+ a central bank whose mandate is limited to inflation
+ the lack of a treasury
+ the lack of a harmonized tax system
+ the crippling deficits in democratic control that make it very hard to turn the will of the people into policy
+ etc

The last point is of particular interest if you look at Greece as a shock & awe induced suspension of democracy. Many nations are held in a permanent state of emergency through the war on terror, while Greece's permanent state of emergency was imposed through debt.

Previous governments did what they were told by troika officials, with parliament left aside and judicial decisions left ignored. The return of democracy into some parts of the system caused rather vicious reactions from both the press and European officials. Just look at what Martin Schulz or Jeroen Dijsselbloem said about Syriza officials in the last few days.

Debt is a tool powerful enough to suspend democracy in a heartbeat, even quicker than our famous war on/of terror.

Parliamentary decisions are superceded by transnational treaties and obligations. And if you take the thought one step further, you end up at TTIP/TTP/CETA/TISA. If Greece demonstrates that democratic decisions at a national level still overrule transnational treaties, governments lose a scapegoat for unpopular decisions ("treaty X demands it of us"). Should Syriza manage to end the state of emergency, to return control over the decision back to the elected bodies, it will become infinitely harder to impose draconian or even just highly unpopular measures.

But I digress. Twin Euro blocks (South/North) were part of the discussion, just like parallel currencies in troubled nations. A German exit is still being discussed as well, but I don't think its advocates within Germany thought it through. Switzerland just uncoupled its Swiss Francs from the Euro and it did a real number on their exports. A new DM would appreciate like a Saturn V, instantly shattering German exports. Without a massive increase in wages to compensate through domestic demand, Germany would bleed jobs left, right and center. A fullblown recession.

I'd say it would take very little to stabilise the union, even in its currently flawed configuration. Krugman had a piece this morning, calling one of Syriza's core demands reasonable. And judging by what I have read over the last five years or so, it is. He said Germany would be crazy if they demanded payment on full, no reliefs. And that's where it shows that he cannot follow the media or the political discussions in Germany to any meaningful degree, language barrier and all. Public discussion on economics in Germany stands completely separate from the rest of the world.

Ignorance, stubbornness, cultural bias, a feedback-loop of media and politics, group pressure -- we have everything. And the fact that Germany has been comparatively successful in the face of this crisis makes it practially impossible to pierce this bubble. We're doing fine, our way must be correct, everyone else is wrong.

if it was a double lift with doors both side i would turn around reasoning that those people kenw it was going to open on the other side. other than that in the lift scenario i dont think i would comply.

I would probably submit to group pressure if i was outside and everyone sudanly started walking slow for example , i think in a situation where the subject would have no logical resoining as to why people might be doing x abnormal behavoir is when it might work the best , however the more abstract from the context the abnormal behavior is the less likely i think it would be to have an an affect.

you can easily see how in many situations Evan if its slightly absurd or unnecessary that following the group can be benoficail , wonder if it stems back to something quite early in our development akin to how fish move around or sheep folowing , or if its actualy a more recent development from when we begain to develop socail skills.

Great comment. Thank you for the link; I will watch it later. History is full of examples of people in power using scapegoats, events, or creating events in order to sway the public toward an action they want. I look at the PR campaign leading up to the Iraq war. Anyone who spent anytime researching the claims would have either dismissed the reasons and/or brought up serious objections. Or recognized the very coordinated effort by officials to imply nuclear threat against the US, but then later deny that they is what they meant. The American public was treated as a dupe and responded as one (as a whole.)

I don't agree with the assumption that we must commit evil to end evil. That is the difference between justice and revenge. We both know that Iraq was an unprovoked attack that had nothing to do with justice.

"The Sutras of Abu Ghraib" is a story of an American soldier who finds his belief in Buddhism strengthen over time to where he applies (and eventually gets) a conscientious objector discharge. The author does a good job of showing people, good people, bowing and giving up their morals in the face of group pressure and the stresses of occupying a hostile country. You will find the same type of behavior in this war (with racial slurs, etc.) Could this be a self defense mechanism by the soldier? Dehumanize the country's inhabitants because they can't tell which are hostile and which just trying to live their lives? It seems logical that this psychological defense would arise when you may hurt someone who is just trying to live their life. Winning and losing have little meaning when you lose yourself.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'candid camera, elevator, group pressure' to 'candid camera, elevator, group pressure, social psychology' - edited by calvados

Now to use group pressure for Good. What a novel idea