The Folly of Empire: Starving Greek Children

The New York Time’s Liz Alderman reports: As an elementary school principal, Leonidas Nikas is used to seeing children play, laugh and dream about the future. But recently he has seen something altogether different, something he thought was impossible in Greece: children picking through school trash cans for food; needy youngsters asking playmates for leftovers; and an 11-year-old boy, Pantelis Petrakis, bent over with hunger pains. Ryan Avent takes an uncharacteristically “balanced” view: It is no use trying to figure out what "fair" is. It is hard to blame Germans who have saved prudently and minded their own business for not wanting the value of those savings eroded by inflation, even moderately. But at some point there needs to be a bit of perspective about the relative costs and benefits of different crisis approaches. Yes. I see. Perspective. Different Approaches. These are good points. At the same time, there are children stealing food because they have nothing to eat! And, the head of the Bundesbanks says: We didn’t change interest rates at our last meeting as they are currently appropriate and in accordance with our assessment of economic developments, price stability and our monetary analysis . . . We shouldn’t expect too much” from a potential rate cut, Weidmann said today. “Monetary policy will not be able to solve structural problems in the euro area. The structural problem here is the existence of a monetary union where central bank officials believe that children rummaging through the garbage for food is an appropriate economic development. As Ryan probably knows my sentiments are unfashionable and hinge on notions like noblesse oblige and the burden of privilege. But, as long as we remain loyal to the ideal of a meritocratic democracy then we must demand institutions that meritocratic democracies are capable of managing. Loose confederations of quasi-independent nations states with no sense collective identity are not among them. Democracies cannot manage empires. The attempt is grotesque and ethos of meritocracy do not even afford us the appropriate means of redress.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.forbes.com