Greece is the most beautiful country in the world – if you are on holiday! Because, daily life gets harder and harder for most of the inhabitants, especially the most vulnerable ones.

Greek governments having violated citizens’ human rights are primarily responsible. The creditors of the country have also violated international treaties judging by the austerity programmes imposed so far. Article 2 of the European Union Treaty (TEU) states that, “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities”.

In light of all this, Jürgen Habermas among other intellectuals criticized German leadership for insisting on imposing austerity measures upon the already “exhausted Greeks”. You can’t blame him.

Numbers don’t lie.

According to the European Commission of Economic and Financial Affairs and the Directorate-General for Home Affairs, public health expenditure was reduced to 6% of the GDP in line with the first bailout agreement. Following the second agreement, running costs of hospitals were further decreased by 8%.Continuous cuts in pharmaceutical expenditure, from 4.37 billion euros in 2010 to 2 billion in 2014, resulted in acute shortages of drugs in hospitals and pharmacies. Thus, Attikon Hospitall received a decreased funding of 51 million euros this year, compared to last year’s 57 million euros and the 120 million funding that was sent to it in 2010, according to Efsyn.gr. Today, more than 2.5 million Greeks are without health insurance.

According to Eurostat the deficiency of necessary goods for the Greek people increased from 11% to 21.5 % between 2009 and 2014. At the same time, close to 27.9 % of the population could not find a job and payrolls decreased by up to 25%. This July 16,700 jobs were lost due to capital controls, according to tanea.gr. Youth unemployment today is close to 65%. No wonder young people flee the country.

There is more.

Greece ranking at the World Press Freedom Index plummeted from 35 in 2009 to 91 in 2015. Discrimination and hate speech climaxed. According to Racist Violence Recording Network Findings, violent crimes against foreigners and homosexuals rose significantly. Up to this moment, there are Greeks underpinning the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn.

Where do we go from here? Natives and tourists wonder about the future of the country and about the refugees they came across at some Aegean beach.

Another austerity program will only make things worse without a doubt. But Greeks need more than boosts to the economy. They have to take a stance. Corruption, inequality and neo-fascism, which have taken root in the country, must be fought.

Greeks must enter into a dialogue, communicate with each other if any effort is to be meaningful. One must be blind not to see the gaps, the system errors, the contradictions, all characteristics of different mentalities in Greece. There are people who only speak of the bailout agreements, powering up the climate of polarization, stagnation and entrapment.

And there are people who by diminishing or overlooking the ramifications of the bailout agreements, seem to cherry-pick the laws that serve their arguments.

All this paints a bleak picture of the future, a place where new visions cannot emerge. There is still no discussion about how we can move on, which steps to take, how much time will be needed. A truly essential topic.

In any case, should the Greeks keep accepting politics that result in collateral damage, their sunny country will further resemble a wilting paradise.