Greek police are unable to find the fascist MP Ilias Kasidiaris, who is wanted for assaulting two women on live television. Greek police are unable to find the prominent fascist MP Ilias Kasidiaris. Greek police are unable to find the prominent fascist MP Ilias Kasidiaris, who until recently acted as a public spokesman for the Golden Dawn party. Greek police are unable to find the prominent fascist MP Ilias Kasidiaris, who until recently acted as a public spokesman for the Golden Dawn party, and presumably has a place of residence, and list of friends and associates, whom he may also be staying with.
In other news half of Greek police officers polled recently said they voted for Golden Dawn.
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greece. Show all posts
This week's thoughts for the brain...
Those of you who hang around the same parts of the internet as I do will know there is a debate going on. The Greek and French election indicate a potential sea change in European politics. To use the precise meaning: austerity rolls, but anti-austerity politics have found their voice. There are now rallying points, in Greece it's Syriza, in France the Left Front. These are not Bolshevik organisations. The question then is what does the left of the left, including revolutionaries, do?
Let me make one thing clear, however. The people in places like Britain arguing with headbanging sincerity about the need for entryism are total phonies.
But if these results are indicative, it means rough equivalents of these organisations will appear everywhere. The British political system is the most resistant to political breakthroughs (regional assemblies and local mayors not withstanding). Fans of doorknocking, sorry, getting down to some serious work in local communities, might not see too many tangible results so soon. One thing I think we can definitely say is there is not simply a vaccum on the left, at least not one we can fill ourselves.
It's worth going over what it took last time to give the left unity and purpose. At the height of the anti-war movement, in the weeks before the attack on Iraq, I attended organising meetings (not rallies, organising meetings) where 100 people occupied one room and 100 more taking up an overflow room, with runners heading between them and the local news crew confused as to who they were supposed to film... and yet things worked perfectly, with no foul-ups, no duplication and no sectarianism.
The point is, partly, that the organisation which received most of the anti-war movement was set up in anticipation, as opposed to the left unity project, which was a reaction to events. Perhaps when Respect was formed the moment was already passed. Certainly between the first unity rally in October 2003 and the foundation in January 2004 Bob Crow, George Monbiot, the Green Party, the Socialist Party and the CPB all backed off.
For better or worse, we were in a position where we had to substitute for a united left in the anticipation of future success or effectively cancel the project. Let's never get into that pickle again. No substitution or liquidation; perhaps easier typed than done.
David Cameron in calculated insult to logic
And all those who practice such a quaint art. From a heavily armed bunker in Chicago he said:
It's not for me to say what Greek parties should and shouldn't stand on and how the Greek elections should work.I bet you 420 billion Euros the next word is "but..."
But it's very important that everyone is clear that...Ha! I win. Sorry, you go on Dave...
But it's very important that everyone is clear that the choice Greece faces is maintaining its commitments and maintaining itself in the eurozone, or deciding that is not the path it wants to take... So this decision point, the Greek election, has got to become the moment where all of the right plans are put in place to secure the future of the eurozone currency.The Euro was not good enough for David Cameron, though it's clearly good enough now for him to secure its future. Look, Greeks, stop spoiling things! Either you're going to vote for the sado-monetarist destruction of your society, or Cameron and co are going to put 'the right plans' in place to ensure it. That's democracy for ya!
Be afraid...
That's the message from Greek nazi leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos:
Indeed. But why be afraid, bloodcurdling rhetoric and threats (like - Kommt Zeit, kommt Rat, kommt Attentat) aside, of a party that only gathers 7% of the national vote? Well, not long ago they could only count on nought point nothing of the Greek electorate. Of course fascists aren't interested in elections, only to use them to build support for building a street army, use your imagination.
The recent elections have been a disaster for the Greek and European ruling classes. There is a clear anti-austerity majority in Greece but, partly due to the vagiaries of the Greek electoral system (the party with the most votes gets 50 bonus seats - like some kind of gameshow), and partly due to the compromised Greek Labour party, which would certainly have to be part of any left-government, an anti-austerity government seems a long way off.
