Pretty sure its normal to have "stuff" confiscated if its suspected of being possessed illegally. Well, it is for "suspected" drug dealers buying new BMWs with cash anyway.
So the rule of law is suspended in Greece. The government used to protect citizens from criminals, now they ARE the criminal.
If the citizens of Greece weren't treating tax evasion as a national hobby, they might not have got themselves into their current economic problems in the first place. The law isn't being suspended, it's being enforced (for a change).
I'm not sure that I am comfortable with the idea of "confiscate now, then maybe one day later take a look and see if perhaps we have just stripped someone's legally earned assets". It is putting the innocent in the firing line because the government are too lazy or desperate to actually investigate a case before they dish out summary confiscation. We have laws for a reason, and the presumption of innocent until proven guilty is there for a reason.
25% of Greece's entire economy is run off the books. That means 100% of tax-payers don't declare 25% of their income or 50% of tax-payers don't declare 50% of their income, and so on (until you get down to half a dozen multi-billionaires who could theoretically be responsible for the whole shadow economy in Greece, which is highly unlikely). The whole country is bent, right down to the tax inspectors who are more than happy to collect an "unofficial, on-the-spot" fine if you've been a bit naughty. Assuming a tax evasion case ever gets to court, it takes the Greek taxman about 8 years to get the money. Its a crackdown on crime. The fact that its white collar crime and doesn't involve drug dealers shooting at each other in the street doesn't make it less important as a social issue that affects society (what with the end result of the country running out of cash being riots and strikes and the recent spike in suicides). Yeah, ethically the guilty until proven innocent thing isn't that great, but it's Greece - you'd be lucky to pick someone at random who wasn't guilty. If Greeks, collectively, don't want to respect the law they shouldn't expect the law to respect them. Rights come with responsibilities.
LOL good luck trying to change the mentality. Unless you have lived over there and experienced it first hand you just don't understand how bizarre it is. We are going through many battles at the moment over property / taxes.
I agree with all of this, except for the bit where I feel you're suggesting that 'guilty unless proven innocent' is okay if you can justify it for taxation purposes. Because that's BS. You think that famous german party started concentration camps on day one? The ends never justify the means if it means going against core moral principles. If you're not suggesting that I apologise in advance.
Do you remember the source for where you got the 25% figure? I totally agree with what you're saying though. The Greek people have long been screwing over the rest of the EU and are now unhappy that they have to pay a heavy price for its membership. The situation right now in Greece is really interesting, they are against austerity but are staunch on not leaving the EU and returning to the Drachma. They basically want to default on their debts but still continue to be part of the EU and remain on the Euro. Its insane. They just want all the sugar but none of the pain.
Bit of a bugger if they just decide to take 10% off the top of everyone's accounts - and figure 99% of people won't contest it because they don't want an audit.
You would be surprised how many people actually wanted to go with the euro, many were opposed to it. The euro only benefited the rich and the well connected. I remember conversations I was having with taxi drivers back in 2001 who were telling me that the euro will be a disaster for Greece. Why do taxi drivers always have this foresight? The only good thing that will come out of this mess will be privatization of industries that were owned by the state.
You had a smart taxi driver =D. I guess the problem now is that now that the Greeks have spent a decade living off this easy money, it will be difficult to convince them to go through the therapy now. Thankfully we have guys like Nigel Farage who are trying to convince the Greek people to do the right thing and leave the EU. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WIQQ3vKzrI Skip to 7:11 for him to convince them though the entire presentation is actually really good.
Farage = Brit Never trust the Brits when it comes to the Euro. They're probably the most biased people on the planet when it comes to that.
I'm not saying that taking a guilty-until-proven-innocent stance is okay, only that it's the inevitable response to people dodging their taxes. Push the taxman too far and one day the taxman will decide to push back. The alternative is that the French and German tay-payers cough up the money to keep Greece running, so the whole situation is full of moral ambiguity anyway.
Good video. LOL Have to laugh as the most extreme right wing political party in Greece is hosing Farage.
The Greek government conspired with Goldman Sachs to cook the books to get Greece into the Euro in the first place. The Greek government along with Goldman Sachs are the main culprits!
Well that's just like saying the entire population of the USA have been screwing over the rest of the world and now have to pay a heavy price - kind of true but not really. The truth is a small number of people in power have been doing the screwing, and now the population in general has to pay the price. Do you really think all the money that Greece borrowed over the years went to the people? It went into the pockets of those in power - politicians, their connections, bankers etc. No different to the corrupt systems still running in the USA, Britain etc.
