Both they would agree that when a system relies for too long on extensive borrowing to make a living, at some point comes the time when imbalances, deficits as well as ‘extra cash needs’ (e.g. Olympics 2004, repetitive elections, etc.) cause the system to suffocate; things are worse when the system is already severely structurally flawed.

The phenomenon is not new in Greece. Greeks, due to a peculiar sense of individualism, are used to live in the sidelines of legality, sustain distortions and serve each other’s petty interests; suddenly, when the shit hits the fan, they resort to law books to assess wrongdoings of those who were found standing when the music stopped or had failed to secure sound political backup.

In the case of 2013 Greece, what’s done is done. The blame game’s only significance is when citizens approach the polls. What is really needed – and perhaps what citizens need to rely on to move forward – is strong political will to codify the crisis rhetoric in terms of the future; it requires thinking what is necessary to exit the vicious cycle of indecisiveness and misery, maintaining, at the same time, the decency of the Greek people.

To start looking ahead (and most importantly to start exploring the advantages of the country) needs to first to put things in order. Some key areas –that, perhaps, would satisfy most mainstream political trends- could be the following:

1) Protection of national sovereignty (land and sea borders, ownership of natural resources).

2) Fiscal efficiency – we should stop consuming more than what we produce.

3) Production of new wealth in a socially responsible way.

4) Preservation and development of social capital to secure sustainability of all the above.

These four simple concepts (homeland, fiscal balance, sustainability, people) require a new philosophy towards life as well as long-term planning and continuous innovation. Before those, however, some positive shocks could come in handy.

A couple of months ago, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras shyly mumbled a figure: 15% corporate flat tax for all entrepreneurial activity. Well, it is not like inventing the wheel, since many countries with fewer problems have introduced it as an incentive to attract FDIs, but it could definitely be a positive sign for companies already operating in the country. Well, for new ones to arrive, Samaras would have to voice more meaningful points such as: simplification of the process for the creation of new companies; online company register; cutting down red tape; eGov services etc. And guess what: voicing these may not be enough anymore; turning it into practice and presenting some real success stories would do the trick.

In my mind, this is the key weakness of the ‘success story’ Maximos Mansion’s staffers are trying to spin to desperate Greek media; these guys some times look like retired wizards who are trying to learn new tricks. The attempt to assign the ‘Grecovery’ to the country as a whole is a stupid shortcut that leads nowhere; what’s more, it seems to jeopardise any positive results secured by Greek people’s sacrifices so far. In modern times, the ‘phoenix’, in order to rise again needs a little bit more than magic and national wishful thinking; for instance, it requires sound management, across the board utilization of digital means and renouncement of partisanship from the handling of state affairs. I doubt that they have anything to communicate in these fields…

To inspire ‘Grecovery’, the government needs some political R&D towards two directions: first, real life solutions and second, communications. No matter what it is commonly argued, the country cannot exit the crisis without state of the art communication strategies and practices that will keep Greek people informed and foreign investors motivated.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said some time ago: “…Despite the signs that the worst of the financial crisis is now behind us, despite these modest green shoots, there is still a long way to go to restore our growth prospects, to revive our economies, to heal our banking systems, to create more jobs and to improve welfare across our union. We need to remember that the economy reacts with a time lag: once stability is back, it takes time before this is translated into more confidence, more investment and growth and jobs. And as growth returns, it takes time before the positive impact on employment starts kicking in…”

To this direction, Greece would require a lot more than old-time wizards constructing ‘success stories’ out of thin air, or political mumblings of coalition partners who have lost their role in contemporary politics.

Dr. Demetris Kamaras is the Editor of alyunaniya.com

What does this mean? For those who subscribe to the relevant American-fed scenario, adopted by Wall Street Journal and other systemic global media, the next big thing could be the rebellion of the technocrats, the upheaval of common sense against obsolete mentalities and inefficient party politics.

As a friend of mine -a proponent of this view- says, “it’s going to be you and me hitting the streets, because we cannot take it anymore.” How this becomes popular? How allegedly advanced people could use simplicity to change things? Could an “intellectual indignados” rebellion be the solution for Greece?

Probably, this question will be left unanswered until we see it in practice. But, perhaps what remains important is that people of various professional and intellectual backgrounds are appearing having radical voices amongst their Facebook peers and in summer gatherings. More and more ‘commentators of life’ are turning themselves into Soc Nets columnists with an increasing number of followers who are willing to pick up a debate and comment on current affairs.

This up-scale, low voice indignant appetite seems to run horizontally in Greek society, having ‘common sense’ as its front running banner. So, why in Greece, change continues to come in the form of an obligatory process, instead of being part of an effort to move the country forward?

