This is Athens. The birthplace of democracy, a popular tourist destination and a place of major historical importance. My name is Manousos. I am 18 years old and am a student. My dream is to one day travel abroad and study at a good University. However, being from Athens that dream is slowly dying and disgruntled people such as myself are taking to the street in protest. Welcome to the world that I call My Big Fat Greek Politics.
Greece is a country that is filled to the brim with history and it is something that our people never forget. We find here that most of this history is glamorised in the eyes of the west by Hollywood, and even in western news accounts a lot of misinformation is given about the affairs of our country. I can proudly say that we Greeks have always had a spirit of overthrowing oppressive regimes. This is not without reason. There is a strong feeling amongst the population that governments here, past and present, work only for themselves and not for the good of the people. This feeling is not unfounded. During the 1960s and 70s, the country was controlled by this man, George Papadopoulos, who was leader of a fascist military dictatorship. This was a period of authoritarian repression and violence, taking place mostly through use of the armed forces and the police. This soon led to a campaign of protests and uprisings amongst the people, especially amongst the younger generations who believed that things needed to change.
An example of such protests came on 17th November 1973. Unrest had been growing amongst students at the Athens Polytechnic University due to the poor state of national affairs. They locked themselves inside a barricaded area and began what was meant to be a peaceful protest. This government however would tolerate no opposition. The barricades were charged down by tank and twenty four people shot dead at the scene many under the age of 20. This was perhaps where the Greek passion for rioting arose. Outraged people took to the street and protested in a much more violent manner in support of bringing down the regime. By morning, Papadopoulos and his fascist government were gone. It is this same passion is what we can see today now bleeding out on the streets of Athens, Thessaloniki and many other of Greece's main cities.
It is of course well known that the economy of Greece has turned into a worldwide joke, and it is this amongst many other reasons that the population are so upset and anti government at the current time. It seems that many people across the world do not understand why the Greek people have such a problem with the higher taxes that they have to pay in order to balance the books a little. This is where the politics comes in. Over the years following the dictatorship things did improve, but only minimally. The Greek government is now in a similar mould to that of the UK, with two main parties usually fighting for control. The parties are known as PASOK and Nea Democratia. During the 1990s the newly elected PASOK government promised what were called 'new and modern liberal ideas'. Although these ideas were not thoroughly specified at the time, it turned out that they would include the introduction of the country into the Euro zone. This decision proved to be a vital error as the only way this would be possible was to severely cut what national welfare was in place, completely neglect the already ageing healthcare system and introduce the privatisation of many state run businesses. Taxes were raised and wages were cut leaving many unable to afford even food at regulated EU prices. Even this was not enough and more cuts were swiftly to follow, which included the almost complete destruction of education system, all in order to fund entering a new currency. This was merely the starting point on a road towards the riots witnessed on a daily basis today.
Things became so bad that by the millennium over a third of the people in Greece were living at or below the poverty line. Corruption from within the government itself did not help lighten the mood. The British Expenses scandal of 2009 cannot be compared with those that have taken place here over the last few years, with over 50 similar sized scandals taking place since 2004. Ordinary people, such as you or me are on the streets suffering and the people they elect to help them out of the situation are simply pocketing what hard earned money they actually have. The role of the police meanwhile made people all the more angry. Seen as thugs and soldiers of the government, the role of the Greek police force is often brought into question. Are they here to protect the people or to simply keep them in order? Evidence shows the means in which they handle their not always guilty victims, are often brutal and unhumanitarian. Should the Greek police have been in charge of the recent student riots in London then the mayhem caused would have been catastrophic.
December 2008. Things were about to get a whole lot worse. A boy, just sixteen years old named Alex Grigoropoulos was out with some friends in the Athenian suburb of Eksarheia. They were confronted by two men in police uniform. This engagement ended in the shooting dead of Alex in the street and the fleeing of the two men involved. Although rumours have spread blaming the group of friends for initiating the argument, eye witness reports have proved this to be false and it was in fact the boys who were approached and verbally attacked by the police, showing just how dangerous they can be when out of control. Just like in the 70s it was the death of a young person at the hand of someone in the pay of the government that sparked extreme political unrest. The riots had begun.
Both PASOK and Nea Democratia took office during the decade, however neither government had made any real progress in its use of public money. In fact levels of corruption rose throughout the period. More money was taken; none was used for the good of the general public and vast amounts ended up in the back pockets of politicians. By May 2010 things were completely spiralling out of control. Scenes like this were returning to the streets of Greece on a daily basis. The economy was now so bad that austerity measures were being put in place in exchange for a €110bn bailout. The people who had done nothing wrong were now not only facing life with no education, no healthcare, no prospects and unbelievably low pay, but were being forced into accepting further wage cuts, even higher taxes and the likelihood that none of this money would be put back into the country itself. This is proof that western ideas that these riots are mainly due to actions of youths, anarchists and communists are wrong.
The Greek riots and protests are a large scale social movement of which people are hoping to find a government that better represents them and their needs. The anger stems from a long line of lies and betrayals that corrupt capitalist governments have given the population over and over again. With such actions taking place is it fair to say that democracy has suffered a painful death in the very same city in which it was born? Should people not be allowed to fight for the change that so desperately need? Should people judge them for fighting in what they believe in? Only one thing is for sure, there will be no peace on the streets of Athens until something drastic is changed.
*Red = Greek
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