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Dr James Manos (MD)
15 September 2010
GREECE, A CORRUPTED AND VERY ILL – ORGANIZED EUROPEAN COUNTRY
The
corruption in Greece has reached high levels and it keeps happening not only
with the citizen’s tolerance but on the contrary many times with their participation.
First of all, the citizens are responsible for electing and re- electing a
corrupted government by their vote. Greek citizens many times voting for personal
gain, even it is the country elections or the prefecture/municipal elections.
Which means that their vote decision is made considering only who will give
a job to them or to their children. Thus, substantially the vote has been
turned into a transaction...
Generally
in Greece corruption is huge not only from the politicians, but also from
the citizens. There have been reported from the mass media (taken from governmental
sources) that there is a percentage of incapable people, who in fact go through
a medical committee (who perhaps been manipulated) and who actually are not
incapable at all. However, it is said that some manage to take incapability
benefits or pensions, plus they have all the other discounts (purchase of
"incapability" car, etc.). The above were mentioned by the media
in the past.
The
worst problem is the one that Greeks call "intermediate" or "tooth"
or "connection" and almost every one of them has used it at least
once. However, practically all Greeks are using the acquaintances they have
in various public administrative services, governmental or municipal or prefecture.
That way, any nomination or advance to higher social-economical positions
or just a better treatment comes as a benefit from those acquaintances. Greeks
are using their acquaintances during all their lives and unfortunately many
of them owe their social and economical advance to those acquaintances. In
other words there is favoritism everywhere.
The
worse form of favoritism is in the Greek army, where every bum, every hobo
enjoys a better treatment just because he has political or military acquaintances,
for world exclusive. Not even the English prince Harry himself, didn't had
a better treatment in the army than the other soldiers. Part of the Greek
army is said to be the military air force department which is more or less
the department of the "connections" and most of the times the soldiers
that go there are the ones who have acquaintances political or military.
However,
the Greek army has a lot more problems. To start with, some years ago, Greece
was under trial to the Amnesty International because the conscientious objector
were been sending to jail! Another problem in Greek army is that some celebrities
(like members of the parliament, actors, singers and many more) are accused
by the media for not even join the army at the first place, since they get
excluded using various fake medical certificates, or they serve in an office!
In Greece
a Turkish-Albanian attitude exists, that overrules (which has literally passed
into the Neo-Greek ‘genes’ since they were degraded under the Turkish conquerors
for 400 whole years) and doesn't seem to be leaving. An attitude of degradation,
sneaky behavior, (small) fraud, bribe, favoritism, nepotism, etc. But it's
also the Greek politicians in a wide meaning (members of the parliament),
even those in the local authorities (mayors, prefects) that have spoilt the
citizens by some of them promising a job position or a favorable act for their
affair.
But
the question is - beyond the bribes and the beneficial politics - if there's
any real public constructions. Many of the public constructions is said that
have been made with money multiple than those already exist. The government
as much as the local authorities (mayors, prefects) often use public money
with a way that may considered fraud but in Greece is legal: the famous ‘direct
assignments’. In other words, when a public construction needs to be made,
there is no competition carried out (this can happen under a cost limit),
instead there is an agreement under the table with a specific construction
company that gives the "bribe" (money percentage) for their choice
instead of choosing some other company, while - because of this "bribe"
- the construction is been made with a smaller budget that it should.
As a
result of this the Greece is the champion in bad constructed public constructions
(as most Greek roads that are the worst in the whole Europe). On the other
hand, there are accusations for several frauds in the assignments through
competition, too. The conclusion is that when there is a low budget for a
construction in the first place (usually in order to be lower than the limit
of direct assignments even if that means that one construction has to be split
in parts), then the result is a bad construction, with a quality very much
lower than the international scientific standards. Finally, some constructors
steal the money that belongs to the Greek people, and to the EU, too.
However,
as in every fraud in Greece, it is very difficult to find evidence. Also,
something considered as frauds in Greece perhaps can be permitted by the Greek
law! And politicians make the laws they find better for their own good!
Greece
is the only country in the whole world that almost every day has the capital's
(Athens) streets closed by demonstrators (even by only 30 - 50 individuals!!!)
that usually require the increase of their income. Also, opposition political
parties are back of most strikes. Even the schools are often closed because
the students are so bored to study, so they prefer to take control of the
school building for several days. On the other hand the universities are in
bad condition, the professors of all rungs of the education aren't been evaluated
by anybody, while in England if a professor gets a negative evaluation from
his students or pupils he's getting fired and that's the right thing to do.
The Greek universities are also the gathering place of junkies and anarchists.
The anarchists in Greece whenever they want (e.g. after a strike) they enter
in the universities and they vandalize public properties. The police don’t
dare to arrest them because of the supposed ‘asylum’ of the universities!
So they let the anarchists to vandalize the universities that use them to
hide after being chased by the police after a demonstration. They also act
provocative on demonstrations, and with their vandalisms they give the excuse
to the riot police to destroy the demonstrations.
In Greece
the anarchists whenever they want they burn national or international (usually
American) companies and banks, they burn cars of the states or embassies,
they invade in police stations and steal the officers weapons (!), they steal
banks, they steal supermarkets and give the goods to the pedestrians (like
Robin Hoods!) and they use the illegal immigrants appearing as their protectors.
