Austerity Suicides Plague Greece

Greece is suffering a suicide epidemic, brought on by the global economic crisis and the fiscal austerity forced on the nation.

Before the global economic downturn, Greece had one of the lowest rates of suicide in Europe. Now a 40 percent jump in suicides in the first half of 2010 is alarming residents.

Recently a 77 year old pharmacist left a note indicating “I see no other solution than this dignified end of my life so I don’t find myself fishing through garbage cans for sustenance.”

Current Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos was brought in largely to manage the austerity measures being forced on the country as a condition of a bailout by the European Union.

Unions and other civic groups have staged numerous mass protests in opposition to the forced austerity measures.

Austerity based economic policies have resulted in a doule-dip recession in the United Kingdom and a recent credit downgrade in Spain. Mitt Romney and the Republican Party have promoted fiscal austerity policies in the United States.