Having intellectuals, academics, people of the mind rallying -and probably being engaged in innovative activism- is an attractive thought. But who are these people and how far are they willing to go? What could be the logistics of this ‘revolution’? Would it include clashes of demonstrating suited technocrats and bearded scientists against SYRIZA’s leftish crowd and PAME’s rally soldiers? Well, despite its graphicness, this couldn’t possibly end well. And if it did, the question would be: for whom? What’s the end game? How this could turn into actual and -most importantly- enlightened governance?

Another question: “Who benefits?” an old –probably lefty- professor of mine in London used to ask, when we were discussing the deregulation of British Telecom and the energy grid. The answer is key, in order to think about it wisely and of course, to frame the perspective within current Greek situation.

In the case of Greece, coming up with an answer is not an easy task, almost impossible, if we stop considering, for instance privatisations as something more than a state revenue boost. Of course, a privatisation state chief flying on private planes, owned by a state property buyer is not something that assists towards the justification of the process.

Although not necessarily the best-case scenario, I think the way out of the Greek crisis will be once again political, even canonical. It will not emerge out of illuminated technocrats, who will rally, expressing a higher level of discontent towards inefficiency and old partisanship. This agenda alone, although could suffice to overthrow a government in the minds of people – and providing it does not constitute a post-modern coup d’ etat-, it does not offer a viable alternative solution for three reasons: first, it would lack popular support, especially amongst the unemployed and those who were severely hit by austerity, second, it would need to outsource its political organisation to questionable centres of power and third, it would cause a bold juxtaposition with the representatives of the old status quo who are trying to save what is left from their glorious past.

As long as mainstream politics is not up to it, the Greek problem will not meet its solution. My view is that Greeks have lived for too long under state protectionism; this makes them less flexible to organise the restart, grasp the opportunity of the crisis and change their lives in a country that offers everything in flux, not to say anything about changing the country through revolt.

Nevertheless, although solution will have to come from the mainstream, improvements of the presiding model are strongly required; perhaps by allowing some responsible technocrats and realism-strong intellectuals pushing their way into the mainstream.

However, to manage that, the ruling political cast should stop behaving as old dogs refusing to learn new tricks. Or if they continue to do so, they could just simply crawl away to die.

Dr. Demetris Kamaras is the Founder-Editor of alyunaniya.com

According to protothema.gr, layoffs of civil servants have not been withdrawn from the table of debate although all three parties of the government assure there will be no layoffs but instead they will proceed faster with the transfer programme in the public sector.

The issue of reducing wages in the private sector through the end of sectoral agreements is also back on the table, although the government clarified that the minimum wage will not be affected at this time.

The negotiation with the troika heads takes place in the wider European context created by the political instability in Italy. Government staffers say the austerity programme should be eased and in no case include any new measures.

However, the government believes that the situation requires careful handling because there should not be an impression of programme revision, an event highly unlikely to be accepted by Berlin and Brussels. Coalition leaders believe that troika will play its game but not exceed its limits.

But the social climate deteriorates as the measures for uncollectible debts to the public advance and in view of the tax return statements for 2013.

Besides, troika blames the government for loopholes in the tax collection mechanism, which will naturally further burden the entire society and not just the tax evaders.

According to Kathimerini, Samaras insisted that Greece should only begin the process of asking for better terms after the cuts have been agreed and once Athens has shown that it is picking up the pace of structural reforms. The prime minister told his coalition partners that following discussions with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who visited Athens last week, and with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, who Samaras spoke to on the phone on Wednesday, he was left in doubt that this was the right strategy. Following a heated discussion, during which Venizelos and Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras exchanged angry words, Samaras’s position won out.

Stournaras said: “The prime minister recommended that we should accept the reduction of public spending by EUR 11.5 billion as a necessary prerequisite for Greece remaining in the Eurozone and being able to negotiate further,” said Stournaras after leaving the meeting. “This recommendation was accepted.”

Greek media wrote that PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos indicated that he had reluctantly given his support to the position adopted by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister. “If the Prime Minister believes that immediately making EUR 11.5 billion in savings is the only way to secure the country’s position in the Eurozone, I am obliged to support him,” he said, adding there was no point in sticking to his strategy anymore. “When we cannot agree on a domestic level, it is futile to pursue something on the international level.”

He added that the new savings must not be “unfair” or include “horizontal measures” and said that a new round of cuts to wages, pensions and benefits would worsen the recession, making demands for new cuts inevitable. Privately, Venizelos admitted that it was unlikely these cuts would be avoided.

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras announced the opening of negotiations with the Troika, after yesterday’s agreement of the coalition leaders. First appointment is set for today, at 14.00.