Cyprus Problem | No Island is An Island

Cyprus Problem | No Island is An IslandCyprus Problem | No Island is An Island

This is a quotation from John Donne (1572-1631). It appears in Devotions upon emergent occasions and seuerall steps in my sicknes – Meditation XVII, 1624:

“All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated…As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness….No man is an island, entire of itself…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

It seems the bell is tolling for the ROC at the moment and you could perhaps extend this famous ‘No man is and island, entire to itself’ to include it to mean “no island is an island entire to itself” because what is happening in the southern part of the island of Cyprus is affecting the world. Markets are reacting very negatively, and why not. This is the first time any country has proposed dipping into the savings of its citizens in such a brazen way. It has to be said it was not the idea of the ROC but a condition of the EU bailout funds they need to survive.

Save for the future, save for your old age. Saving has been encouraged by your parents, by governments, but how can they ever say this again with any degree of credibility?

There is no doubt that much of what has happened has been caused through bad management, imprudent lending and plain ineptitude on the part of the ROC banking system.  Mother Greece has not been such a prudent mother having received so much money from the ROC banks.

Cyprus has allegedly been a magnet for dirty money and the ‘blind eye’ mentality of the bankers has gone a long way towards accommodating those with dirty money to use the laundry services available.

The property sector is on its knees, corruption is rife in that industry too. Thousands of property owners are being denied their basic Human Right of holding the title to the property they have paid for. Millions in transfer taxes have been denied to the revenue through the denial of this basic right. The legal industry is flawed and failing those it is supposed to be protecting.

No action on the part of successive governments is the reason why the good honest hard working people are now suffering. Leading by example seems an old fashioned philosophy to the politicians who have taken this country into the the EU but failed to comply with its rules. The people of Cyprus deserve better, but where is the leadership to achieve this to come from?

Today the Government of the ROC vote on whether to apply the proposed levy which allows them to dip into the accounts of savers and remove money. What guarantee has the electorate that having done that this money will be used wisely. What guarantee, having once been allowed to do this, there will not be another dip, then another. The answer is simple. There are no guarantees that the money will be used wisely, there are no guarantees that a double, triple, quadruple dip will not take place. Allowing this first dip creates a dangerous precedent, not only for Cyprus but for the whole of the European Union and perhaps even the world. What is the alternative?

Power to the people

Citizen Smith

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