# Beware of Greeks bearing bonds **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 12, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485 "2010-09-12T07:28:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485/1 "2010-09-12T07:28:01Z")
Vanity Fair has an [interesting article](http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/10/greeks-bearing-bonds-201010?currentPage=all) on the Greek financial crisis. It’s very long; you might want to just skim. (Hope this isn’t a duplicate thread.) I’m relatively progressive politically and may regret linking to the article. Rightists will gleefully use it as proof that governments are operated by stupid hypocrites. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485/2 "2010-09-12T10:49:24Z")
Without knowing anything about Greece, the article immediately reminds me of [my blog about Meritocracy](http://publius2point0.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/meritocracy/). ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485/3 "2010-09-13T05:22:14Z")
I read that on the john the other day. Some staggering, ridiculous numbers. Very interesting article. Joe ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485/4 "2010-09-14T03:13:45Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Rightists will gleefully use it as proof that governments are operated by stupid hypocrites. The only thing that I’m gleeful about is that you actually think we care about VF. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485/5 "2010-09-15T13:59:16Z")
“The Greek people never learned to pay their taxes … because no one is ever punished. It’s like a gentleman not opening a door for a lady.” This is a bad sign when Greeks are broke. They own half of my town! They invented math but it’s another thing to actually use it. Why pay your taxes? Jesus said to that’s why! Give Caesar his part. The bible tells us exactly how to handle money wisely. I took a Crown Financial Course at my church and was floored! We need to support our government with taxes. The Greeks broke that golden rule and now are learning the lesson. People and businesses alike have tried to avoid paying taxes in the US by various means. My Mom just got back from Bermuda and said the 55 million dollar Batacki mansion was,“A bit much”. My old employer has it’s head quarters in Bermuda. It’s a shack with one phone but they get huge tax breaks that way. They eventually almost ran the company into the ground out of pure greed. Our CEO is in Federal prison and the employee’s were screwed 5 ways to Sunday and laid off. Somebody always has to pay the piper. From the top on down! Stealing is bad for everyone. The money due in taxes to our own government must be paid or it will bust us in the end. Greed is bad whether we are stealing the money from our government or our government is stealing it from it’s citizens. I guess we will find out in time when our own notes come due. Good article! ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485/6 "2010-09-15T14:12:50Z")
> [@Perciful](#): > > Stealing is bad for everyone. The money due in taxes to our own government must be paid or it will bust us in the end. Thank you, **Perciful**. You’re a voice of sanity. Many Americans seem to have an irrational hatred of taxes, endorse evasion, and fail to note the causal relation of that to their other complaints. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485/7 "2010-09-15T22:31:57Z")
Thanks for the link. It’s a really eye-opening article. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485/8 "2010-09-15T22:53:05Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Without knowing anything about Greece, the article immediately reminds me of [my blog about Meritocracy](http://publius2point0.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/meritocracy/). That looks interesting. I subscribed. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beware-of-greeks-bearing-bonds/553485/9 "2010-09-16T15:53:20Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Without knowing anything about Greece, the article immediately reminds me of [my blog about Meritocracy](http://publius2point0.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/meritocracy/). I refer you to [this article](http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2001/jun/29/comment) by the man who first coined the term “meritocracy” and was one of the few brave enough to denounce it.