"...a judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to a unpleasant, usually dangerous experience."Practice of trial by ordeal was prevalent in medieval Europe and one common ordeal was Ordeal of Cold Water in which an accused was submerged and proven innocent if he or she sank. Again, from Wikipedia:
"Ordeal by water was later associated with the witch-hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries.....an accused who sank (and usually drowned) was considered innocent, while floating indicated witchcraft."Following the recent developments in Europe concerning Greece, one cannot help getting a sense that Greece is being tried by "ordeal of cold water". Drowning in its own debt, Greece was left to sink or swim as Europe's "high clergy" (Germany, France) watched from the sidelines, pledging to save Greece, if it actually sank to the edge of financial death.
The last round of meetings between the Greek PM and his German and French counterparts yielded more of the same. A pledge to help if and when needed but no actual details or concrete commitments. Nonetheless, there seems to be a growing realization that the EU must step up if it wants to survive. Failure to help Greece would, no doubt, exacerbate the already severe financial conditions faced by Spain and Portugal expose them to lethal market speculations that will, in a self-fulfilling prophesy, increase their debt costs to painful levels.
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