Theodoros Pangalos, the “famously blunt” deputy prime minister of Greece, says that ordinary Greeks, as well as the political elite, had wasted the loans and subsidies that used to rain down on the country (“What Have We Become?” July 2, 2011). He is right not only about Greece, but also about many other countries on the northern shores of the Mediterranean. The political elites still led the way, though. And they paraded day and night in front of ordinary people in their ever-more expensive clothes, shoes, handbags, and cars. Their houses and penthouses were also on display. The perpetual show was replicated all the way down the social ladder, copied to the best of everyone’s ability. Everyone is guilty of the Mediterranean economic disaster, but the political elites are a bit guiltier than is anyone else. For they were supposed to lead ordinary people to sustainable economic development that would offer better conditions for everyone rather than spend everything that came their way in ostentatious carelessness. With political elites like these, ordinary people cannot but be led the wrong way. That in a nutshell is the last Mediterranean tragedy, Pangalos’ bluntness notwithstanding.