On strikes the anarchists are hooded and don’t show their face. There is also
a connection of the anarchists with criminal acts (like kidnapping and bank
robbery) and they are also connected with terrorism. However, the anarchists
don’t want any kind of country. They hate countries, and any kind of power
such as the police. But without a country, without a State, the law of the
jungle will occur and the fittest will eat the weaker. Closing with the anarchists,
it is surprising that in Greece the anarchists are manipulated by the mass
media which not only are afraid to call them anarchists (they call them anti-
rulers), but many times they take their side and e.g. when the anarchists
and the fascists fight. However in Greece the anarchists whenever they wish
they can burn and vandalize Athens and many other major cities.
Returning
to the strikes, the demand of the demonstrators are often reasonable (don't
forget that Greece has the lowest wage in Europe), however the demands are
often unreasonable too and based on personal interests, for example until
recently the schoolteachers were in the past on strike, demanding the increase
of their salary, which is reasonable and a good reason to strike for, however
nobody seemed to pay attention to the fact that the teachers (as well as the
professors) is said that they are getting paid during the school holidays
(among them the 3 whole months at the summer) when they aren't working. No
one mentioned either, that some do private courses (even if that's illegal
as they are public servants) and of course they don't give invoices! In Greece
public sector servant who have big wages and pension strike. However people
who work on private sector jobs (for part time cheap job or max 700 Euros
full time job) or pensioner farmers of 300 Euros do not demonstrate…
In Greece,
as a world exclusive, the paramedics are on strike (they even use the ambulances
at their demonstrations), the hospitals are on strike, the taxi and the bus
drivers are on strike. When a hospital is on strike there are human lives
put into danger. In Greece there is also the system of rollover after hours
working between the hospitals, which means that if someone needs to be treated
and lives next to a non-working after hours hospital, he won't be treated
in that hospital! In Greece everyone working on public sector can go on strike.
For example people working on electricity public organism caused black out
for several days, even though they have big salaries and pensions comparing
with the 700 Euros people take as salary on private sector jobs.
In Greece
the percentage of women that participate in the parliament and prefecture/municipal
elections is disappointingly small. Even smaller is the people's trust on
women politicians (that even women don’t trust!) who does not vote the women
candidates. In Greece there is however a strange situation with women. The
Greek women are retiring in younger age than the men (as if in the age of
50 and more they have to take care of the family) and they don't join the
army (even if they don't have children before their 30s) as men.
Unfortunately,
Greece has been ruined by one particular politician: Andreas Papadreou, during
his long lasting governing (about 11-12 years): before that everything was
prohibited in Greece, with Andreas everything was allowed. His laicism was
historic. The same way was the manipulation of the crowds, too, which even
Gabel would be jealous of!
Everything
pointed in this document became even worse during the governing of that supposedly
socialist politician. Of course, however, they did exist before that and they
continue to happen after his death. In fact, Papadreou had been accused (but
found not guilty because of the lack of evidences) about the scandal with
Crete bank, a very big economical fraud.
Thru
the years, in Greece the favoritism, the nepotism, the bribes and the exploitation
of the public money took enormous dimension. And they are still continuing
today, even if the governments have changed. The governments are changing,
the corruption remains the same. The latest years there is a scandalous favoritism
concerning the parliamentary compensations and the salaries and the pensions
of the members of the parliament and of the judges. Also public servants,
academics and militaries have big salary and pension. The rest working on
private sector are paid with 700 Euros salary.
A few
years ago there was the enormous corruption scandal in the field of justice
and the unbelievable thing is that some judges and attorneys were accused
for being manipulative.
However,
junkies are been arrested and convicted, in the contrary with the celebrities
and the drug dealers who not only don't get arrested, but even if this happens
they're proven innocent in the court or convicted for only a few years imprisonment
and sometimes they just disappear during their first few days leave from the
jail (that's another schizophrenia, they offer a few days leave to prisoners,
as if they were public servants). At the same time, in Greece in fact there
is no life sentence! As soon as a convicted criminal passes the about 3/5
of his sentence in prison he's allowed to leave!
Another
field having problems is the education and for that the politicians have the
main responsibility. Every government of the last 30 years abused the education
system. The last 30 years every government in charge applies their own changes
on education. Of course, for the Greeks there is always something to benefit
of, so the pupils, as a world exclusive, are taking the control of their schools
and universities (here is where the teachers are against to their evaluation!)
and closing the streets substantially aiming mainly to lose lesson hours or
to suppress the changes that the government made in education and which makes
the things difficult for them!
The
parents are usually requesting and pushing the teachers to give high degrees
to their children and later when the boys join the army, again the parents
request from their military superiors to help their children have as easy
time as possible in the army. Also, again as a world exclusive, Greece is
the only country where the private courses are essential in order to succeed
in the exams for the tertiary education. This is, in some way right, but it's
not right to replace the school with the private courses! Note that the private
courses are been taught sometimes by public teachers (even if that's illegal)
who sometimes are stealing from the state, as they don't give invoices.
