Human nature is a wonderful thing. Over millennia we have responded to natural disasters, war, destruction, fire and brimstone many thousands of times over and the enduring human spirit has always found a way to survive and ultimately live to fight another day.
Ancient Greece was the nation that invented modern civilisation, democracy, systems of government and the nation whose intellectuals such as Xenophon and Heriod were discussing the precursors to modern economic logic nearly 3,000 years ago whilst most of Northern Europe was living in mud huts in between pillaging each other.
The predicament that the modern Greece finds itself in, as the current poor man of Southern Europe is indeed worthy of a Greek tragedy and whilst I don’t intend to get into politics here, the result of a once great nation being shamed into the position it is currently in against the Eurozone mirrors many David vs Goliath struggles of the past which has led men to come up with new solutions , often very brave and innovative to beat a more powerful foe.
The problem with Greece (like most Mediterranean cultures) is that it is a primarily cash economy and much of what has caused their problems, as with their colonial child Cyprus, was the lack of discipline around finances and the problems that dealing with cash only can bring.
The argument of most modern governments, with their inextricably linked private banking ‘partners’, is that your money is ‘safer’ in a bank and that dealing in cash is ‘bad for the economy’. With the irresponsible failure of many banks due to their cavalier investment activities using your cash to play with , the Greeks and many other ‘old world’ cultures know that actually cash is far safer, more controllable and less risky than trusting it to a multinational bank. Ask the Argentinians or the Cypriots, many of whom had their life savings confiscated in ‘haircuts’ in order to keep the banks alive at the expense of the people.
Greece exits. Bitcoin enters?
Bitcoin is a digital crypto-currency (ie. it’s not physical and it’s encrypted). Instead of a central ‘trusted’ authority that verifies transactions, Bitcoin uses a giant peer-to-peer network (i.e. people power) to verify transactions through consensus . Payments are non-reversible, accounts cannot be frozen, and transaction fees are much lower. You can buy things with it, pay bills and buy and sell Bitcoins and you can convert it to and from other currencies.…sounds like just what a bust Greece needs…
The reason the banks are so bullish about Bitcoin and block chain technology is that it really does offer a viable, decentralised currency exchange that could provide a very viable way forward for countries such as Greece that literally have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They really could restart their economy in a completely ‘lean’ way.
Greece could become the first ‘lean’ country. Dump the questionably legitimate Euro-debt. Exit the Euro and show everyone from the local boat rental guy to the small olive oil producer by the roadside how to trade and transact in Bitcoin. Partner up with a number of smart implementors to teach small businesses how to use cashless payment systems. Work with an infrastructure partner to ensure stable wi-fi is across the country to help this enablement. I’m sure many smart companies would be only too please to help this rebirth through sponsorship and training as part of this.
Replacing the traditional banking system would enable a new kind of economic system to rise – ‘back to basics’ if you like. Start fresh without the shackles of a quite frankly corrupt international banking system and show that it can be done with some smart , innovative thought and unified discipline to make the change.
If the people are with you and want to retain their pride, they have to realise that the days of retiring at 50, brown envelopes full of cash to win a government contract and a lending culture with no intent to pay have to also change, but replacing your core currency with a decentralised currency that cannot be controlled by existing creditors could be a really smart, brave and truly disruptive move. Could the #grexit literally become the new Greece, rising majestically from the ashes, like the Phoenix of Ancient mythology?
It’s a tantalising idea that just might work.