Greece, how can you do this to us?

Several people I know seemed to have been vacationing in Greece recently, and they were posting lots of beautiful pictures.  And as I looked through those beautiful pictures of them posing on sandy beaches, eating grape leaves in romantic cafes and posing in front of the Parthenon, I was struck by the complete contrast between those images and the ones I was seeing on the news, of rioting in the streets of Greece against the new austerity measures.  The Greek people are kind of pissed off right now, and the world is a little pissed off at Greece right now.  Especially the Germans and the French, who aren't too happy with having to mop up the Greek mess after their drunken spending spree has resulted in massive debt, threatening the very existence of the Euro, and leaving the more disciplined European nations with the choice of either bailing Greece out, or risking massive economic collapse.  

So why should YOU care?  Because you probably own stocks or funds in your 401k of companies that either have operations in Greece, do business with Greece, own European debt which is dependent on Greece, etc.  One planet, one people, one mess.

And then I was thinking about Greece, the birthplace of philosophy and logic, and I thought Greece, how can you be so unreasonable?  What would Socrates say?  I mean, this is kind of embarrassing.  

Remembering the basics of the Socratic method from college, I was thinking that Socrates might have a few questions.  Like:

Is It reasonable to continue spending sums of money that are disproportionately large relative to the sums you bring in?

How exactly can Greece sustain debt that is hovering around 162% of its GDP, while continuing to employ a really large workforce, providing a really cushy social safety net,  and not being really good at collecting taxes?

Well, one of their answers is to grow tourism some more.  Tourism already accounts for about 15% of the Greek economy, but surely there are some more people who can be enticed to come frolic on those sandy beaches, eat Greek salads and polish off some Ouzo.

Another solution the Greek propose is to sell off some assets.  

But if I were Socrates, I might wonder how, if they sell off the Parthenon, will they be able to use it to make more money off the tourists?  Hey, maybe I should start a hedge fund that buys distressed Greek monuments…

Oh, and generally speaking, I don't think it's a great idea for anyone to spend 162% of what they earn.