The
main responsibility for those problems in education is upon the parents who
are pushing their children to get the best degrees and the result of that
is that Greece is the first country in Europe that has high skilled unemployment
and the highest number of doctors and lawyers, and there are much more specialists
than we need in fields like civil engineering, physics-mathematics, philology,
mechanical engineering, policemen etc.
But
what do the Greek parents do about that? They insist to the degrees!!! So,
when their children can't get in a Greek university they send them aboard.
There are Greek students almost in every country around the world, but most
of them (especially for medical studies) are in England, Romania and Bulgaria.
They don't care what kind of degree they'll take in Bulgaria and Romania,
as long as they get a degree! How does the Greek ministry answer to all those
problems? By simply increasing the positions of the students accepted in the
tertiary education and that way we don't only have high unemployment for the
graduates, but we keep getting even more graduates. Also, many of them are
getting accepted in a university aboard and take tests to get transferred
to a Greek university or they are using the Erasmus program in order to study
a part of their studies is Greece!!!
However
even the ancient Greek has something in common with the current and maybe
all the negative characteristics the ancients had, have now pass into the
common subconscious of the neo-Greeks. So, maybe the ancient Greece had a
huge culture which won't be an exaggeration to say that it was the constitutional
foundation of the western culture, however the ancient Greek history is consisting
of civil wars among the cities-states, like the Peloponnesian War in ancient
Greece or in the later history the civil war after the revolution of 1821
(they even killed the 1st governor Kapodistrias and also imprisoned the general
Kolokotronis who set Greece free!). Also there was a civil war after the German
Possession on 1944, however the British have a great responsibility for it.
They
ancient Greeks even condemned to death the philosopher Socrates and exiled
Aristotle. On Byzantium they exiled the Patriarch Megas Chrisostomos who became
after saint!
In ancient
Greece, some cities, like Sparta and (less) Thebes, had cooperate even with
the Persians, while we must not forget that when the Persians attacked Greece,
the Northern Greece (Viotia, Macedonia, Thessaly, etc.) was spontaneously
surrendered (!) to the Persians (except the 700 Thespians who fought in the
side of the 300 of Leonidas, but nobody ever mentions them). Also, during
the German occupation in 1940, some Greeks co-operated with the Germans as
traitors and created battalions of Greek traitors para militants (‘hites’,
‘tagmatasfalites’) killers like the Ess Ess Nazi killers.
In ancient
Greece we must not forget the fact that Alexander the Great, after the Lamia
War, substantially occupied the rest of Greece and demanded (with the use
of the weapons) from the other cities by the treaty of Isthmus to recognize
him as the emperor! It's a surprise that there were Greek mercenaries everywhere,
even in Egypt where the 7th century B.C. Farao Psamitihos used Greek mercenaries
to the expedition against Nubia. In fact, Alexander himself fought along with
30000 (!) Greek mercenaries to the side of the Persians (their leader was
Darios) in the battle of Hisos in 333 B.C.! Anyway, Greeks were using mercenaries
too, like the Celts!!!
Regarding
the Byzantium period (don't forget that Byzantium was the eastern Romaic empire)
the history there included unbelievable intrigue. Then barbarian races came
Greece, like Slavians,Ounnies, even Vikings! First of all during Byzantium
era the last Greeks had been slaughtered, the ones that they called idolaters
and some of them became famous like the slaughters of Theodosius. Also the
pause of the Olympic Games and the demolition of the ancient Greek temples
took place during that period.
Therefore,
everything is good and beautiful with the ancient Greek culture, but the Greek
history stinks everywhere you touch it. Isn't it better to read the English
history for example about the Butica the Celts queen who defeated the Romans?
Returning
to today's gloomy reality, one field where you can find corruption is the
police. In fact, often there have been arrests of policemen that not only
don't fight the common crime, but instead some are cooperating with them for
example in cases of blackmail, drugs etc. In the police there is corruption,
especially in the suburbs where almost everyone knows each other well. Last
year, in Veria somebody killed his girlfriend because more likely he was jealous
of her. Even if he was the only suspect the police didn't pushed him for months
to reveal where he had hidden her body. When the case reached dead end the
police reporter Angeliki Nikolouli of the TV station ΑLTER from Athens with her team (one of the team members
was a former high profile police executive) pressed to reveal the truth and
after a short while the perpetrator was arrested. However, there is continuing,
again in Veria. In February 2006 a minor was missing. The local police didn't
find the perpetrator for months.
Eventually,
the reporter Nikolouli, once more doing what the police should have done,
found after her research and revealed in a video her discussion with 2 minors
- members of gang - in which a kid admit that it was them (the gang) who killed
the missing teenager (they beat him and through him down the stairs) and then
got rid of the body.
In general, in Greece there is an abuse use of the term "children"
and their supposed innocence. All of us know, from the elementary school,
punks who were often organized in gangs. Every human being can be a criminal
being from the early childhood and the main reason is the distraction of the
family.
Returning to the gang in Veria, actually for the punishment of illegal act
of persons still in the child age there is a legal problem. In Greece in order
to make or cover frauds they vote for new laws in the middle of a summer night.
