Instead of defaulting a long time ago (when we first suggested it should) when it could have pulled an Iceland, taken a bitter pill, hyperinflated the drachma and in the process delevered overnight, if at a big social cost of losing its welfare safety net (which it is about to lose anyway courtesy of the PSI and OSI), and not be held captive to bigger geopolitical interests, and hostage to the banker superclass, Greece very likely could have been on the road to recovery now, granted with a totally different political regime. Instead, the political regime is the same, Greece is more in debt than ever before, the economy is in shambles, the banks have seen two straight years of bank runs, and most importantly the people now are poorer and more disenchanted than ever, and as the following story indicates, about to get far angrier than any Syntagma square riot cam (which is about to come back with a PayPerView vengeance) has shown to date. According to Kathimerini, late on Saturday evening, "A group of between 30 and 50 youngsters attacked the house of President Karolos Papoulias."

"The result of the attack was some minor damage to the entrance of the house at Asklipiou Street in central Athens and to the car that Papoulias uses. The hooded youngsters, who arrived by motorbike and on foot just after 8 p.m, hurled a Molotov cocktail, rocks and paint at the house but stopped short of attacking the two guards at the President’s house. Papoulias was inside at the time of the attack. Police is searching for those responsible for the unexpected attack." And while the fact that discontented Greeks are willing to attack the most porminent political figure is in itself not shocking, the fact that it is being publicly announced is quite disturbing, as it opens up the population to the realization that one can express anger and hostility at one's rulers - an oppressive regime that has been benefitting the banking oligarchical superclass at the expense of the general population. Consider it yet another "Sparatcus" moment. How many more of these before the Athens parliament is overrun? Or how much longer before the people realize they have notthing to lose?

Because it's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything...