Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.

Input: Consider Input: If Greece turns left, will Europe follow? Greece is heading towards snap elections on January 25 after the conservative coalition government, currently in office, failed to reach a supermajority of 180 MPs in order to elect the new president of the republic as dictated by the Greek constitution . Stavros Demas, a former European Commissioner and candidate of choice of the two ruling parties, was never really proposed with the purpose to achieve and express the maximum consensus among the Greek population . Demas is coming from the heart of the ruling conservative New Democracy party and symbolises the party's loyalty to the current establishment in the EU . The main opposition party, SYRIZA, openly invested in the constitutional opportunity to overturn the government months ago claiming that its endurance in office for two more years would be abnormal as it would contradict the popular sentiment tracked in every opinion poll during the past year or so . By all odds , SYRIZA is leading the polls by 3 percent to 10 percent and is expected to form a government either based on a robust majority of the left in parliament, or, in coalition with minor parties who are willing to follow its agenda, renegotiate a bailout agreement that will not be catastrophic for Greek society and the Greek economy . Despite the fact that both the German and the Greek conservative governments present the current bailout programme as a "success story", most analysts around the globe agree that it has actually failed . Six years of continuing recession have resulted in a loss of 25 percent of GDP and a rise of unemployment to 27 percent . Greek debt is well over 170 percent of GDP now and according to Troika estimations it will be no less than 120 percent by 2020 . These facts translate to two things . Firstly , there can be no development under austerity policies for the majority of the population , even if the Eurozone fixes its competitiveness problem and exits deflation and the Greek economy starts developing at a growth rate of over 4 percent  - which is highly unlikely . Secondly, there can be no functioning democracy so long as Greece is not given choices other than poverty, degrowth and exclusion . Greece is in the state of protectorate at the moment, bound in a bailout agreement that strips its ability to produce and reject different solutions . But it's not just Greece . Spain follows the same path both in regards to the social crisis and the political management of that crisis . Poverty and unemployment figures look much like the Greek ones and the Spanish conservative government resorts to authoritarian measures in order to keep the Spanish society tight . For example ,  the public security law voted a few days ago is a clear attempt of the government to muzzle protests over its handling of the financial crisis . Deflation hits Europe and the prospects of its biggest economies like France's, Italy's and Germany's, are not looking good to pull the Eurozone back to the track of growth . As a result, political forces that question austerity are gaining momentum whether they are nationalist Euroskeptic and even fascist, or progressive, democratic and pro-European like the Spanish ally party of SYRIZA, Podemos . What is striking about SYRIZA is that its critique and analysis since 2009 have been proven to be correct despite the continuing fear campaign against him both inside and out of the country . Recently Prime Minister Antonis Samaras accused the party of the radical left that it will lead Greece to default and bankruptcy if it tries to negotiate lighter terms for the repayment of the Greek debt . Jean Claude Juncker's Commission has been issuing exhortations to the Greek electorate not to vote for SYRIZA and German finance minister is openly saying that there is no alternative for Greece, no matter which government comes in office . But economic analysts who have defended the reforms are starting to agree with SYRIZA on several issues, including the need to stop austerity and move faster to a process of debt forgiveness . FT's Wolfgang Munchau writes that "the radical left is right about Europe's debt" . Bloomberg argues that the end of austerity may boost the global economy and even Morgan Stanley asks bond holders not to be afraid of the coming elections . Despite the fear-mongering campaign, economic analysts reject now a possible "grexit" due to markets' belief that some kind of deal is preferable both for Greece and the EU . In this environment, a SYRIZA victory would mean two very important things; the return of the power to decide to a democratically elected government and the restoration of inclusiveness and national sovereignty and the opening of a new chapter in European politics , where the parties and the organisations who challenge austerity will have the momentum . The Greek people have patiently given the opportunity to the neoliberal technocrats of the IMF and the EU along with their local counterparts in the conservative coalition government to experiment and find a way out of the mess for more than five years only to receive back pain and failure . Now they're being given the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to choose which way the country will turn . SYRIZA is asking for debt forgiveness and a New Deal for Europe, both rather moderate demands coming from a radical left party . If SYRIZA actually wins the elections , the Greek people will be the first to send a clear message against austerity, one that can spark change, much needed on the continent right now . And if SYRIZA succeeds then Europe may start a new page in its economic and political history .