However, many other laws are very old and dated back to dictator Metaxas days
on the 30s (in fact there was one law dated to Othonos days and on the end
of 19th century). Thus, the children of young age aren't been punished by
enclosure, but instead by taking away the parental assiduity and maybe by
enclosure in an institute.
But
not even the pedophiles have been punished in the past. Usually, the pedophiles
declared that the pornographic material they had been only for personal use
(just like the declaration of a junkie about the drug found in his posses)!!!
Except
Veroia’s gang, recently was reported another case of police goofs with a young
man murdered in Akrata and his body was left near the train trials, in order
to appear as an accident. At first the research of the case took over the...
road accidents department, while a "key-witness" was send back to
Albany (!), and there wasn't any brief formed against anybody, so for the
police that murder is a case of suicide, which means that if the TV show of
the channel ΑLΤΕR hadn't bring it up, the dead man would never been vindicated.
However
the phenomenon of the suicides is quite often in the army too, there too is
no check, as it's known to everyone that the army is state in the state and
has even its own courts... In fact, is been said that the drug usage appear
in high percentage into the army.
Another
problem in Greece is that it is the most homophobic societies the homosexuals
are been named daily with inappropriate words and generally they are pushed
out of the society. All these are Turkish remains (because in the Moslem countries
the homosexuals are barred alive), however let's not forget the "ottoman
sex" which the Anglo-Saxon call today "the Greek way", because
of the homosexuality that ancient Greeks had and which isn't ever been taught
in the Greek schools!!!
Surprisingly,
the majority of the Greeks consider that homosexuality is only the passive
sex and not the energetic!!! At the same time, there are obvious homosexual
tense even to the young children e.g. if you observe the 5-10 years old young
boys playing computer games in any Greek Internet cafe (in Greece the Internet
is seldom used in the Internet café but children play violent computer
games) you'll notice that they swear, using homosexual implies like "I
f..ed him" (meaning I killed him) and many more. But in older ages too
the boys very often use homosexual implies in their daily vocabulary (e.g.
"I'll f... you") and there is also a hidden homosexuality which
unfortunately is been strengthened by the bad family environment. In Athens
where is a more free society the homosexuality is more often than in the suburbs
where it's consider even today a serious social spot... At the same time,
don't forget the fact that a percentage of the general population had during
the late childhood (!) or in the teenage some homosexual experience which
they and sometimes some psychologists name a sexual experimentation!
Greece
is a country holding a lot of negative first places in Europe. So, Greece
is: first in children overweight (I repeat that the Greeks not only eat junk
food but they also don't exercise), first in drug usage among teenagers and
first in smoking. In Greece children are start smoking while they still are
in the elementary school and they are so irresponsible that they smoke everywhere,
even the employees in the public services and banks, but also into the taxi,
also the doctors into their office, also the patients on the hospital balcony
or in the front yard!
Greece
is also first in the road accidents (the Greek drivers are the rudest and
they are driving in the worst roads in Europe), the last country in the Internet
usage and the broadband speeds (and the first in computer games), first in
corruption, last in competition, first in percentage of population to doctors,
especially to Greek doctors that studied in Romania and Bulgaria. Also, Greece
is first in number of lawyers and police officers, even if there is actually
lack of policemen in the streets, since most of them is body guarding the
politicians and celebrities such as TV personas. Also, Greece is the first
in giving up the basic education and in the child employment, first in the
low birthrate (the Greeks have as an excuse - as usual - financial reasons,
however the immigrants even they are poor they have 2 or more children), first
in abortions (no sexual education exists) and first in sending students (and
money) aboard, etc. However, Greece is the first country in home-owners. The
Greeks are complaining all through their lives that they don't have any money
but the most of them have their own house!!!
Also,
Greece has the lowest wages, the lowest pensions and the lowest unemployment
benefits. The biggest problem are the low-pensioners who are asking money
from their children (if they haven’t closed in a nursing home), and also a
lot of unemployed skilled young people. At the same time, Greece is the last
country in Europe in the size of the compensations which the court decides
for individuals that had damage due to a public organism. Classic examples
are the road accidents with motorbikes or cars that fell in a road hole (we
know that many roads have been constructed through the direct assignments)
and they got injured and when they're looking for their legal rights substantially
they become a tennis ball between the public services (municipality, prefecture,
water supply service, ministry of public works) to find out who's responsible.
Regarding
the first place in the road accidents the reason is that the Greek drivers
are the worst in the whole world plus they're driving in the worst roads in
the world. Many roads are been constructed through the corrupted systems of
the "direct assignment" by construction companies that not only
is said they bribe for been selected, but they also construct the construction
with lower budget than they should. Also, there are thousands of minors driving
motorcycles without having driving license and without wearing helmet, while
often the young ones are driving drunk in the night after going to a night
club. But let's not forget the fact that often, according to mass media reports,
many Greeks is reported by the media that are buying their driving license
giving money to their driving teacher in order to pay the committee (even
if today the situation is a little bit better)...
The
Greek drivers are very rude and the men behave irresponsible to the women
drivers and they swear. Generally, everyone is swearing and hand gesturing
the one another. By the way, the open palm gesture is a humiliating gesture
and along with the swearing "as...le", the jealousy and the tense
to create gangs are characterizing the Greeks all around the world. The Greeks
are the worst drivers in the world and you see every single day pictures like
illegal pass through, trucks driving in a convoy the one behind the other.
