"Needy Southern Europeans"

My PhD supervisor pointed out in a tweet today that the Financial Times had used the adjective "needy" to describe South European nations. She was quite annoyed but not being European I was more bemused.  Calling entire countries needy doesn't make sense and I feel an alert copy editor should have caught it. And, using such a word in a pandemic, when many people are being needy, or feeling needy or coping with someone needy shows a lack of sensitivity. I have blogged about neediness and was quite critical of it, possibly because I had someone else in mind when I was writing it. I implied in the post that my days of being needy or at least feeling needy were behind me. But, today, I am willing to be less judgemental. In a pandemic, it is difficult to judge whether one is lonely and seeking company or seeking validation, which is a sign of neediness. It is easy to feel needy during a pandemic and berate yourself for it.