite is not gaining? Please, some of you, stop living on a different planet.

I agree 100% reading some of the posts here on GAF regarding these maters kinda makes me sad on the sheer amount of ignorance of some people.

 

[S. L.]

Doner and Gyros mean pretty much the exact same thing, chaps. Turning/rotating.

Gyros is pork, Döner is lamb/beef

 

[lunarworks]

Greek workers strike over market reforms
AP

Greek tax collectors and taxi owners have started two-day strikes in protest at austerity measures and market reforms aimed at keeping the cash-strapped country solvent.

Today's action comes amid increasing market alarm over the Greek government's efforts to save the rapidly contracting economy, and a day after a new blanket property tax was imposed.

The Socialist government claims the new belt-tightening - after 20 months of austerity - was dictated by revenue shortfalls which are threatening the country's vital international bailout programme.

Revenue-collecting tax and customs workers are angry at cuts in their bonus pay, while taxi drivers object to the abolition of protective licensing restrictions. Taxi owners also held a disruptive strike for weeks in July, blockading airports and harbours.

First, they have tax collectors? Second, those collectors expect bonuses?

 

[ruttyboy]

I remember you OP hating on Greeks in previous posts, ignoring any links with facts I provided. Starting a thread over strikes, you have an agenda or simply hatred?

I will not go on a tirade of informing again, anyone who cares can find facts simply by googling and not live in a happy racist myth bubble of lazy Greeks who retire early (while on average we work the longest in the EU and retire older than the Germans for example).

Just please (for the rest, not the spiteful OP), don't be so hasty to judge on situations you can't know about. Tax evasion is a reality because on average there are 25 different taxes, even with tax evasion the average (small business) pays much more than normal taxation would require you to pay.
It's a system of endless corruption where 10% of the population leeches of the rest 90%. It's a system where our politicians are the second best paid in the EU, while salaries here are 500 and 600e/month, and just yesterday announced new insane taxation for property, essentially making owning property unbearable for the average person, while STILL not touching politicians/high ranking public officials/banks.

If you are older than 16-17, or have an IQ above 80 or so, can you REALLY believe that people are striking over their right to be lazy? That the 'bailouts' are out of generosity and the elite is not gaining? Please, some of you, stop living on a different planet.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but the impression I got here in the UK is that things have been (financially) so batshit crazy over there for so long that people have accepted that situation as reality rather than the insane fantasy it was. So the people striking were doing so as they view the austerity measures as someone trying to 'destroy their quality of life' rather than the 'returning them to the real world' that is actually was.

I mean, if true, stuff like pharmacists being legally guaranteed a profit by the government is just crazy!

 

[Fritz]

thread title reminded me of this headline:

"people, twiddling their thumbs, shut stores and dead silence on the streets - that's over for now! Greece is entering a national strike to protest the governments austerity measures."

Old, but I love Titanic!

 

[Steelrain]

Is Steelrain like the douche of NeoGAF?

You must be from Alabama. Sorry man. It gets better.

 

[Arcblade]

I remember you OP hating on Greeks in previous posts, ignoring any links with facts I provided. Starting a thread over strikes, you have an agenda or simply hatred?

I will not go on a tirade of informing again, anyone who cares can find facts simply by googling and not live in a happy racist myth bubble of lazy Greeks who retire early (while on average we work the longest in the EU and retire older than the Germans for example).

Just please (for the rest, not the spiteful OP), don't be so hasty to judge on situations you can't know about. Tax evasion is a reality because on average there are 25 different taxes, even with tax evasion the average (small business) pays much more than normal taxation would require you to pay.
It's a system of endless corruption where 10% of the population leeches of the rest 90%. It's a system where our politicians are the second best paid in the EU, while salaries here are 500 and 600e/month, and just yesterday announced new insane taxation for property, essentially making owning property unbearable for the average person, while STILL not touching politicians/high ranking public officials/banks.

If you are older than 16-17, or have an IQ above 80 or so, can you REALLY believe that people are striking over their right to be lazy? That the 'bailouts' are out of generosity and the elite is not gaining? Please, some of you, stop living on a different planet.

So basically what you are saying is that Greece is a lot like the U.S. except they lack the ignorance and the moral vaccuum necessary to justify such inequity?

Good on them, I say.

Good on them.

 

[mre]

You must be from Alabama. Sorry man. It gets better.

There's nothing wrong with being from Alabama or living there. You never have to worry about your wardrobe (white goes with EVERYTHING) and you have a built in excuse for being a bigot or a racist.

However, to poorly paraphrase Churchill: "I may move from the ignorant south to the enlightened holy meccas of the northeast or the west coast, but you will always be a douche."

 

[Azih]

I get the impression that things have been crap in Greece for a very long time and every government has been giving out essentially imaginary money to both rich, middle class, and poor to keep Greeks happy and the country running.

Now that the inevitable reckoning has come it seems like the rich Greeks will get off scott free while the middle class and the poor will take the brunt of the hit.

 

[Steelrain]

There's nothing wrong with being from Alabama or living there. You never have to worry about your wardrobe (white goes with EVERYTHING) and you have a built in excuse for being a bigot or a racist.

However, to poorly paraphrase Churchill: "I may move from the ignorant south to the enlightened holy meccas of the northeast or the west coast, but you will always be a douche."

Lol well played.

Im from Florida btw. Come at my glass house bro

 

[Lain]

Does the abolition of protective licensing restriction mean that taxi licenses would become easier to obtain, thus creating more jobs?
Because if that is what it is, I can't help but dislike the Greek taxi drivers as much, if not more given their situation, as I dislike the Italian taxi drivers.