The King is Dead...Long Live the King!

At 01:00 a.m. CET last night Greece officially defaulted on its 1,7 billion USD payment to the IMF. This was announced with plenty of tonal drama by CNN Anchor Richard Quest, who had set his journalistic camp at the renowned downtown five star Belle Epoque Hotel "Grande Bretagne" right across the Greek Constitution Square facing the Greek Parliament, where hours before tens of thousands of people had rallied in favour of Greece's stay within the EU and the Eurozone. If it weren't for the dramatic developments in the Greek Bail out sequel the entire setup resembled a Hollywood super production. A huge clock on the right side of our TV screens was counting down the minutes to the default, similar to the clock's that are counting down the minutes on New Year's Eve. When the clock went down to 00.00 hours the following things had happened: (1) The month of July had kicked-in; (2) The payment of the IMF instalment defaulted; (3) The dawn of a new era in the life of the country had set-in; and (4) the country᾽s journey into the unknown had begun.

A package-deal so to speak. A package-deal that many Greeks would have liked to break-down and cherry-pick from. But unfortunately, this is not how reality works and the package stays compact. The package also contains surprise goodies for those who dare. It contains anarchy, violence, ATM waiting lines, the loss of dignity and lots of humiliation. Since last night every citizen of this country who has remained immune to SYRIZA's rhetorical infection keeps asking himself the "one million dollar" question. Why? There are plenty of different answers to this question but I am afraid the majority of possible answers would leave most unsatisfied. Is it because of the intoxicating effect that power has on the average Joe that dilutes common sense and produces mini-dictators who embark upon the mission to conquer the world and shake its foundations? Is it because of the intoxicating effect that power has on the psyche of people deprived of any attention until recently that converts them into vindictive creatures that are trying to settle their personal bills with their past? Or is it the megalomania that power is inflicting upon people who think that the size of their shadows needs to leave an indelible impression to the course of history regardless of it being negative or positive?

Once more what we see is that "power is nothing without control" to quote an old Michelin commercial line. A desperate nation that has assigned its future into the hands of incapable political gamblers without the slightest understanding of what is at stake and with no sense of responsibility whatsoever. And people it is time to come to terms with facts, that "good intentions" do not replace "political skills", "negotiating skills" and charisma. Good intentions on the other hand are creating the risk of becoming politically blinded, inflexible and dangerous altogether. Diplomacy is founded on the element of a minimum level of predictability of each side's aspirations and objectives. Only with this knowledge you can arrive at positions that favour both sides, and only with this knowledge you are able to quantify the give-up and the consensus that is possible on each side. SYRIZA show cased that it was lacking all of these essential qualities that could safeguard an acceptable outcome in these negotiations. On the contrary, they spared no effort to introduce discomfort to the process by acting irresponsibly and unpredictably. They have gone wrong on all counts and they still insist that the "game has just begun". They still advertise that everything is the fault of the lenders and that no wrongdoing was committed on their end. And yet, we are the ones suffering not the others. If you fail to understand the dynamics of the players on the field how in God's name can you lead successful negotiations? If blinded to the bare fact that you are the beggar with the weaker cards in your hands and you conduct yourself with excessive attitude and arrogance you can only achieve so much. Even on the assumption of a romantic notion of right and wrong all your "right" is being surrendered, if you do not know how to properly promote it.

As of 01.00 a.m. CET the King is dead. His subjects are still in denial and the doctors still claim there is hope. As of 01.00 a.m. CET a nation needs to wake up to this fact and needs to exit that denial. This distorted perception of reality is a luxurious commodity in times of calmness but an unaffordable burden at times of turmoil. A Kamikaze Government is not offering the required certainty that things are still under control. They may be desperate enough because they are addicted to the power they currently hold and this is a dangerous mix. If they decide to pull the trigger it will certainly not be limited to a suicide action. They will take everyone else down with them. Ms. Lagarde is getting a pre-taste of that threat these days...talk to her.