What's the solution, another round of elections? That hardly seems likely. One can never say there is no reformist solution in any situation, but it would require a massive U-turn from the European ruling class. If the Greeks successfully turn back the austerity programme (even after all the damage it has done to their society) their example could prove dangerously popular. This is only how it seems to me but the Greek left has all the support but none of the power. Without turning to extra-parliamentary action, its hard to see how they can wield power, either way, the right will give them all the blame. This is where the Golden Dawn could prove dangerous, just use your imagination.
"Greece is only the beginning," Michaloliakos shouted. "You know exactly what I mean."
The party's principal idea is to rid Greece of all "illegal immigrants".
"Out of my country, out of my home! How will we do it? Use your imagination..."
The recent elections have been a disaster for the Greek and European ruling classes. There is a clear anti-austerity majority in Greece but, partly due to the vagiaries of the Greek electoral system (the party with the most votes gets 50 bonus seats - like some kind of gameshow), and partly due to the compromised Greek Labour party, which would certainly have to be part of any left-government, an anti-austerity government seems a long way off.
What's the solution, another round of elections? That hardly seems likely. One can never say there is no reformist solution in any situation, but it would require a massive U-turn from the European ruling class. If the Greeks successfully turn back the austerity programme (even after all the damage it has done to their society) their example could prove dangerously popular. This is only how it seems to me but the Greek left has all the support but none of the power. Without turning to extra-parliamentary action, its hard to see how they can wield power, either way, the right will give them all the blame. This is where the Golden Dawn could prove dangerous, just use your imagination.
Greece is now an anti-fascist issue.
The end of democracy
There are technocratic governments in Greece and Italy, formed to enforce austerity. They may cry tears at what they have to do, the sacrifices you have to make, but you still have to make them.
The democratic impulse is an obstacle to austerity. People don't vote to be fleeced, not generally (hence, also, the general trend of declining election participation in supposedly advanced democracies). There is active vote rigging, suppression and violence going on in Russia right now. Russia has been ruled by a former KGB agent for rather too long. According to the NAACP the American political establishment is preparing something similar:
Barack Obama is part of that establishment. His election in 2008 chipped a small crack in the American political monolith, also known as the Southern Strategy, in short the means by which whatever way the people vote they get a solidly conservative government. However flaky his programme might have been, Obama inspired the Black and Hispanic working class to become politically active, and that is dangerous.
The democratic impulse is an obstacle to austerity. People don't vote to be fleeced, not generally (hence, also, the general trend of declining election participation in supposedly advanced democracies). There is active vote rigging, suppression and violence going on in Russia right now. Russia has been ruled by a former KGB agent for rather too long. According to the NAACP the American political establishment is preparing something similar:
In its report, Defending Democracy: Confronting Modern Barriers to Voting Rights in America, the NAACP explores the voter suppression measures taking place particularly in southern and western states.
Fourteen states have passed a total of 25 measures that will unfairly restrict the right to vote, among black and Hispanic voters in particular.
The new measures are focused – not coincidentally, the association insists – in states with the fastest growing black populations (Florida, Georgia, Texas and North Carolina) and Latino populations (South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee). The NAACP sees this as a cynical backlash to a surge in ethnic minority voting evident in 2008.
Barack Obama is part of that establishment. His election in 2008 chipped a small crack in the American political monolith, also known as the Southern Strategy, in short the means by which whatever way the people vote they get a solidly conservative government. However flaky his programme might have been, Obama inspired the Black and Hispanic working class to become politically active, and that is dangerous.
Live in the real world... there is no money... etc
There is 'no money' because the bankers and stock market jockeys are deliberately withdrawing it. European stock markets are tumbling on the news that the Greeks will be given some kind of say over their future, through a referendum on the current debt package.
Our capitalists are in no doubt as to how popular they are, how welcome their policies are. They are generally realistic when their precious, precious wealth is on the line.
Functioning democracy is seen as an obstacle to capital accumulation. Beware, Greece has had dictatorships before, in living memory. If the Greek working class lets up for a moment the ruling class wouldn't hesitate to impose another dictatorship if it felt it needed to.
Our capitalists are in no doubt as to how popular they are, how welcome their policies are. They are generally realistic when their precious, precious wealth is on the line.
Functioning democracy is seen as an obstacle to capital accumulation. Beware, Greece has had dictatorships before, in living memory. If the Greek working class lets up for a moment the ruling class wouldn't hesitate to impose another dictatorship if it felt it needed to.
