It’s only money!

Have you ever lent anybody, say, fifty quid and then been frustrated when they dodge paying you back? After a while you realise they are avoiding you altogether and then, when you finally confront them and insist they cough up they become agitated as if it is you, not them who is in the wrong. A few more weeks go by and you see neither hide nor hair of them and the loss of that £50 made little difference to you in the long run. On reflection it turned out to be a cheap price to pay to find who your friends weren’t? We’ve all been there; at least I certainly have.

And think of all the stuff you’ve bought over the years, on a whim, on an urgent desire, on a craving, for this… this… thing that you thought would make your life immeasurably better but never did and now sits, unwanted, in a drawer you rarely open? Clothes you’ve never worn, gadgets you’ve used once, the oh-so-funny-at-the-time novelty holiday souvenir from a place you (ironically) can’t remember. How many old power adaptors and electrical leads do you keep in an ever increasing rat’s nest of obsolete cables and connectors… along with ancient audio cassettes, keys for forgotten locks and the odd undeveloped roll of film containing what may, or may not be precious memories?

What about all the stupid decisions you made over the years; jobs, homes, partners, cars? And the dodgy ‘investments’ that never quite paid off. Apart from the odd recollection that still makes your cheeks glow in embarrassment, all of this belongs in the past and with the exception of hard-learned lessons is worth, at today’s prices, nothing whatsoever to anybody or anything except maybe a small prick to your pride. It is past, it is worthless; you already threw away the money and wrote off the personal costs; put them down to experience.

Nobody will ever get back what Greece owes them, at least not in anybody’s lifetime, including the innocent Greek babies born this very day who stand to be punished for the sins of their fathers and their fathers’ advisors, manipulators and exploiters. The IMF knows this; they’ve said as much. WE know this; it’s been clear as day for years and years. Even the NewYork Times knows this; they wrote about it. So why isn’t anybody telling the Germans?

It’s time Germany put a faux-friendly arm around Greece’s shoulder, told them to forget what they owe but also that there would be no more; go find another sap to tap up. Leave it Klaus, let them go… however much they still insist on clamouring for a seat in the third class carriage on the gravy train… however much they try and clamp down on the EU teat. Just say that, for them, it really has run dry. And then forget about their stupid spending spree; it was only money after all and not even proper money at that.

New Euro design launched...

Isn’t it time to admit that the Euro was just a hobby currency; Monopoly money; funny funds? The Euro might work as a handy cross-border holiday cash, like traveller’s cheques, a bit of bitcoin, a parallel currency, that can be traded and spent alongside a nation’s true currency in much the same way you can use ‘pretend’ Scottish money on the civilised side of the border. But it’s hardly the real thing, is it?