Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Financially-Induced Morality

Well, that didn't take long. The glorious bailout of the Greeks, announced with trumpets and fanfare, led to a sell-off in Greek bonds. Let's leave that for a while and move on to a more human side of the crisis with a little fiction set about 6 months in the future.


Adelpha Constintapolous has been seeing a cute boy, Nicos Papandreu. Being the very modern sorts, they've been sleeping together. After all, why not? Only prudes don't, you know. But there's been a few complications. Adelpha got pregnant and Nicos, feeling hemmed in by the responsibilities of fatherhood, hasn't been coming 'round any more. Abortion is an option, but Adelpha's animal, maternal instincts overwhelm her ability to reason with cold logic and the baby is kept.

Enter the financial crisis. Budget cuts by the government in Athens, forced upon them, no doubt, by American financiers and greedy international speculators, are drastically reducing child support payments. Adelpha is starting to think about having to pay for baby formula and clothes and diapers. There are practically no Euros to be found anywhere in the house. Mum and Dad try to help, but their wages have been cut, too. Adelpha is screwed, both literally and figuratively.

Adelpha's friends see this and take note. Their own boyfriends start to look like liabilities and risks rather than exciting opportunities for pleasure. One of Adelpha's friends, Nabila, is naturally quite risk-averse. She tells her young man that the days of free noogie are over. She'd better see a ring on her finger and soon or someone's going to get some very cold receptions.

The financial crisis gets worse instead of better. In the newspaper, the headlines scream about Spain, Portugal and Italy going under. Those greedy bankers are wrecking the world! The European Central Bank prints Euros like there's no tomorrow, but the Euros don't go as far as they used to. Some banks fail and some of Adelpha's and Nabila's friends lose their life savings. The government steps in to help, but they can only afford to pay pennies on the dollar.

Soon, Nabila is not alone. One by one, the girls in their social circle clue in to the new reality. They're taking all the risks and there's no one around to support them if they find themselves in a family way and their beaus take a powder. Suddenly those hip, American sitcoms they used to watch (with Greek dubbing) aren't so funny any more. Scrounging for money changes their outlook on life.

Maybe they even start going to church again. Who knows?

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