Jim, I was stating facts, not my approval of them. I am not defending anybody. Cooperating takes two sides, both failed hitherto. Leftist activists are having an increasingly hard time trying to defend Syriza.

The referendum, as I read today, will be about one particular plan proposed by the Institutions, after the Greek government failed to produce a satisfactory one. Now you may think that is because the Institutions are particularly cruel and greedy, but in fact no plan was published that satisfies anybody at all.

Instead of the referendum, new elections are needed as soon as possible. The new government must have a robust mandate to impose hardships, not only financially (- these will come anyway -), but also mentally. With the Syriza people, this is not possible, not only because they stand for the opposite way of thinking, but mainly because they are not trusted by their own voters.

A functioning Greece will be worth its price, for leftists and conservatives alike.