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"Social Explosion" Begins In Greece As Massive Street Protests Bring Economy To A Fresh Halt
One thing that became abundantly clear after Alexis Tsipras sold out the Greek referendum “no” back in the summer after a weekend of “mental waterboarding” in Brussels was that the public’s perception of the once “revolutionary” leader would never be the same. And make no mistake, that’s exactly what Berlin, Brussels, and the IMF wanted.
By turning the screws on the Greek banking sector and bringing the country to the brink of ruin, the troika indicated its willingness to “punish” recalcitrant politicians who pursue anti-austerity policies. On the one hand, countries have an obligation to pay back what they owe, but on the other, the subversion of the democratic process by using the purse string to effect political change is a rather disconcerting phenomenon and we expect we’ll see it again with regard to the Socialists in Portugal.
After a month of infighting within Syriza Tsipras did manage to consolidate the party and win a snap election but he’s not the man he was - or at least not outwardly. He’s obligated to still to the draconian terms of the bailout and that means he is a shadow of his former self ideologically. As we’ve said before, that doesn’t bode well for societal stability.
On Thursday, we get the first shot across the social upheaval bow as the same voters who once came out in force to champion Tsipras and Syriza are staging massive protests and walkouts. Here’s Bloomberg:
As Greek workers took to the streets in protest on Thursday, Alexis Tsipras was for the first time on the other side of the divide.
Unions -- a key support base for the prime minister’s Syriza party -- chanted in rallies held in Athens the same slogans Tsipras once used against opponents. Doctors and pharmacists joined port workers, civil servants and Athens metro staff in Greece’s first general strike since he took office in January, bringing the country to a standstill for 24 hours.
Greece’s biggest unions, ADEDY and GSEE, are holding marches accusing Tsipras of bowing to creditors and imposing measures that “perpetuate the dark ages for workers,” as the country’s statistical agency released data showing that 1.18 million Greeks, or 24.6 percent of the workforce, remained unemployed in August.
The former firebrand opponent of bailouts was catapulted to power this year on a promise to end austerity, only to capitulate to creditors’ demands after the freezing of aid from the euro area brought the country’s financial system to the brink of collapse, forcing Tsipras to impose capital controls.
Even more belt-tightening will be required before Europe’s most indebted state gains access to additional emergency loans to cover its budget needs next year, and creditors agree to ease its debt burden. The GSEE union of private sector workers says those measures will bring “punitive austerity, poverty and impoverishment,” to a country where a quarter of the workforce is already without a job.
“There’s a risk of social explosion, as pension cuts and tax hikes loom,” said Sotiria Theodoropoulou, a senior researcher at the European Trade Union Institute in Brussels. “Last summer’s shock took a toll on many sectors, and it’s difficult to see where growth will come from.”
Amusingly, Syriza supports the strikes against its own policies (via The Telegraph):
The party's department that deals with labor policy called for mass participation in the walk-out to protest "the neoliberal policies and the blackmail from financial and political centers within and outside Greece."
And more from The Guardian:
Schools, hospitals, banks, museums, archaeological sites, pharmacies and public services will all be hit by the 24-hour walkout. Flights will also be disrupted, ferries stuck in ports and news broadcasts stopped as staff walk off the job.
“We are expecting a huge turnout,” Petros Constantinou, a prominent member of the anti-capitalist left group Antarsya told the Guardian. “This is a government under dual pressure from creditors above and the people below and our rage will be relentless. It will know no bounds.”
“Syriza may now be trying to save its soul but it has gone back on all its promises,” said Kalomoiris, a life-long leftist who joined a rebel group, Popular Unity, formed by Syriza dissidents when Tsipras signed up to the bailout in July.
“In this country a graduate starts off in the public sector with a salary of €775 a month, or €9,300 a year, and we are being told that wages will be frozen for the next decade and that every tax imaginable will be increased. How will people make ends meet? It has got to the point where a social explosion is inevitable and it will come sooner rather than later.”
Finally, from CBC:
Greek workers stayed at home on Thursday to protest austerity measures, in the biggest domestic challenge to Alexis Tsipras's government since he was re-elected in September on a promise to cushion the impact of years of economic hardship.
