Google can overthrow the Greek government?

[FakezZ]

The article is in Greek, but the source I provided is through Google translate(fucking ironic I know ) so you can get informed to a greater extend on the subject.
 

So basically our leftist Government has taken on Google blaming it for tax evasion, but also for directing traffic to specific websites. Okay we all know that big tech companies are not the best when it comes to paying taxes, hell most of them have large legal teams working on finding loopholes, so that is not very surprising.

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

The thing is they are blaming Google for using proprietary algorithms for filtering search results and news, favoring specific sites with similar political views.

Specifically there are some sites listed (I really don't think they are worth mentioning here, since they are all Greek and they are listed in the source) which are almost always selected as the top ones in Google's top news page. They are mainly owned by supporters of the opposite side of the Government, so they are accusing Google of trying to manipulate public opinion...

 

My take on this: Our Government is currently a fucking circus... They started as a leftist party, but took members from everywhere, including very conservative ones. So there are many opposing views within the party and nobody really knows where we're going. Do I think they are entirely wrong? No I think the algorithms Google is using should be investigated further, but I would not take our fucking government seriously... About the tax evasion, they are right, but I doubt there is anything they can do about it. Currently Google probably have more money to throw away in courts than Greece So what are your thoughts on the subject?

 

Source: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=el&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=el&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fleft.gr%2Fnews%2Fi-google-mporei-na-rixei-ton-tsipra&edit-text=&act=url

[SurvivorNVL]

Greece is so far down the hole.  The government is trying to blame anyone for their own mistakes.  

[FakezZ]

Just now, SurvivorNVL said:

Greece is so far down the hole.  The government is trying to blame anyone for their own mistakes.  

It's not even funny anymore... I used to blame the politicians, but now I realize that the majority of the population is absolutely fucking braindead. This country is doomed imho...

[ZetZet]

1 minute ago, FakezZ said:

It's not even funny anymore... I used to blame the politicians, but now I realize that the majority of the population is absolutely fucking braindead. This country is doomed imho...

politicians represent the population, representative democracy, it's a thing

[Memories4K]

PAY YOUR DEBTS.

[Unhelpful]

A fucking potato could overthrow the Greek government.

 

Dark humor edit: We all know what a potato did to the Irish government.

[Nineshadow]

It's called SOP. People do it. People with more money do it better.

[Stuff_]

I think Google's algorithm is extremely versatile. That is, obviously the more you search something (click it) the higher up it goes (ignoring sponsored spots).

 

Perhaps this just means the Greek people are opposed to most of the Greek government on issues? 

[ThomasD]

Google, Facebook, Twitter, et.al.  They all use their clout to control and direct traffic, narratives, and commentary.  It is how they make their money - matching up eyeballs with the desired information.

 

Science fiction has been warning of the dangers of the mega-corporations for years.  The only inaccurate part was the writers would never blame media companies  - but only because it is hard to get published when you do that sort of thing.

 

Welcome to the future.

[Citadelen]

I think people are being too hard on Greece, they were borrowing money like every other country then the Euro collapsed and Greece's interest exploded, now, the government is being forced to privatise the shit out of everything and massively cut public spending in order to avoid defaulting, but they don't want to do that because they are a Radical Left party, it goes against what they believe, so they're in a very tough situation.

[Ansau]

6 minutes ago, Citadelen said:

I think people are being too hard on Greece, they were borrowing money like every other country then the Euro collapsed and Greece's interest exploded, now, the government is being forced to privatise the shit out of everything and massively cut public spending in order to avoid defaulting, but they don't want to do that because they are a Radical Left party, it goes against what they believe, so they're in a very tough situation.

Saying that is dennying the fact that greeks have had several privileges other europeans don't have and, not only they find it right, they're against to level them up.

 

They're europeans for the money and the helps, but not for the contributions. 

[Citadelen]

22 minutes ago, Ansau said:

Saying that is dennying the fact that greeks have had several privileges other europeans don't have and, not only they find it right, they're against to level them up.

 

They're europeans for the money and the helps, but not for the contributions. 

What can they contribute? Their debt to GDP ratio is 179%, their budget deficit is €6.346 billion, their GPD has dropped roughly 30% since 2008 and they are still in rescission and on top of that a quarter of their population is unemployed. There is nothing left for them to give.

[deviant88]

DO IT

[Ansau]

29 minutes ago, Citadelen said:

What can they contribute? Their debt to GDP ratio is 179%, their budget deficit is €6.346 billion, their GPD has dropped roughly 30% since 2008 and they are still in rescission on top of that a quarter of their population is unemployed, There is nothing left for them to give.

