Numerous opinion polls gauging public reaction to the Government’s austerity measures have been conducted throughout the country, some with astounding results.

For example, in one poll by an Athens newspaper, slightly more than half of the respondents accept the measures, while almost 75 percent said Greece must remain in the eurozone.

In another poll, this one published by the weekly Realnews, a whopping 98.6 percent believe the political system is responsible for the current crisis. Interestingly, 82.7 percent of respondents also consider that labour unions' leaderships are responsible for the crisis.

Getting into the act, The Khronicles took to the streets to ask local residents what they think of the measures and what they plan to do to cope with the situation.

“I’m in favour of the government’s austerity program,” declared Yiannis Alodianakis of Iraklion, “even though I’ll have to make some concessions in my daily life. These are difficult times and I believe the government is on the right track in getting things back to normal. Unfortunately, I think things will get a little worse, before they start to improve, but hopefully, in about three years, everything will get back to normal.”

Efi Sidiropoulou, owner of Our Corner bookshop in Gournes, basically supports the measures and hopes they will put the economy on a straight road.

“We are all suffering from the financial crisis because people simply buy less of many things, or nothing of some things,” she said. “My family will, of course, try to cut down expenses any way we can. And one of the first things will be to cut down on our driving. Will only use the car when it’s absolutely necessary and certainly not for long distances.”

However, the thing that really makes Mrs. Sidiropoulou fume is the misconception many foreigners have regarding the bailout, and where the money is coming from.

“On a recent Sunday,” she recalled, “we went to the beach en famille. We were enjoying the surf and our coffee when we heard comments from some Dutch visitors like ‘you are all out having a good time when we in Europe have to work harder to give you money for a bailout!’ Unbelievable!”

Mrs. Pelagia Karataraki, a businesswoman from Hersonissos, says pessimistically:  “No matter what austerity measures we take, we won’t raise our heads above water even after 10 years.  We have reached the point where we don’t know if we can afford any money for our children’s education – for tutoring centres and such.”

Nikos Makrogambrakis, a civil servant from Iraklion, said: “With enough effort I finally ensured a permanent position in civil service, and now everything seems to fall apart. Our future is uncertain and I am sure that it will become still more unbearable. By the end of the year we will come across some dramatic changes. It’s not right that these chronic tax cheats and evaders remain unpunished and we pay for their errors.”

Mrs. Argyro Dretaki, a nurse from N. Alikarnassos, is concerned about many things, including her pension.

“I‘m only a year away from taking my pension,” she said, “and I particularly worry if the retirement age limit is extended. As far as the one-time cash sum we receive at the end of our service, I’m afraid we won’t see it. So many years they withhold deductions from our salaries and now we have to dig deeper in our own pockets to give more? The government mechanism has collapsed; bankruptcy is knocking on our door and we turn a deaf ear.”