George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 368

George Bush’s Great America – 367

< Episode 367 >

To put it simply, the Greek government’s situation was: “Throw it all away! Launch austerity measures!” This wasn’t an exaggeration. In reality, the government’s austerity policies were being implemented with complete disregard for the people.

Naturally, this attitude led to the government being stigmatized as a traitorous regime that sold the country to the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and Germany, sparking unprecedented large-scale protests. Scenes of people holding the Greek flag and shouting the five blue lines of freedom and four white lines of death [referencing the Greek flag’s symbolism], clashing with the police, were broadcast worldwide.

As things stood, the Greek government had three options left.

One was to save the country by thoroughly ignoring and suppressing the people. Some say there’s no country without the people, but that isn’t necessarily the same as respecting them.

In the end, a country is just an organization, and if it has the power to force policies on its members and the capital to maintain that power, it will function somehow.

In this case, the EU, or more precisely, Germany, would provide the capital. Then it’s simple: ignore the protesters completely, declare a comprehensive overhaul, and fix the economy.

Sure, state-owned enterprises would be privatized, and civil servants, who were said to have iron rice bowls [guaranteed lifetime employment], would become beggars overnight, asking for a penny or two. But wouldn’t that be inevitable? It was arguably normal to reduce the number of civil servants, who accounted for 10% of the population.

However, the Greek economy, already dependent on Germany, would become permanently dependent this time, and the people’s trust would plummet, creating the possibility of a ‘revolution.’ It would be the worst outcome for the government, but from a purely national perspective, it wasn’t a terrible option.

Another option, which happened in the original timeline, was to declare default, that is, bankruptcy. This was arguably the most suitable option for Greece at the moment. After all, even if the creditors took everything they could from Greece, there would eventually be a limit. In fact, Germany had already forgiven 50% of Greece’s debt.

The problem was that in this case, not only the credit rating and foreign relations, but also the future of Greece, would be followed by the modifier ‘hopeless’ in all words that seemed a bit complicated and hopeful. In short, it meant starting from scratch.

The difference from the above was that it had to rely on the IMF, and all the blame directed at the government could be shifted to the IMF and Germany.

Perhaps German Chancellor Angela Merkel would be called a Nazi, and the IMF would be remembered as an invader who came to plunder the country.

Well, in fact, this wasn’t just a national-level default; even between individuals, the debtor’s view of the debt collector was bound to be hostile, seeing them as a villain or a cold-blooded person.

Finally, there was the option of declaring they would force repayment of the debt, even with force. There was no worse or better option than this. However, in this case, there was only one advantage: if they won, they could pass the debt on to the defeated country.

And of course, the possibility of Greece winning against the entire creditor group at this point was infinitely close to zero. Of course, there was no absolute, as there was a precedent for the Nazis, who had gained some victories against the whole of Europe from a very weak state. But even then, there was no ultra-powerful country that could fight against the whole world.

That’s right. The creditors weren’t only the EU but the whole world itself. From the United States and China to India and Australia, all had claims, albeit small. The largest proportion of them was simply Germany.

Even if a miracle happened where a large meteorite fell on the United States and Germany, destroying a continent, there was no guarantee that Greece would win against the whole world.

So, they chose the first option. It was a natural choice. Default was the last resort. The government suppressed the protesters who threatened their system. Even though the protesters numbered only 10,000 and not the entire population, it was easily suppressed.

As predicted early on, this strong response evolved into a nationwide provocation encompassing all of Greece, and abroad, they criticized the anachronistic Greek government. Up to this point, anyone would have expected it, but the problem arose here.

Some of the protesters exploded. Not just a metaphor, but they really ‘exploded.’ In various government buildings, in the parliament building in Athens, and in military units stationed near the city, they used a large number of homemade explosives to commit suicide bombings. The 21st-century terrorism that originated in the Middle East had been secretly quite developed in Greece, one of the gateways to Europe, and it had simply blossomed.

The Greek government, which had always thought of protesters as ordinary riots that break and loot shops and police stations, was shocked that they would attack the government itself.

It wasn’t just the Greek government that was shocked. The eyes of the international community, as well as Western European countries such as France and Germany, which were still engaged in hand-to-hand combat between refugees and races [referencing social tensions], were similarly wide open.

In Germany, which was watching the spectacle, there was official talk of forgiving 80% of the debt if the Greek government declared default, or at least a moratorium, even now.

