On the doorstep of a SYRIZA Victory

[polly7]

By Mike-Frank Epitropoulos

January 25, 2015

Five years ago, Greece was still in the early stages of the austerity measures being imposed by the Troika (EU, ECB, & IMF), and the other countries of Europe’s periphery (the PIIGS – Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece & Spain) watched and waited to see what would come of the confrontations in the streets of Athens and the promises of a new and brutal neo-liberalism. At the time, the intense focus on Greece was arguably over the value of that obscene experiment in a country whose people had a history of standing up for themselves, even against world powers.

In the interim, Greece has continued its bitter medicine prescribed by the Troika, in the form of severe cuts across the board to the public sector and social, welfare state. And, as even the casual observer knows, the Greek political landscape has witnessed the virtual demise of the center-Left, PASOK, and the decreasing support of center-Right, New Democracy (ND). Those two parties have been the dominant “two-party” rulers of Greece, and have aligned in coalition since the crisis hit Greece. Disgruntled Greek voters – having taken to the streets in concert with the “Indignados” in Spain (known as the “Aganaktismenoi”) – have distributed themselves to both the Left and the Right in newsworthy ways. To the Right, we have seen the rise of the hyper-nationalist, neo-Nazi “Golden Dawn” party, which went from obscurity of less than one percent to just under seven percent (6.92%) in the last parliamentary elections. To the Left, “SYRIZA” – the Coalition of the Radical Left – has emerged from a small, marginal parliamentary party, comprised of a wide array of Left groupings to become the frontrunner in this Sunday’s crucial elections. Both phenomena – the rise of a neo-Nazi Right party and an anti-austerity Left party – have garnered significant attention in both theoretical and policy circles. The anarchist and anti-authoritarian movements have also made their mark in Greek political life in this very difficult time in Greece.

Beyond that, the human toll of despair and desperation is characterized by record numbers of suicide, homelessness and poverty. There are tragic stories of teachers and doctors eating out of garbage cans, and of many people abandoning the cities to return to their home villages where even less opportunity exists. The aforementioned youth have been migrating out of the country, seeking opportunities abroad like their forefathers and mothers did in previous generations. And those left behind are tasked with keeping the country together and rejuvenating the economy and society.

Debt repayment under current structures and conditions is impossible. Greece isn’t the only country in dire economic straits in Europe, as is well known. The combined debt of Italy and Spain is estimated to be about €3.5 trillion. In Spain, Podemos, another Left alternative party led by Pablo Iglesias, for example, has joined SYRIZA’s, Alexi Tsipra, in campaigning for an EU-wide response to austerity and Troika heavy-handedness. Sovereignty and any semblance of democracy have been compromised beyond belief, killing any hope or expectation of a brighter future for the many. But this is a competitive, conflictual capitalist economy, so conflict should be a built-in feature of the system.

It is clear that you cannot “cut your way to prosperity.” (This notion has been totally discredited, and is only endorsed by those free-marketeers who have reified “the market” to religious status.)

A victory for SYRIZA this Sunday will have great symbolic value for Greeks and for others in Europe and around the world. An anti-austerity Left party will have been elected in the rubble of having been beaten down, and in the face of threats and propaganda. People will have been elevated as more important than money by the will of the people. But this will not be the end; this will be the beginning of an untested Demonstration Project.

https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/on-the-doorstep-of-a-syriza-victory/


The Greek Elections and Media Bias
Who are the heroes of Greece?
by Winston Alpha / January 24th, 2015

But to hell with that corporate nonsense—the people of Greece should spook markets and investors. After all, what have markets and investors done for them? Ever since Greece adopted stringent “austerity measures” as demanded by their voracious creditors, the quality of life for working-class Greeks has plummeted. As recently as December 2014, Reuters pegged the unemployment rate there at about 25.5%—and 75% of them have been unemployed for over a year. This disastrous employment situation doesn’t even take into consideration the slashing of pensions, brutal pay cuts, a raise in the retirement age, and various other draconian measures that an already-suffering population had to undergo in order to satiate Greece’s money-hungry creditors (see here and here for a partial list of Greece’s austerity measures).

In other words, your average working-class Greek does not benefit from the status-quo at all. The only people who benefit from the status quo, in fact, are markets, investors, and creditors—obscenely rich individuals and institutions who stand to lose some money if Greece defaults on its debts. In other words, that’s that real lens through which to view the Greek election: the (overwhelmingly broke and hungry) Greek people vs. (very wealthy) creditors who can’t stand to lose any money.

And again: the for-profit Western media is patently on the side of the creditors, not the people. That’s why the Associated Press engages in scare-mongering, telling readers that “a financial whirlwind may lurk round the corner” if Syriza wins. Stoking the same fears, TIME tells its readers that if Syriza wins and Greece abandons the EU the result “could be calamitous for the stability and long-term prosperity [of the region].” And The Economist headline cuts right to the chase: a potential Syriza victory would bring Europe to its “next crisis.”

Otherwise, if the people of Greece choose to stay the course with brutal austerity measures that have crippled their way of life, I fear they will end up like the Greek mythological character Sisyphus. Like Sisyphus, who was condemned to forever roll a boulder up a hill before it inevitably rolled back down for him to repeat the movement ad nauseum, Greeks may find themselves trapped in an endless toil that ultimately yields them nothing. Syriza, however, may offer working-class Greeks an opportunity to smash that oppressive boulder once and for all, and to forge their own future as so many Greek heroes did before them.

http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/01/the-greek-elections-and-media-bias/

[nxylas]

1. Exit polls suggest that Syriza has won

But as I've said elsewhere, I'm fully anticipating a last-minute "surprise" victory for a more PTB-friendly party.

[polly7]

2. I saw that ...... exciting!

I'm crossing my fingers it's final and true.