Output: Greece is heading towards snap elections on January 25 after the conservative coalition government, currently in office, failed to reach a supermajority of 180 MPs in order to elect the new president of the republic as dictated by the Greek constitution


Input: Consider Input: Sydney Hostage Crisis: Australia has lost its innocence. Australia is known as the "lucky country." It was a phrase first coined in 1964 by social critic Donald Horne, and has come to represent the visceral feelings of both Australians, and visitors to the nation . It is seen as a reflection of a high standard of living, and a geographical insulation from the bad actors of the world theater . But ten days out from Christmas, Australia has lost its innocence . On a day of brilliant blue skies, the terrorism of the post-9/11 world finally arrived on Australian soil , taking hold of city streets . A man wielding a gun and an Islamic flag took customers and staff hostage at a cafe in central Sydney . As a native of Sydney, home for the holidays, safe and sound but shaken and furious, December 15 is a day that will forever be seared into my mind . I've been to the Lindt Cafe ; in fact ,  I once worked across the street from it . Emotions have run high here all day -- from fear to anger to a desire for vengeance . I never expected this in Sydney . The profoundly shocking standoff with all its disruptions to city life has struck fear in Sydneysiders, unaccustomed to these types of events . The mood in Sydney is one of fear and uncertainty . Until now, Australian authorities have been flawless in preventing terror attacks on Australian soil . They have been aggressive in their pursuit of intelligence and would-be terrorists , foiling plot after plot . September saw the biggest anti-terrorism operation in Australia's history , involving up to 800 police in coordinated raids , sparked by intelligence reports that Islamic State supporters were planning to seize a random member of the public and behead them live on camera . Yet , it was inevitable that one would finally slip through the cracks , and Monday Sydney joined the ranks of cities such as New York, London and Madrid as the latest victim of what appears to be Islamic terrorism . Monday's distressing events have renewed Australians' concerns about Islamist objectives, and a growing Islamic presence in the country . Some Australians recognize that this likely terrorist attack is a result of the poor immigration decisions of Australian governments, both conservative and liberal, over the last four decades . A lack of liberty, an abandonment of reason, the imposition of Sharia on Muslims and non-Muslims, as well as the treatment of women are just some of the serious moral problems within the Muslim world . Islamist views are incompatible with the liberty enjoyed by Australians and Americans . Interestingly, Monday's events have also prompted Australians to revisit their gun laws . With Islamic supremacism a mainstream interpretation of Islam, deeply rooted in Islamic scripture and endorsed by many of Islam's most influential scholars, Australians are beginning to understand the nature of the Islamic threat , and studying their own weaknesses in its wake . The United Kingdom has had two beheadings of members of the public in the last two years, with neither police nor civilians able to prevent it . It also has prohibitive gun laws . Australians are looking to America, and not the UK for guidance . With this sort of threat, the normal calculus of a civilized society with a small, armed (or unarmed) police force upon which the citizens are forced to rely, no longer adds up . It is unsurprising that home-grown terrorism is most rampant in nations with strict gun control . It is a reality that Australia's powerful anti-gun lobby seems to wish to ignore . It is times like these that Americans should be thankful for their Second Amendment, and crush any effort or force seeking to weaken or remove it . Right now, they are the envy of a growing number of Australians that wish they were armed . Australia will never be the same again . Sydney just lost a little of its shine .

