Editorial: Pointless gifts

Greece has been through a decade-long crisis which left deep scars on society and every member individually, especially the lower income brackets.

Every policy that aims to offer relief cannot but be welcomed. Bolstering the poorer classes is necessary because it is often linked to their access to basic goods.

At the same time no one should forget that often in Greece social policy properly understood degenerated into a clientelistic and vote-mongering rhetoric of handouts from which no one is the winner.

Those that offer the handouts end up not winning the elections Those who receive them do not see a substantial improvement in their lives.

Moreover, the economy in general does not benefit. On the contrary, an expansive policy is cause for economic crisis.

The crisis taught us that there can be no social policy without other policies which begin with ensuring a viable insurance system and which lead to the creation of new jobs.

Gifts are always welcome but they are pointless if this and future governments lose track of the target of reforms which the country needs in order for the needy to gradually have less need for all manner of state assistance. All gifts are pointless without policies that aim at boldly broadening the base of the middle class.

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