Not all mobs are the same

'Greek firefighters protest government spending cuts on Jan. 29'

'Demonstrators try to burn an EU flag in Athens on Wednesday.'

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703525704575061172926967984.html?mod=WSJEUROPE_hpp_MIDDLESecondNews

Back when the Tea Parties were just starting out, a concerted chorus of Democrat bigwigs immediately slandered them 'They are un-American, rent-a-mob, astroturfer racists'. Based on? Evidence proffered? But it has become evident to everybody, apart from the most extreme partisans, that the Tea Parties are neither a proxy of the Republican party nor some recent incarnation of the secessionist Militias. They are mostly mom and pop USA. They are Mr and Mrs Main Street, common-or-garden working people sick of the way their country is being run into the ground at the speed of a runaway freight train.

Compare and contrast the Greek mobs. Utterly oblivious to straightforward economics, blinded by many decades of Marxist bullshit, selfish, greedy and irrational. Take these paragraphs for instance:

'The issues for troubled euro zone countries are straightforward: Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain (known to the financial markets, and not in a polite way, as the PIIGS) had varying degrees of foreign- and bank credit-financed rapid expansions over the past decade. In fall 2008, these bubbles collapsed.

As custodian of their shared currency, the European Central Bank responded by quietly opening lifelines to all these countries, effectively buying government bonds through special credit windows. Europe's periphery was fragile but surviving on this intravenous line of credit from the ECB until a few weeks ago, when it suddenly became apparent that Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the ECB, and his German backers were finally lining up to cut Greece off from that implicit subsidy. The Germans have become tired of supporting countries that do not, to their minds, try hard enough. Investors naturally flew from Greek debt—Greece's debt yields rose, and its banking system verged near collapse as investors and savers ran from the country.'

Cause followed by effect. Absolutely straightforward. Greece has spent far too much money on its pampered population. The tap has been turned off. And their response? Not humility and shame followed by a resolve to work themselves out of this tight corner. It is to go into the streets, shout stupid slogans and burn EU flags. I already had a very low opinion of Greece, which I consider a Marxist basketcase, but my opinion is heading downhill. Most Germans are probably thinking approximately the same things.

Why should a German worker work until age 69 so a Greek worker can work to 61 and retire on a nice comfy pension? Like an angry teenager whose allowance has been taken away, the Greeks reaction is completely outlandish and negative.

Many of the Tea Party people have gone on record to say, 'We will sacrifice, we will work twice as hard so our children and grandchildren are not saddled with the crippling debt now being accumulated by our government.' Compare and contrast.