It isn't actually that long ago when Greece still had a little bit different government organization; Greece was a dictatorship in 1970s. It is that quickly how things change.
However, I don't blame the people in Southern European countries for this one. Well, they are of course responsible for the voting behavior, but how does that go then when the parties promised something and never actually delivered? The issue here is that monetary systems within the societies differed quite a bit around the eurozone, and nobody, it appears, controlled the loaning at all. This allowed Southern Europe to borrow with the same interest rate as Germany (I believe that the interest rate in Northern Europe would also be slightly higher). Of course, nobody forces anyone to take loans, and especially stupid loans, but still, some amount of responsibility falls on the bankers, and on the organization that should keep them under control.
After I'm done with my mortgage, I'll never take any loans again.