BY: THE PLAID ZEBRA
Everyone is aware of the wasteland that is the current state of Greek economic affairs, as the nation quickly approaches its financial melting point. Yesterday Greece missed the deadline to pay €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) to the International Monetary Fund, a default that is likely to cause further turmoil in economic activity by creating more uncertainty for lenders.
But even as Greek banks are closed and ATMs are nearly empty, political elites and creditors are stagnant arguing over conditions and structural adjustment policies of the bailout deal that has been offered. The problem is that while Greek banks lie on life support and elites debate in air-conditioned board rooms, the Greek people, especially pensioners, are suffering.
As Tom Feeney, a 29-year-old Londoner writes on his Indie GoGo account, “All this dithering over Greece is getting boring, European ministers flexing their muscles and posturing over whether they can help the Greek people or not. Why don’t we the people just sort it instead?”
With 503 million people in the European union, Feeney says that with just over a €3 contribution from each person, Greece could be out of the red in no time. And while the crowd-funding initiative might sound overambitious, in just 3 days, 56,095 backers have raised over €1,002,993.
Feeney writes, “This isn’t just about Greece, but about the Greek people, the working classes and trying to help other ordinary people across the world. If governments, corporations or banks won’t help, what can we do but band together.”
REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Besides providing an open hand to Greek countrymen, backers receive a small taste of the culture they are helping to nurse back from financial paralysis:
• Pledge €3 and get a postcard sent from Greece of Alex Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister.
• Pledge €6 and get a Greek Feta and Olive salad.
• Pledge €10 and get a small bottle of Ouzo sent to you.
• Pledge €25 and get a bottle of Greek wine.
Negotiations have been brought to a halt as Greece enters a referendum Sunday, giving Greeks the chance to self-determine whether they support the terms offered by creditors last week, possibly reproaching yesterday’s actions by Mr. Tsipras who attempted to speak for the entire country.
There’s 6 days left to contribute. As this twitter user puts it “If it fails, you get your money back. If it works you’re a part of history.” So really, what do you have to lose?