Output: A man wielding a gun and an Islamic flag took customers and staff hostage at a cafe in central Sydney On a day of brilliant blue skies, the terrorism of the post-9/11 world finally arrived on Australian soil


Input: Consider Input: US economy: Why I'm optimistic about growth in 2015. Could 2015 be the breakout year for the economy? Last week we got very joyful news :. All of this is good news as we ring in the new year . And the best may be yet to come . So why is the economy finally shifting into a higher gear? This isn' t a story of government-directed growth or stimulus spending . It's the opposite : Washington's role in the economy is starting to shrink after years of Obama administration activism . The private sector is starting to take over . The growth was propelled by a big rise in business investment, up nearly 9 percent; personal consumption, up 3.2 percent; and exports, up 4.5 percent . Government spending, which is a negative for the economy, grew by 4.4 percent, thanks to a big rise in military spending , but domestic spending is still restrained . The news was so good that even the threat that the Fed will now have an excuse to raise interest rates hasn't deterred the bulls on Wall Street . Here is the case for optimism going forward . First ,  a huge factor in the economic rebound has been the fall in energy costs . As the price of oil has fallen from $105 a barrel this summer to closer $70 by September,(and at the end of December it was at $53) the cost of oil imports has tumbled . Imports fell by nearly 2 percent , and this alone added almost 0.2 percentage points to GDP growth . Even that greatly understates the economic windfall from cheap energy . Production costs fall when energy costs do , so the supply of American-produced non-oil and gas products, such as manufactured goods, rises when gas is cheap . Gas prices should continue to fall , the good-news story rolls on , and the addition to GDP from energy should be even higher . Thank you, Texas and Oklahoma and North Dakota . And thank you, fracking . Second , businesses are clearly feeling less trepidation about investing , and some of the wet blanket of Obama's anti-business, anti-shareholder agenda has dissipated as the Republican Congress repels his worst ideas: cap-and-trade, minimum wage hikes, new taxes on the energy industry and massive new spending initiatives out of Washington . Gridlock now looks to be built into the political system for the next two years, and in many ways that's reassuring . Third ,  government spending has fallen a lot more than people think . Despite the boost in military spending in the last quarter, the biggest story of the U.S  economy over the last three years has been the retrenchment of government spending . Federal spending has fallen from 24.4 percent of GDP in 2009 and 23.4 percent of GDP in 2010 to 21 percent of GDP in 2014 . Even better news is that in the fourth quarter of 2014, federal spending as a share of GDP fell to below 20 percent, according to a new analysis by Dan Clifton of Strategas, an economic policy consulting firm . This is creating an anti-Keynesian boost to growth, because the government is taking fewer private sector resources each month . The 4 percentage points less of GDP that the government is spending means 4 percent more GDP for private businesses and families to spend . That's close to $700 billion a year more for private investment and construction and spending . This, by the way, shows the foolhardiness of the Keynesian notion of a government-spending free lunch . Five years ago the Obama economics team was talking about multiplier effects from higher federal outlays -- the stimulus bill spent $830 billion-- that would juice the economy with even more private spending . It never happened . Even President Obama's own economic analysis found the economy grew more slowly than it would have without the government debt- financed spending . The real effect of government spending is to crowd out private spending . A final reason for optimism is that the incoming class of Republican governors and conservative state legislators across the country should mean more growth policies coming out of state capitals . At least a dozen governors from Massachusetts to Illinois to Tennessee are talking about tax cuts to create jobs . So even if we don't get tax reform at the federal level , states should be providing an additional tax cut stimulus . Skeptics will say that Obama's executive actions on climate change, immigration, energy policy and so on will continue to be a restraint on growth . That's for sure . This recovery from recession is still nearly $2 trillion behind where we should would be if we had a Reagan-paced boom . This is still one of the most anemic recoveries , though it is belatedly picking up steam . It's also true that wages are still flat for most workers , so the big challenge for the economy is raising productivity so Americans get a well- deserved pay raise . As 2014 comes to a close, here's where we are : Interest rates are as low as they've been in 40 years ; inflation is tame, thanks to the surge in oil and gas output ; and corporate profits remain high . The rest of the world economy, from Germany to Japan to Russia, is a debacle . But that's all the more reason to bet on the USA in 2015 . And ,  no, Mr  President, you didn't build that .


Output: Could 2015 be the breakout year for the economy?