Beautiful mountain tops with greenery stand tall and proud as people walk up the steps to the entrance to the Parthenon. Tourists marveling at the scenery and remembering the magnificent beaches they visited earlier. They pull out their cameras, ready to take a picture of the temple. Suddenly, the ground starts rumbling. The Parthenon, a symbol of justice and political culture, starts crumbling down. Chunks of the ancient marble fall off. Journalists rush to the scene to see who will report it first. Reporters are eager to broadcast a monument crumbling, but not so much of a government diminishing. Luckily, the building of worship is not crumbling, but sadly, the Greek government is. That is what is happening to the Greek government. The government is falling apart. The Greek government is failing because of economic failures that include bailouts, taxes, referendums and austerity; Greece’s government is in a dangerous decline.

New York Times journalist, Neil Irwin (2015), states, the European Central Bank will do whatever it takes to prevent a crisis involving Euros and debt. This means that Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, and the government are desperately trying to fix the economy.  The author means, that the Greek government will fail drastically and quickly. The government will crumble in bankruptcy like the Parthenon during World War II. They will go bankrupt, and won’t be able to recover. In 2015, everyone was done with the bankruptcy. The government’s exit was predicted to be rapid like RadioShack’s, meaning that Greece would be in debt, but still open to visit. Everyone would know about the bankruptcy and it would be no secret hiding it. Lehman Brothers had a more subtle bankruptcy, no one talked about it and it was a tedious process. The Greek people are tired of the waiting and want their country to go back to normal before all the taxes were raised. They feel like Greece will bankrupt shortly and get taken over by another country.

Associated Press writer, Derek Gatopoulos (2015), stated, Tsipras called a referendum and urged the citizens to vote no instead of yes. The businesses are upset because the government owes them loads of money. The business leaders have a right to be upset because they need the money to pay their bills. During ancient times, the cost to build the Parthenon was roughly $9 million. Now, they can’t spend a penny. A citizen preached that they have to strengthen Tsipras mentally and financially because Greece is only weak because of euros, according to Irwin. What she means by this is that the people should calm down and let Tsipras handle it calmly. They should stay in the euro because they have already acquainted to it. Seventy-five percent of Greeks want to stay in the euro. The Greeks want the euro. They are used to it and don’t want to switch currency again. The people are just voting to vote. This is Greece’s most important vote and it seems like most people aren’t even taking it seriously. Half of the people are voting yes, and half for no, even though Tsipras urged for Greece to vote no.

Associated Press writers, Derek Gatopoulos and Elena Becatoros (2015), state, Tsipras is forced to accept what he wanted to resists a few months before. Examples are the price of state property and how much the government spends on the military and citizens. The money that they spend on their people is less what they spent on restorations on the Parthenon. Tsipras had to accept the draft agreement to get Greece out of the debt they are in. The Greek people feel like the debt is killing them and the economy. Some of them want to go back to drachmas, which was the previous currency used. The government agreed that nothing new will happen anytime soon. The government is trying it’s best to stay on a positive vote. They’re desperately trying to fix the situation. They’re trying to make everything work by raising taxes, which is angering the people.
 

The Greek government is still debating about what should be done. They wonder if they should continue using euros or go back to drachmas. The taxes, bailouts, referendums, and austerity are annoying many of the citizens, causing them to move to countries with a better economy. The Greeks are trying their best to fix their government, like they tried to restore the Parthenon, but they’re already going downhill. This is not something that can be easily fixed with some workers. They are speeding down a slope which leads to a dead end. Like the Parthenon, Greece wants to be fixed. They don’t have the tools or knowledge to restore themselves. The Greek government will fail drastically if they continue to sit around and not take any immediate action.

References
Becatoros, E., & Gatopoulos, D. (2015, Aug 12). Greece accepts draft on 3rd bailout. Chicago
Tribune 

Gatopoulos, D., & Hadjicostis, M. (2015, Jul 04). No simple 'yes' or 'no' in Greece. Chicago
Tribune Retrieved 

Irwin, N. (2015) Greek Exit Now Looks Less Risky, at Least to Some. New York Times A3(L).
Opposing Viewpoints in Context.