You also see cars taking a 180 degrees turn in central roads, people driving
motorbike with wearing helmet and driving a car without wearing seatbelt,
small children without seatbelt and mothers holding their baby in the front
seat (which means that in case of a collation the baby will become the mother's
airbag), parents driving a motorcycle having their small child or even baby
on their laps and also minors driving motorcycles without helmet and even
kids driving trackers!
At the
same time, the biggest problem in Greece are the taxi drivers who are giving
a bad name to the whole country internationally by some of them stealing from
the tourists (and the locals), with taking more than one separate passengers,
with their rudeness, the customer selection (if he doesn't like you or where
you're going he doesn't give you a ride, even if he doesn't have another customer)
etc.
Even
the news reports in Greece are horrible (except those of the national television).
Greece is the only country in which the news reports are been done through
tele "panels" and particularly this year from one main anchorman
and 4-5 co-presenters who say their personal (or their boss) opinion as objective!!!
But the reporters and the news anchormen who are presented as uncorrupted
often they or their bosses are involved with the politic-financial authorities
and trusts.
The
news reports are a parade of exclusive 10 - 20 members of the parliament,
mainly from Athens. At the same time, many of the reporters are contacting
the members of the parliament and the ministers on their mobile, as if they
were good friends! The worst thing is that, against every sense of journalistic
deontology which prevents the news anchormen to express their personal opinion,
the news presentation is been done in a completely substantial way, and the
worst is that the news reports are been turned into a TV show. In fact there
is a TV channel that instead of the breaking news presents gossips and news
of the famous.
The
worst thing in the Greek TV is the tele-trials. In other words when there
is a rather popular issue on TV there's a parade of all the relatives of the
dead who are yelling and searing that he was uncorrupted and the victim of
the cruel society. At the same time, almost every day for various issues there's
a parade in the news and shows of lawyers against all senses of deontology.
I wonder why the law association doesn’t ever remove anyone from their position
and I also wonder why the 10 particular lawyers from Athens are always present
in the TV shows.
What's
happening with the tele-trials is that no one ever is able to make a sure
conclusion, as the TV can't ever take the place of the court rooms. However
in the court rooms sometimes, too there is also an unbelievable mess with
the trials been continuously postponed (often with the excuses that a defender
or a prosecutor is ill) and often the hearing of a case is been held after
many years, while with the resorts to the highest court a case can make it
to the hearing in over a decade. By the way, since I mentioned the resorts,
Greece is the only country where a person or a small village has the power
to resort to the territory council and to the European court in order to cause
a delay to a civil construction, as happened for example with the incapability
to find a space for sanitary burial of the litter because of the fact that
every little village is been resorting to the territory council and cancels
the construction.
Another
huge problem in Greece is the side economy, with the most classic problem
the fact that almost no one is giving invoices; however the Greeks themselves
never ask for the receipt. That way, in a medical visit the doctor rarely
give a receipt for the services or the handyman (e.g. plumber or electrician)
who visits a house for a repair or a convenient store or a shop. Only the
super markets are giving receipts every time and some of the shops that sell
cloths or electric appliances. Also, many Greeks are stealing from the taxes.
The simplest way is not to give invoices. There are often reports of bribing
a tax officer. However they are stealing from the tourist, too: everybody
knows the profiteering and the tax evasion in the tourist places (especially
the Greek islands). Therefore the last years the tourists prefer Turkish beaches,
except of the English who choose the Rhodes Faliraki for sex-tourism!
In the
public health field everybody knows the situation with the "envelops",
which means that any patient in order to pass through the waiting list and
have a surgery earlier or just in order to have a better treatment by the
doctor he has to pay him more. This often happens after the doctor's pressure
(usually the surgeon's), however sometimes the patient himself causes it spontaneously!!!
However the waiting list for a surgery is often fake! Even if not, it can
be bypassed with a ‘present’ to the surgeon. In Greece you can bribe everyone!
An other
problem in the field of Medicare that concerns every doctor who writes prescriptions
is the directed prescription.
In other
words, there are medical representatives of various pharmaceutical companies
that not only inform the doctors about the new medicines, but they also advise
them to prescribe the medicines of their company with exchange some gifts
like pens (!), travels for conventions, kitchen supplies - electric appliances
etc. In fact, the pharmaceutical companies are sponsoring medical conferences
and often the medical-pharmaceutical and biotechnological research. Therefore
a sponsored research is often unreliable. However Greek doctors are the only
in the whole world that prescribe medicine and the more drugs they prescribe
the more various gifts they earn from some drug companies!!! So patients usually
take drugs that they don’t need!
In the
health field there is a mess. The worst thing is the extra beds putted in
the hospital's corridors called "ranches" and the fact that the
doctors are actually examining the patients on the ranches, and the nurses
are proceeding in actions (like the change of the urine collector) in public
view. However the relatives of the patient are also coming in groups in the
hospital and there are 3-5 relatives staying with the patient all day long
filling the hospital with the germs they carry. Often, they deny leaving the
room during the doctor's visit, while other times they cause problems to the
doctors themselves showing them how they should do their own job.