News and Spews
Tory government to raise the motorway speed limit to 80 miles per hour. Now you can get go to hell in a handcart quicker.
Civil service occupations in Greece prevent EU, ECB and IMF delegates from meeting in public buildings. F-ing go for it!
Baharain doctors jailed for upholding the hippocratic oath (especially that bit about "I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures required...").
Elsewhere, Local government minister Eric Pickles has made a stunning breakthrough; people don't like rolling in their own filth (it's not, generally speaking, good for their physical and mental wellbeing), and it costs money to have it taken away.
And finally, The Onion, the original fake-news outlet, set up another fake news story (with more than a hint of dark irony). Some people forgot this fact and took it seriously.
Civil service occupations in Greece prevent EU, ECB and IMF delegates from meeting in public buildings. F-ing go for it!
The surprise sit-ins, which began with civil servants declaring that they had taken over six ministries at 7am, meant that Evangelos Venizelos, the finance minister, was forced to hold the talks on the 2012 budget elsewhere."The measures being pursued by the government are totally counter-productive. It is obvious to everyone that they have failed … all they have achieved is the impoverishment of Greeks," said a member of Adedy's [Greek equivalent of the PCS] executive board. "These occupations are symbolic but what is not is our determination to overturn policies that have driven us into deadlock. In the last two years 300,000 small and medium-sized businesses have closed and by December we estimate there will be one and a half million unemployed. That's one person per family."
Baharain doctors jailed for upholding the hippocratic oath (especially that bit about "I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures required...").
Twenty Bahraini medics who treated activists wounded during anti-government protests were jailed for between five and 15 years in sentences that were immediately denounced by medical bodies and human rights groups around the world.
The sentences were handed down by a military court set up to handle the trials, which stemmed from an Arab spring-inspired uprising in the country in February and March. It was crushed with the help of armies from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Thirteen of the doctors and nurses received sentences of 15 years in prison, while another seven received terms of five to 10 years.
Elsewhere, Local government minister Eric Pickles has made a stunning breakthrough; people don't like rolling in their own filth (it's not, generally speaking, good for their physical and mental wellbeing), and it costs money to have it taken away.
And finally, The Onion, the original fake-news outlet, set up another fake news story (with more than a hint of dark irony). Some people forgot this fact and took it seriously.
Sow austerity, reap recession
Back in the day world financial institutions would use debt as a lever. A country, second or third world country, would get into economic difficulty. The instruments of global finance would then basically send the economy into deliberate shock, and use the precipitous economic and social decline to raid said country.
This method is fine, if you happen to be a financier and not a citizen. The only trouble is there is a global economic crisis. The Markets, aka the ruling class, are trying to perform this trick over the entire planet. If every country is suppressing wages, driving up unemployment, privatising public assets and aiming to become an export economy (as if you can turn a whole economic set-up around just like that) the only problem is... who are they going to export to?
The ruling class is clinging to a global policy that reduces effective demand during recession and, lo and behold, we are on the brink of recession, again. There have been bigger debt 'crises' than this one. After World War Two there was a greater public debt across Europe as well as Britain. This crisis, the actual crisis, is being deliberately precipitated.
We don't just need Greek-style resistance, soon that won't be enough. It's getting to that stage now in Greece, popular resistance will need to go beyond strikes, into occupations, beyond demonstrations into armed mutinies. It's popular democracy or a new dictatorship.
Interesting times ahead, perhaps...? Oh dear...
This method is fine, if you happen to be a financier and not a citizen. The only trouble is there is a global economic crisis. The Markets, aka the ruling class, are trying to perform this trick over the entire planet. If every country is suppressing wages, driving up unemployment, privatising public assets and aiming to become an export economy (as if you can turn a whole economic set-up around just like that) the only problem is... who are they going to export to?
The ruling class is clinging to a global policy that reduces effective demand during recession and, lo and behold, we are on the brink of recession, again. There have been bigger debt 'crises' than this one. After World War Two there was a greater public debt across Europe as well as Britain. This crisis, the actual crisis, is being deliberately precipitated.
We don't just need Greek-style resistance, soon that won't be enough. It's getting to that stage now in Greece, popular resistance will need to go beyond strikes, into occupations, beyond demonstrations into armed mutinies. It's popular democracy or a new dictatorship.
Interesting times ahead, perhaps...? Oh dear...
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