Greece Goes To The Dogs !

When visiting Athens on a much-needed holiday last September, I was amazed to see how many dogs roamed the street. In front of the Parliament House was a large dog standing guard near the real Guard outside the building. There were also dogs across the street in the park and on the steps of the fancy hotels bordering the park. They all seemed to be well fed with some having collars like they were turfed our of their owner's apartments.

John Roskam of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) solves this canine mystery and asks why Australian taxpayers must get involved:

He says, "Australians will be surprised to learn that, apparently, the federal government now has responsibility to help the city of Athens pay for the feeding of stray dogs in the Greek capital. It seems that Athens has a stupid policy that in no case supports the sheltering or euthanisation of animals. Stray dogs are instead sterilised, tagged, let loose again and fed by the council." Crazy!

He continues, "How countries deal with stray dogs is up to them, But if a country wants to provide stray dogs that are sick with and shelter with constant veterinary care, other countries shouldn't be forced to foot the bill. If the Greek government wants to set the retirement age at 50 it can, but it has to wear the consequences. That's the issue at the heart of whether Australian taxpayers should contribute to an International Monetary Fund bailout of Europe.

The Way I See it....there are times when Australian taxpayers should financially support the governments and citizens of other countries. But Europe in 2012 is not one of those times.

Europe's debt crisis is not an act-of-God. Its problems are the result of deliberate decisions taken over decades. The economics of a dyed-in-the-wool socialised Europe and the Euro are broken and the continent's political system is obviously fatally flawed.

Bailout money, whether from Germany, Australia or China, can't give Europe what it really needs. Europe needs something more than other people's money. It needs a governing class focused on rational economic growth and social welfare....not rule-making.