In any
case, the hospitals are horrible, having the minimum nursing personnel, while
unskilled and without experience doctors often undertake the responsibility
to "get the snake out of its hole". The Greek hospitals aren't at
all "teaching hospitals" like the equivalent ones in other advanced
countries. The worst is that the section of the hospitals that meant to take
care of the emergencies where the Emergency Rooms and the TEAM who's going
to meet the patients don't even exist. There are simply some curtains and
some usually unskilled specializing doctors. I have never seen a professor
or consultant going down to the emergencies. Often, even the commissaries
allow difficult situations to be handled by unskilled doctors. Even the medical
centers of the suburbs don't have the essential medical equipment they need,
however they are actually the places where usually the unskilled doctors go,
who have just graduated the medical school and don't even have a specialty
yet.
Substantially
the medical centers of the suburbs are acting like transfer departments for
the prefecture hospitals and those are acting like the transfer centers for
the bigger hospitals in Athens or Thessaloniki. However even the transfers
have problems, since not only there are not enough ambulances but there are
also no drivers for the ambulances in many hospitals and medical centers.
Greece is the only country where in many medical centers of the province ambulances
have simple drivers and not paramedic as they should.
An other
problem in the hospitals is the small number of beds in the Intensive Treatment
and Intensive Care Units for which the patient's relatives are using even
political acquaintances in order to get a bed! However the state itself recently,
instead of increasing the number of the beds in the Intensive Treatment and
to hire new personnel, decided to rent Intensive Treatment beds in the private
hospitals!!! Regarding the EKAB (ambulance system), there's a horrible situation
with the ambulances which have insufficient equipment and unskilled paramedics
who often are bored of carrying a patient on hands; therefore they use wheel
chairs instead of a stretcher!
Also,
it's often to see them going up in an apartment without carrying all the necessary
equipment and if the patient (that has been waiting for hour for the ambulance
to arrive) is still alive, then they're going back downstairs to carry the
stretcher (and if they aren't too much bored, they may carry the oxygen too).
Also, in the past they often confirmed a death without even do a cardiogram!
Isn't it time for the EKAB to have real doctors or even better to give a suitable
education to the paramedics - following the example of the advanced countries
as USA- so they can be skilled saviors and capable for medical actions like
intubation, cardioversion and issuing IV medicines? Regarding the helicopters
used for transferring patients, those are mostly serving the islands (however
they, too are often used after political pressure of members of the parliament
and local authorities) also you'll never see a helicopter over a road accident
even though Greece is first on road car accidents. In the province things
are like in the third world. For example at the hospital of the island Kefallonia
(according to statements to mass media that the persons in charge made in
the 1st of October 2006, after the death of an old lady who waited for the
ambulance for 3 whole hours). In that hospital was mentioned in the media
that they had some ambulances, however only one of them was on call, since
they only had 2 paramedics for all the ambulances who were also taking the
911 calls.
In the
hospitals there is a complete opacity and - according to the reveals that
the reporter Nikos Evangelatos made in his night show "Reveals"
in September 2006 - there is a lot of opacity for the hospital supplies. In
fact a special medical cotton that normally costs 6 Euros, in Greece is been
bought for 500 Euros!!! Also, they often give to the patients expired medicines
which n the best case are inactive, though in the worse case they can cause
septic shock. The opacity for the supplies in Greece isn't only happening
in the hospitals, but it's a general problem and there are many accusations
made through the mass media, however in the parliament have been made accusations
about the opacity in the military supplies.
Greece
could solve their economical problems if they decrease the enormous expenses
spend on military supplies, and also if there was a decrease to the salaries
and pensions of the parliament members, militaries, judges, professors and
the bank executives. However the main problem is that a huge part of the national
budget is been spent for military programs (Greece comes first to military
equipment in NATO, as if it's the Nazis Germany) and not for the health and
not for the education. The classic excuse is that the US presses for purchasing
the equipment they're selling or that there is the danger Turkey attacking
Greece (even if she's a NATO member) but they don't convince anyone. The real
reason is the billions Euros profit comes from the supplies for the military
programs... In any case, the politic tactics of the ministry of national affairs
the last 25 years was a politics of continues compromise with the Turkey and
the US that supports Turkey. In fact, some years ago Greek agents almost delivered
"into a plate" to the Turk spies the leader of the Turk ΡΚΚ, Otsalan, and actually in Africa (before the wanted by the Turks Abdullah
Otsalan was living in Greece without anyone bothering him).
Greece
is the "black sheep" of the EU and continuously receives penalties
like recently with the uneven treatment of men and women so they would both
retired on their 65th, because in Greece the women are retiring earlier (also
women don't join the army as men, although they have children after their
30s), for the non recognition of the degrees of foreign universities and colleges
(as if the third world Greek universities are better than the English) etc.
A public
mess was the result, in 2005 and 2006, of the reveal that the reporter Nikos
Evangelatos made in his TV show that in Greece: Α) In the restaurants they recycle whatever remains in
the plates and then serve it back to the next customer. Β) In the bakers shops the flour is full of insects and
there are mice all around the place. C) The frozen fishes are been defrost
and sold as fresh. D) The hygiene conditions in restaurants, food stores and
food warehouses are very low. Ε) In the some super markets they remove the outer of
the expired yellow cheese and sell is as toast cheese or trimmed cheese. F)
The expiration date on the food is often changed etc.
