Image: Davis DohertyMy friend from the North, who appears here as Michael Brown, an alias I have chosen at his request, concludes his account of life in crisis-hit Greece, where he lives with his Greek wife. Part one - - appears at this link ...
Members of the medical profession are certainly among the winners in terms of accruing wealth in the last 15 years.
We have all heard of the physicians in the area of Athens equivalent to Harley St in London who declare an annual income of €10,000 and get away with it.
Sure, these are to some extent apocryphal stories, but I find them entirely convincing. A friend of some friends of ours is an opthamologist. We used to use him for our contact lens check-ups and prescriptions.
We grew weary and ashamed of how he would write fictional examination after invented procedures in our health books, and then send the dockets off to the state insurance schemes (there were about 25!) and wait for the windfall. We then had to pay in cash for anything not covered, and no receipt was ever forthcoming. I estimated he would receive about €200 for each of our visits, in return for which we went away with a €50 pair of contacts. He had two practices. A conservative estimate would be ten such patients per day. You do the maths. Suffice to say he now lives in a large architect designed mansion - doric columns, marble, the works - in the most fashionable suburb of Thessaloniki. We stopped contributing to his luxurious life style some considerable time ago.
It doesn't have to be like this. A long time friend is a dentist. Until recently she worked in the emergency dental dept. of a state hospital. She introduced a number of schemes to try and make dental care as accessible as possible for illegal immigrants, homeless people, members of the Roma community, all those who did not have the necessary papers to receive full medical care.
Emergency care, however, was their right under the Greek constitution. She fought daily battles with the hospital administration and her colleagues who resented the extra work she created by meeting the needs of the most desperate in the society.
I guess it gave them less time to come to rewarding deals with multinational drug companies and medical equipment manufacturers. Greece has the lowest prescribing rates in Europe for generic drugs, ie drugs which are manufactured by other companies using the original blueprint after the patent has expired for that medicine. They are at least half the price of brand name drugs. There is no evidence that they are any less efficacious or safe. German medical professionals prescribe over 80 per cent of this type of pill compared to 28 per cent for their Greek counterparts.
A bill is going through parliament to raise this to 5 per cent in two years, saving billions of our money. It is being fought tooth and nail by pharmacists and doctors, who have mounted a scare campaign warning us of the dire consequences should we swallow just one of these suicide pills.
Greeks love their medicines. Doctors qnd the rest love their profits.
As a footnote, our friend recently took retirement, worn out by the negativity and hostility. She now treats people as part of a free clinic set up by a neighbourhood social group. She is valued and appreciated. Marginalised poor people get their teeth filled. It works.
Community action such as this goes pretty well unreported in the foreign media. It just doesn't sell copy compared to images of smoke rising over the Acropolis.
It is as much a product of the crisis as the ritualistic street battles between the riot police and the couple of hundred anarchists which flare up from time to time, or the mass demonstrations organised by the powerful unions.
I have been surprised by how peaceful and disciplined these large demonstrations have been. People are angry at the politicians, concerned about the prospects for their children, fearful of the future status of their country and yet they retaliate in the dignified time-honoured way of marching on the streets carrying banners and shouting slogans. Impressive.
Many of the measures agreed with the EU to guarantee the latest tranche of bailout funds have yet to be implemented, and they will hit people who are already on their knees hard. In those circumstances do you fall to the ground and eat dirt, or rise to your feet and confront your tormenter? Time alone will tell, but the EU needs to respond pretty quickly with some measures which offer hope of a better mid to long term future, otherwise many of us are not optimistic.
Most economists seem to be of the opinion that a Greek exit from the euro is a done deal, and can only be good for the country.
I think it is sufficient to counter that this is the view propagated by Norman Lamont, who had such success managing sterling's period in the EMS, and Nigel Farage of the United Kingdom Independence Party. Just Google a picture of this man and then tell me that withdrawal from the euro is a sensible option. If that doesn't convince you, by all means read his rants, but really ... not strictly necessary.
A return to the drachma would mean no fuel oil for heating, and yes, Greece does get cold in the winter minus 25 celsisus in towns such as Florina. Greece relies heavily on imported food and electricity. People's savings, not the criminal doctors etc, whose money now resides in Zurich and London, (would be destroyed); real people would lose everything they have worked for. Pensions would be pitiful. An already creaky health and education system would collapse completely.
By chance, as I type this, a track called Paper Planes by MIA is playing on 6 Music - you might recognise it from Slumdog Millionaire: "All I want to do (de de de) is take your money."
That's how it would be.
The only way it could work would be if the ECB artificially supported the drachma. For ever. In other words - The Euro. Alternatively dismantle the Euro completely. Foolish and unnecessary.
I'm now off to climb an 800m mountain on my bike and look across to a snow capped Mount Olympus rising from the Thermaikos Gulf and looking near enough to touch. There are many compensations to be had in living in this economically challenged country!
* The National (Abu Dhabi) article based on this account, as edited with Michael's consent, can be found at this link.
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