Hetalia - Axis 1 - The Modern World Conference

Hetalia opens with a hilarious introduction set in the modern 21st century. The nations of the world have all gathered to hold a meeting not unlike G20 or the UN General Assembly, in which they attempt to solve the world's problems through open forum. It sounds pretty straightforward, until the countries start bickering with each other over how things should be done.

Now, what really struck me when watching was not the way the countries were arguing, but rather, how one country in particular was fast asleep in the corner of the room. That country happened to be Greece. Now, this episode preceded the Eurozone Crisis by a small margin (2009 versus 2011). That said, this short scene speaks volumes about the events which led to the crisis. Put simply, Greece's main problem wasn't the lavishness and overspending, but the fact that as the nation started to collapse, they simply went to sleep.

CNN has a timeline which gives bullet points of what happened in the ten years between 2001 to 2011. The 2004 Athens Olympics were a massive strain on the national budget, but when the government attempted to cut the budget in other ways, the people said no. Thus, nothing was done in 2005. In 2006, austerity measures did pass, but not without a plethora of opposition, which escalated exponentially as 2009 approached, about the time this episode was released.

Greece's first bailout occurred in April 2010. As that happened, the prospect of successful austerity measures for the country became even less likely than it was before, to the point that in 2011, international lenders began to realize what was going on. Of course, by then it was too late.

So what does all of this have to do with the global market? Quite a bit, actually. Tourism is one of Greece's most important industries, employing 20% of their people and making up one sixth of their economy. Because of the recession which occurred in the United States during 2008, travel to all countries, including this one, plummeted hard for two years. In a way, Greece was asleep to the reality that their way of work and way of life was starting to crash down around them. In a way, the creators of this anime knew all along what would inevitably happen.

The Lesson: It is important to be aware that the world is constantly changing. The same tired and true methods of yesteryear may not work in the future, so you should be actively seeking ways to change yourself and your perspective of the world as the times change. Stubbornness will only hold you back. As for who that advice is best geared toward at this point, I'll leave that up to your imagination.