Achilles and Dieter

This is a blog to note Germans and Greeks, written by an American.  So you might get a totally different view by a German writer, or by a Greek writer.

Dieter is your typical German.  He doesn't like taking risks, but he might be willing to take them.  He prefers very safe investments....like a CD account in a bank, or his house.  He saves money all year.....to take that brief two-week vacation to some exotic location.  Dieter works hard and takes two brief breaks a day, and his brief lunch.  It would bring Dieter to tears if you suggested for a moment that he was lazy.  If Dieter gets hired to build something....he takes it pretty serious, and it gets done generally on time.

Achilles is your typical Greek.  There are no risks in his life....mostly because he likes his lifestyle....with no changes.  Achilles doesn't think much about investments.  Achilles has a general work tendency.....work a couple of hours....take an extra long lunch.....toss in a slow afternoon, and simply take it easy.  If anyone were to suggest Achilles were lazy...he'd just start laughing, and then admit his ten habits which readily identify himself as being lazy.  If Achilles gets hired to build something....it will eventually be built, although it might take an extra year.....maybe several extra years.

Up until World War II....Greeks had this agreeable relationship with Germans.  The German occupation in Greece was something that stirred up a number of Greeks.  After the war, things tended to be forgotten.  When the 1960s came.....there was this opening of the door for one serious industry to grow....tourism.  By the end of the 1990s....Germans were arriving minute by minute at Greek vacation destinations from May to September.  Greeks were making millions per week off hotels, resorts, and bars.

Germans came to Greece for the sun, the great food, and the laid-back attitude of Greeks.  Germans got drunk on Greek wine.  The old world charm of Greek villages was a magnet for Germans.  Although if you asked a Greek.....the old world appearance was mostly because they really didn't care to upgrade infrastructure.

As the Euro came to arrive, the Greeks had to stand up in the European Union and present their finance book.  At the time....no one in Europe knew that the Greeks kind of had two different finance books.  The good book....which European political figures saw.....suggested a country that had its finances in order....had a few issues....and were working on the future.  The real book?  Well....the Greeks were borrowing in massive sums to cover various expenditures, from pensions to infrastructural projects.  The Greek politicians had learned to promise just about everyone something, and had latched onto making promises that could destroy the country eventually.

So as the 2008 period came and economic upheaval arrived......the Greeks finally came to admit that they weren't really that secure in finance.  They've come to ask for various loans....from just about anyone.....to ensure pensions keep getting paid, medicine keeps getting shipped into the country, and government operations can continue.  

The amount of money that the Greeks need....is fairly substantial.  So the Germans are involved....because they are the only ones who saved money and could possibly loan it out.

Well....Dieter is viewing his good friend Achilles, and frankly.....Dieter wants some changes.  Dieter wants a balanced book.  He wants pensions under control.  He wants corruption halted.  Achilles is insulted by his friend, and as each day goes by.....the two are getting on each others nerves.  Dieter wants to actually manage the money business of Achilles.

Here's the thing....from the prospective of an American.  If you want Dieter's money.....you basically have to come and sit at his table and play by his rules.  For Achilles, this is an insult.....to say that Dieter can make up his own rules at this finance game.  And while all of this is going on.....all over Greece....there are folks who are angry and upset with Dieter.  So much so.....that German tourism just might decrease, and put Greece in a even bigger situation.  Meanwhile....Abbas the Turk....sitting over in the corner....with no finance issues, and lots of tourism potential.  Abbas is not stupid.  He knows the Germans might just give up on Greek tourism.

So Achilles and Dieter are at this crossroads.  Achilles has screwed up but he can't admit this in public, and he really doesn't want to take Dieter's money.  Dieter would prefer to keep his money....in a nice safe place (certainly not Greece).  I'm guessing that this soap opera will continue for months to come....with both Achilles and Dieter whining about each other's personal habits.  And the only reason why Dieter gets stuck in this position....is because he skimped and saved every week....putting his money away in the bank.  He should have been like Achilles and spent every single penny and enjoyed life to the fullest.