In Greece
there is unbelievable opacity. It's a frequent phenomenon to see a public
servant been bribed like a tax officer, urban planning personnel, doctors
(usually the surgeons and doctors who are bribed to send patients to private
clinics or diagnostic centers) and many more. Very often is the bribe that
is said to take place often in order to buy a driving license (even general
practitioners and eye doctors is said to been bribed in order to write fake
certificates that the candidate driver is healthy). The bribe is often been
done after the public servant's (e.g. tax officer) blackmail, however more
often is been made spontaneously (!) by the individuals in order to finish
with their issues earlier.
An other
problem is the massive and unverified entry of illegal immigrants through
the unattended Greek boarders and the un programmed entry of almost 1 million
immigrants in a country of 10 millions, aiming only to keep satisfied the
factory owners and generally all the Greek people that are taking advantage
of the cheap workforce that pay cheap and don’t give insurance. Political
asylum has been given to many (e.g. Kurdish, Iraqi and Afghani) who convinced
the ones in charge using the classic excuse "if I go back to my country
I'm going to be executed". Of course the immigrants constitute cheap
working hands that don't ask for superannuation and have no legal rights.
In fact, in the past, when they finished their job, their boss, in order to
save to not pay them, was calling the police who send them back to their country!
However they don't give up, because the Greek boarders was and still are full
of holes, and that way they could always come back.
In Greece
dominates an acquaintance attitude and rarely those cases are going to the
court among various associations (doctors, lawyers), even if that happens
usually the punishment is small. The same happens also with the statutory
administrative examinations in the public sector. Even the members of the
parliament have the unacceptable parliamentary asylum according to which they
can't be prosecuted, unless the parliament decides otherwise and as you already
thought, rarely the parliament decides to send any of their members to the
justice... Another acquaintance attitude of the members of the parliament
is that the politicians decide by their own to get an increase to their own
salaries!!! And they do it often!
In Greece
dominates "the thief of the thief" attribute. They steal from one
another. Very often the convenience stores are stealing from their customers
(rather legally, even if there is illegal profit) by overpricing the products.
Many shops (e.g. with clothes or shoes) sell 100 – 300% more expensive a product
than the price they buy it. Also some super markets, too have been reported
from the media to steal the customers by showing different prices on the selves
than the one you actually pay at the cashier and also often they advertise
special offers (in cost or content in gr or ml) that don't actually exist
or are lower than the one in the advertisement.
The
worst is that Greece is a country with the lowest wages in EU and very low
competition and that way no one skilled foreigner comes to work in Greece.
If they choose Greece they will quit quickly because of the huge bureaucracy!
After all there is already high unemployment in the young and educated people
in Greece. However, the Greeks are an idle race. They prefer to use foreigners
for the heavy duties, while they (asking from their parents) just wait for
a position in a public service where they're going to do nothing all day and
pay well for being lazy. They fill such positions in the past and now using
political and other acquaintances and not their skills. The things became
a little better since the ASEP system is used according to which there's a
competition for the new personnel, however there are a lot of successful candidates
who remain without a job for years.
The
Greek police are a mess. The police officers (except maybe from those in the
big cities) are afraid to arrest the burglars and often they don't even come
(especially in areas around Attica) when someone call them to report a broke
in. Of course, there are police departments with 2-4 policemen in the night;
therefore they can't come because there is not enough force. However, often
you'll see indifference from the policemen to deal with the common crime and
especially with the drug dealers.
The
classic excuse of many policemen is that "I have a family and children".
Therefore the civilian should take the law in their hands, since the policeman
is afraid. However, the incapable policeman could have an office position
and let the capable one protect the society. Where the policemen come first
is when it comes to the dissolution of demonstrations and as bodyguards and
security of the politicians and VIPs – celebrities. If only we could have
all those policemen that are now bodyguards of politicians, of businessmen
and of journalists and of many other out to the streets to face the common
crime, then the criminality would have been decreased.
But
what can be done, when we don't even have on foot police patrols. Another
huge problem is, as a world exclusive, the unbelievable rudeness of the Greeks
to the policemen and especially to those in the traffic control whom they
literally swear and they threaten to go after them using their acquaintances
(as we said before Greece is the country of the acquaintances and the "intermediate").
However when the policeman or the ones in the traffic control have taken their
position and advance through his acquaintances it's a natural result to be
afraid of any punk that threaten him in the street! Even about the traffic
fines the Greeks often go to the police department and ask the commander to
erase them!!!
Greece
is also a country full of illegally built houses. Such buildings are everywhere
and often constitute entire cities. The state not only isn't demolishing them,
instead they can get electricity, too. The police has huge responsibility
who don’t arrest the land grabbers (is there bribe of the police officers?)
and also there is responsibility of the urban planning department (there we
do have reports of bribes) who even they don't recognize as legal, they don’t
demolish the illegal buildings. However the state is making legal entire cities
of illegal buildings! Unfortunately, though, usually those buildings aren't
owned by poor people, instead the most of them belong to people who already
have a house and use the illegal one as a summer residency. In Loutraki, for
example, there are hundreds of illegal buildings, most of them owned by Athenians
who use them as summer house. However in Attica there are thousands of illegal
buildings too. Many businessmen have mansions that have illegally trespassed
the coast and aren’t arrested. Politics aren’t keen on arresting their backers!
