Running to sea

Greece's finance minister

The Eurozone debt crisis continues to rage on with no real end in sight. Wholesale disposal of a raft of people's way of life, by god know's what, but it sure does not seem to be for the greater good of the general population, that's for sure. I see it as wholesale theft of a country by some "good with numbers" predatory leeches, who have no moral decency, but that's for a different blog.

Lloyd's List recently had an article about one of the many consequences of the dire situation in Greece. As you may be aware the work market in Greece is in very serious state of shock; the youth unemployment is reported at a staggering 51.5%.

One way the youth are dealing with impossible odds, is by running to sea. Lloyd's List is reporting that 6500 persons applied for the 1350 seat available at the government run maritime academies last year. This development was referred to by the Union of Greek Shipowners at a recent meeting...

"...that a campaign to attract young people to the marine education system produced stunning results last year."

No kidding!

But with no private maritime institutions operating in Greece, and drastic austerity measures imposed on every corner of Greek society, one must wonder what kind of quality education can be expected from the government run maritime institutions. There is only so much one can do without a budget. For example hospital budget were cut 25%, yet the demand was up 40%. No matter what kind of genius might be able to maintain this level of service with this kind of funding, is not sustainable.