Have the retirement at 65 or 67, like any other european.

Better start paying the taxes (Greece is the county of Europe with highest ratios of tax avoidance).

An unfair pension system, where they receive so much money pretty much half of their homes live from it.

A very rigid and outdated working system.

Nearly 6% of the unemployed people haven't accepted a job offer because the working hours are not convenient, or the place is uncomfortable (this in a country where 25% of the active population is unemployed).

Privileges in some sectors, where by law they are in hands of very few, or they're actually monopolies.

Their financial system is touched by the politicians.

They live with tax haven implemented in some islands.

Stop spending shitty amounts of money in defense. From 2007 until 2014 (since the crisis started) they have spent nearly 50.000 millions of €.

 

There's so many things to do, yet greeks said OXI to most...

[Ansau]

1 minute ago, Ansau said:

Double post

 

[Citadelen]

2 minutes ago, Ansau said:

-snip-

Most European countries are in a limbo between new and old systems, reform takes time, especially in a country with such bad finances, and the government is cracking down on tax avoidance.

[suicidalfranco]

oh Greece, how can a country fail harder than Italy is beyond my understanding

[SurvivorNVL]

33 minutes ago, Citadelen said:

What can they contribute? Their debt to GDP ratio is 179%, their budget deficit is €6.346 billion, their GPD has dropped roughly 30% since 2008 and they are still in rescission and on top of that a quarter of their population is unemployed, There is nothing left for them to give.

Greece should be removed from the E.U., left to their own devices, to fix their own problems, and not be supported by the rest of the Union/Eurozone.  At such a time that they get themselves truly under control that they could be let back in to the E.U., if the E.U. even exists in the future, then they should be welcomed with open arms.  Only after they get a rigorous evaluation and multiple different audits.  

[Trik'Stari]

8 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

oh Greece, how can a country fail harder than Italy is beyond my understanding

Uncontrolled, unrealistic levels of socialism.

 

Don't get me wrong, a lot of countries could stand to be a bit less "capitalist" (see: abject, unapologetic greed. Or "what they call capitalism") and be a bit more about benefiting society, but Greece just went full retard with it.

[suicidalfranco]

7 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

Uncontrolled, unrealistic levels of socialism.

 

Don't get me wrong, a lot of countries could stand to be a bit less "capitalist" (see: abject, unapologetic greed. Or "what they call capitalism") and be a bit more about benefiting society, but Greece just went full retard with it.

aren't northern countries the ones with the highest level of socialism? they seem to be doing fine

[Citadelen]

1 minute ago, SurvivorNVL said:

-snip-

It's not quite that simple, without financial aid Greece will default on their loans, creating havoc in the EU and possibly causing Italy and Spain to also default as well.

[Citadelen]

15 minutes ago, Trik'Stari said:

-snip-

The current government has nothing to do with the state they're in, it was under the New Democrats, a Conservative government that their loan interest exploded, they went along completely with the EU's demands of Austerity to receive payments, as a result of that Greece has an unemployment rate of 25% and their economy declined 30% and is still shrinking.

[SurvivorNVL]

Just now, Citadelen said:

It's not quite that simple, without financial aid Greece will default on their loans, creating havoc in the EU and possibly causing Italy and Spain to also default as well.

Their Default is inevitable, with or without financial aid.  The E.U. and Eurozone has to choose between having all of these members in it who are sucking funds from the countries with economies still worth a damn, or trimming away those countries until they can fix their own problems.  Austerity if there ever was.

[Citadelen]

Just now, SurvivorNVL said:

-snip-

The problem is separate countries with vastly different economies all having the same currency, the EU either need's to dissolve the Euro zone or ecumenically centralise. 

[SurvivorNVL]

1 minute ago, Citadelen said:

The problem is separate countries with vastly different economies all having the same currency, the EU either need's to dissolve the Euro zone or ecumenically centralise. 

Or instead of trying to become an economic superpower, and shared decisions on law and universal human rights.  They could just disband the E.U., and return to governing their own countries, so if one country is in disagreement, they don't have to still follow the mandates of the European body.  The problem with it all is that only some of the countries are capable of pulling their own weight.  It'll fracture sooner or later with only a few being capable, and those few supporting the drainers, and sooner may save some countries begin the road to economic recovery.  They could still co-operate and work together without a European Union.  Just as they did once before, allowing countries to actually go back to having sovereignty and governing themselves properly, and without the looming presence of the E.U.  The U.K. may spark a beginning to it if they end up leaving.