The dilemma of Portugal and Greece is reminiscent of the dilemma faced by the officers and men serving under a naval captain who seems to have gone mad. The problem is not just what their actions would lead to on the ship, but what the consequences would be once they attempted to rejoin society. Regardless of the facts, naval and civil authorities are highly reluctant to admit that there is ever justification for such action. Admission would constitute opening the biggest can of worms in existence. Yet every function on the ship is deteriorating towards collapse, led by morale and there is a deep fear that the captain may scuttle the ship, taking all hands down with it - Jim Jones fashion.

The fear of authorities of the undermining of authority is mirrored by the current crisis of legitimacy. Officially, accountability is to democratically elected officials, but we know that the accountability being protected currently is to the fraudulent wealth controlled by a tiny minority whose actions and folly has already set in motion the sinking of the ship. Yet, for governmental authority, fear of the wrath of the wealthy and the perils of the downfall of the existing, century old financial system overbalances concern for the lives of the population which that system is supposed to serve. So they will refuse to acknowledge the problem until they cannot.

The lessons from history seem to be that all revolutions turn into self devouring monsters that senselessly kill a horrifying number of citizens in the process of replacing an old system with a newer system that ends up being a new set of scoundrels operating a new system that still bears many of the faults of the old. Regardless of the rhetoric, the powerful always use power to their personal benefit.

The 'end of history' was just the ultimate conservative dream of eternal stasis. Stay tuned.  

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."