We have been warning about the 'global war on pensioners' for a while (most recently here, here, and here) but the soul-destroying images of Greek pensioners' hopes being crushed bring that central-bank-driven repression front-and-center...
As The Wall Street Journal reports, fear is growing in Greece as the decisive hour nears for the nation...
Greek banks will likely run out of cash by the end of the week, two senior Greek bankers said.“Not all banks will run out of cash at once,” one of the bankers said, “but they’ll all be out within hours of each other.”...
Shortages of medications are beginning to bite, compounding distress especially among older Greeks.
Parents of babies and young children are stocking up on formula and other basic medications, pharmacists say.
“In some cases, we have shortages because people are freaking out panic-buying. We’re trying to advise them against that,” said Mando Nikolopoulou, a pharmacist.
“We’re seeing significant shortages in heart and blood-pressure medications, but I’m less worried about that because there are Greek-made generics that people can turn to when the branded ones run out for good,” she said. “But insulin, that’s critical—diabetics need it to survive, and we’re really low on stocks.” ...
Yiannis Konstantinidis, a 74-year-old grandfather to two little girls, refused to join the queue, even though he could have done with an extra €60 ($66)—the maximum daily withdrawal amount under capital-control rules.
“I brought the kids to have a bit of fun, to buy them ice cream,” he said as 6-year-old Chryssa pulled on his hand. “They may be young but they know something’s wrong. The television is playing at home all day, there are people lining up at the banks, they’re asking me ‘what’s happening, Grandpa?’”
“I just want Tsipras to get a deal, any deal, but it looks like the Europeans are fed up with us now,” Mr. Konstantinidis said, adding he had voted with the minority of Greeks who backed the creditors’ proposals, which he believed would secure the country’s euro membership despite hitting pensioners like himself hard.
Scenes from a dying nation...



















