Erin BreenChannel 2 News
Manos Maragakis is the dean of UNR's College of Engineering. He loves his homeland. He hates is to see his people in financial turmoil. He says while leaders are celebrating avoiding financial disaster, that is exactly what the middle class there wants.
"What would happen to us if salaries were cut 40%-50%-60% in two years time? Your life changes drastically so many just see no future and we're talking about people who actually have jobs," he said. "But now they see no hope, so they are thinking 'why have our kids study and stay here?'"
This week's deal may keep the financial dominoes from falling, but he says a longer slower approach would have been a much better one.
"If austerity is implemented, slowly it might work. Then the impacts are not so much at once. But no one wanted to do that. So, the people are paying the price for the mistakes of the politicians."
He referred to the corruption, the ineffective government and a history of problems. He wonders how long it will be until the next deal is needed, the next solution, and the next crisis is put off until the eleventh hour.
"For sure it is a short-term solution," he said. "But I feel there is a generation there now facing having to live without hope. And I think it will take a generation to get the country back to where it used to be."
Maragakis says Greeks aren't as violent as we see on TV. He says most of that is from a small group of protesters. But in general he says they take strikes seriously and do not go to work. And he says that just adds to that country's downward economic spiral.