Beyond
the illegal buildings, there are also enormous illegal acts been made by various
cycles who decide the prices of the olive oil, the milk, the petrol and the
heating fuel, the wine, the vegetables, and many more. They are the famous
intermediates who profit billions of Euros when they buy the product in a
very cheap price from the producer and sell it into the super markets or the
street market over-priced up to 100-300%. No one touches these ‘intermediates’.
In those cycles obviously participate among others the big industries that
cooperate in order to buy the products in a ridiculously low price from the
producer and sell it over-priced.
The
biggest fraud is been done with the fuel oil which even if today its price
is internationally low, only in Greece is been still sold over-priced. On
the other hand, there are a lot of reports of frauds relating to the petrol.
However the reporter Nikos Evangelatos revealed in last spring that even the
milk is been adulterated, since some of the big industries buy cheap milk
powder or bulk from our neighbor Balkan countries from bad quality farms.
However the orange juice also is often imported in ice columns from Brazil
according to Evagelatos research.
Regarding
the olive oil, which is not only been bought in ridiculously low price from
the producers, but it is also been exported to Italy (where is been used for
making their own oils extra virgin) and a part of that is said to been imported
back in Greece, of course in a higher price! Regarding the (national) competition
committee who is supposed to check the illegal profit, is been proven to be
entirely corrupted when on September of 2006 were arrested 3 employees (in
fact the 2 of them were related) who were involved in a case of bribing from
a milk industry who reported the bribing, while left to be meant that they're
going to help reveal the cartel who decides the price of the milk.
Finally,
the Greeks as a nation haven't learned yet to discus, instead they yell and
make noise. Every form of assembly, from the pupils assembly and the parents
assembly into schools, to the students assembly in the university, the assembly
of the householders in a building and the parliament assembly, everywhere
instead of calm and civilized discussion there are yelling and swears. By
the way, in the university elections, however in the local authorities too
(municipalities and prefectures) in Greece, as a world exclusive, there are
political parties participating! That way, in the municipal and prefecture
elections the Greeks vote the political parties! The same in the students
elections too. Generally the assemblies of the students in the universities
are very noisy, and that's something that characterizes generally every form
of assembly in the country that the democracy and dialogue was born.
In conclusion:
Greece is a country where "the thief of the thief" attribute dominates,
where everybody's looking how to settle in a good position and huge importance
have been given by the Greeks to the acquaintances and especially the political
ones. As a country, is even worst from the Turkey. Maybe because the Turkish
(conquerors of Greece for 400 years) and Albanian (the Turks brought in Greece
many Albanians called ‘arbanites’) remaining have pass into the DNA of the
neo-Greeks of nepotism, bribing, corruption and so on.
In a
final analysis, in Greece is not important who you are, but instead what you
declare that you are and what acquaintances you have. Also, in case of frauds
in Greece it is usually impossible to find evidence because things are covered
up (especially by the politicians) or other times something considered as
a fraud in Greece is not, but considered ‘legal’ if it doesn’t break the Greek
law!
Closing
I will mention that Greece is a wonderful country but inhabited by people,
the new (neo)-Greeks whose governances of last 30 years totally destroyed
the nation that once raised philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
If you ask the Greeks who is responsible for destroying Greece the last 30
years they will answer: the politicians. But they are the ones who elected
and still elect them!
However,
corruption is something that characterizes all the western governments and
it is not only a Greek phenomenon.
NOTE
Much information mentioned is taken from media reports, and their reliability cannot be completely assessed. The viewers of this article are requested not to accept a priory any information and opinion written in this text if first they don’t ascertain it from reliable sources such as newspaper articles, books, TV and internet reports etc. The writer in order to support his notions in many issues over exaggerates. This text is subjective and contains the personal opinions of the author which the viewers aren’t obligated to accept.
For the reason that is mentioned above, the writer has published the text ‘STEREOTYPES, BIAS AND GENERALIZATION’ (you can find on the same site) in order to show that things aren’t black or white.
This article was written based to media reports (TV reports and newspapers
articles) which many of them are unreliable and cannot be ascertained at all.
So the viewers of this article are requested NOT to accept a priory anything
written in this article before they ascertain it by research of official reliable
objective sources. Also, some of the information in this article was taken
by the daily (except weekends) TV show ‘Apokalyptiko
Deltio’ with Giannis Papagiannis at Extra 3 Channel and the show at the same channel
every Sunday at 11:30 p.m. ‘politikos marathonios’ of the famous Greek politician Vasilis Leventis whose site is www.antidiaploki.gr.
You can
watch the TV show ‘Apokalyptiko Deltio
of the journalist Giannis Papagiannis
every day (except weekends) at
Also you
can watch the TV show of the Greek politician Vasilis
Leventis live at the site http://www.extra3tv.gr every Sunday at