A great many European politicians seem to be underestimating the peripheral countries. Greeks and the Irish people have been through plenty of upheavals in the past. They have survived--come what may. This is not even among the gravest threats these countries have faced. It seems that people living high on the hog value materiality so much that they can't imagine another way of living, a way that preserves community even if it means exile from the EU and international banking system.