The problem was that the Greek government itself was not prepared to publicly admit policy failures. It wasn’t just a matter of face or anything like that. If they didn’t feel responsible in this situation, they weren’t even human. Of course, the responsibility lay with the government and the sloppy administrative policies and constitution. Of course, they had to feel responsible and step down, and there had to be another general election. They had to reorganize into a government that could implement more conciliatory measures.

So, what preparation was not ready?

“No matter what, we will not succumb to terrorism!”

They were not prepared to succumb to protests that were close to terrorism. If it had been something like self-immolation, it could have been seen as a protest. No, if they had died alone even if they had committed suicide, it would have been a protest. The fact that it was illegal to obtain explosives in the first place meant that their intentions were so firm that they were willing to give up their lives.

However, they died causing many innocent victims. The problem was that this wasn’t a simple protest, but a simultaneous and widespread act of terrorism that shook the very foundations of the country. Even if this government stepped down, it had to stop this terrorism at least and then step down. There should not be a precedent for succumbing to terrorism.

Even if you look at it kindly, this wasn’t even a revolution. A revolution is when people with clear ideas overthrow the system or the government. But this suicide bombing was just ‘resolutely opposed to the current government’s policies!’

Besides, although it was called a suicide bombing, most of them were just bomb attacks, except for the parliament building, etc. The fact that the suicide bombing at the parliament building, which was being broadcast live and receiving attention from all the media, was so shocking that the image of ‘this terrorism is a suicide bombing’ was established.

The very reality that civilians had entered the parliament building was absurd, but the fact that they had managed to get in and commit a bomb attack was absurd. Of course, those who were guarding the parliament building had a lot to say.

First, the civilian was a reporter. A reporter who had been going in and out of the National Assembly for a long time. Second, the bomb was a broadcasting station camera that he brought every time. So, in the end, it was just passed over with a minor inspection.

That’s how it exploded. Two high-ranking officials died and twelve were injured in the terrorist attack. If there had been no casualties, it could have been passed over. So, they could never succumb. If they had moved within the framework of a protest, even if it was somewhat radical, the Greek government would have stepped down as it was.

Since this protest itself originated from the idea that Greece was being sold to foreign powers, all they had to do was hold a general election as easily as flipping their hand. Moreover, it was impossible to prohibit foreign intervention at the point when they borrowed money from foreign powers as they demanded.

That was the point when Bush reduced the revision of the traffic law from the existing 6 months to 3 months, which Bush further reduced. The threat he had made before, ‘Should I go myself?’ was not a bluff. The man who anyone in the civil service would think of as a disaster had really descended. He would stay for a long period of 3 days, not just a simple inspection.

“Mr. President? If this continues, my subordinates will be nervous and problems will arise.”

The words ‘If this is the case, just install surveillance cameras!’ came to the lips of the Minister of Transportation and the Minister of Justice, but then went back in. Originally, they had no business being at this joint site. If the president hadn’t come in person to inject more ‘enthusiasm’ because the speed and results were insufficient, they would have been scribbling their signatures on documents in their offices.

It was a natural story. It’s also difficult for high-ranking people to be on the scene. Just being there could have a big negative impact on morale.

Imagine a unit where a four-star general suddenly descends from a helicopter. How much would the soldiers hate it? But that four-star general is going to sleep there too. For three days!

“Then we can finish it faster.”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t it good? There’s a saying that moderate tension is better for your health.”

There was no way Bush didn’t know this. He had served as a soldier in Korea and as an officer in the United States, so there was no way he didn’t know. So, he was threatening them. He was threatening them to show results, saying that he didn’t know about that kind of thing. He was threatening not his subordinates, but the heads of each department.

Of course, there was no way they didn’t know that. But it was impossible. It was physically impossible. If there was a shortage of capital, they could make up for it, and if there was a shortage of manpower, they could hire new people, but they couldn’t become more bloated than this just for the sake of revising the law.

“And it’s 3 days. It’s enough time to check the problems directly. Did you understand roughly? If there are problems, we will fix them, and if there are no problems… well, I think you understood roughly.”

It meant that if no problems were found, there was room to judge that they were deliberately dragging their feet. So, it meant that if there were any problems, they should tell him.

“And other places are already showing clear results.”

Indeed, that was the case. In particular, the Ministry of Agriculture had already finished everything except for long-term issues.

This was partly because it was less complicated than the traffic law, but it was also because Bush had prepared it in various ways in advance. The problem was to introduce this as it was to those stubborn farmers. Legally, all preparations were complete.

“I won’t say much. Show me the results.”

The results that Bush demanded came the next day.