This article offers a good description of what happens to Democracy when the state is captured by an oligarchy. Corruption is rampant, and the state is organized to serve the interests of the oligarchs. Greece is a democracy in name only. It citizens can vote but the media are owned by the oligarchs, and the public is systematically misinformed.
Most of the descriptions that I have read about the problems in Greece tell a different story. The dominant theme in the US media is that Greece is example of what happens when government provides a too generous social welfare program. We are warned that we could become the next Greece by taking a similar route. The real message that we should learn from Greece is that Democracy doesn't work when the state is captured by an oligarchy and when the media are owned by those who serve the interests of the oligarchs. The social welfare program in Greece is designed to protect the interest of the oligarchs. We have two social welfare programs in the US. Programs that serve the interests of the needy are under attack, while the welfare programs that serve the interest of our oligarchs are expanding. We are told that liberty and freedom in the US is threatened by a democratically elected government. They will not be happy until democracy in the US looks more like democracy in Greece.
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