Public transport was severely disrupted Thursday, with the Athens metro not running, bus and trolley routes reduced and ferries tied up in port. The strike shut down museums, schools and pharmacies, while state hospitals were functioning with emergency staff.
More than a dozen domestic flights were cancelled, while journalists also walked off the job, pulling news bulletins off the air except to report strike news.
Here, apparently, is what the beginning of a "social explosion" looks like:
(Expensive looking) Shoe shop targeted by violent protesters
#Greece pic.twitter.com/wde8D2wtcv
— Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) November 12, 2015
Good old days in #Athens #strike #Greece pic.twitter.com/c1B1cdmvd3
— Nektaria Stamouli (@nstamouli) November 12, 2015
So we suppose the lesson here for the troika is that you may be able to subvert the will of the people in the short term by forcing democratically elected officials to choose between their election mandate and financial ruin/depression, but that only serves to enrage an electorate that clearly was already fed up in the first place.
Obviously, this is decidedly untenable scenario and if there is indeed a rash of massive protests that causes public (and private) services to go dark for days at a time, something will have to change politically and that, in turn, sets the stage for yet another showdown with the troika. Case in point... here's the Belgian finance minister's response:
Strange & dangerous logic in Athens: Syriza organises strike against program its own government pledges to execute. Sense of urgency needed.
— Johan Van Overtveldt (@jvanovertveldt) November 12, 2015
And last but not least, the latest jobs data for the country is out on Thursday. Unemployment is still exceptionally high, coming in at 24.6% in August with youth unemployment hovering near 50%:
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wow whatever happened to the hypocrit oath?
just spreading the 'labor should be market based' theme that people around here love to shill about... and who cares if the people on the street do not have any experience or skills to be a doctor, that is a customer service issue
Shut down the EU and purge all zionists
I say we purge the idiots like you first....
It's a free shit coup!!! Yee haww!!!
The Free Shit Revolution
Greek default and massive haircuts for the banks in Western Europe. Everybody knows it, few want to accept it.
No, the banks in Western Europe hedged their losses a long time ago. Right now, it's countries that hold most of the debt, not the banks.
And Greece can't just default, becasue the Euro countries holding the debt won't allow it. It's VERY easy for them to enforce it, they just (unofficially) stop, or just slow down, trade with Greece. In a week or two, Greece grinds to a halt and the Greeks join the lines of refugees walking to Germany.
Bullshit, Mr. Banker.
If the Greeks were not stupid, they would understand that they don't have to sell their asses to the banks just to make ends meet.
Fuck the Europeans and the European banks.
You morons,
Just grow your own food and make the goods necessary for life in Greece. You don't need an iphone or a BMW to breathe. Just some food, love and shelter. And medical help when you get sick.
The rest is just justification to serfdom to the bankers.
Bankers are the enemy of life.
With all the unemployment, hurdles to business startup and operation, shutdowns, scalebacks, slowdowns, etc I am wondering
what is the Greek economy running on ????
Gyros
Again and again: who the hell cares about Greece? My holidays on the islands were top and always will remain top. So what the hell. They will get their bucks from Draghi, so where is the story?
The Coming Civil Wars
Baby Boomers V Millenials
Told ya that this was just another live-test-study by the banksters to see just how far they can push the 99%, and see their reactions. As sociopaths with no empathy nor conscience, it will never stop until not only do they destroy the 99%, they also destroy themselves. When the money flow stops because there's none left, they too will be jumping from their penthouses, simply because of high maintenance.
Tell me really who are the sociopaths, the bankers OR the parents and grandparents who voted for the politicians that handed out freebie after freebie and NEVER FUCKING PAID FOR IT??? They should have paid their fucking bills, or gone without the benefits. Now younger people are suffering because of prior generations living high on the hog with absolutely no intention of holding themselves accountable for the costs.
Hey! Knock that off we need our bogeymen around here! /sarc
Wow I can't believe how inept the Greeks are! Don't they know that 24.6% unemployment can be fixed with no expense or bother in seconds, and that it doesn't cost the parliment or the corporations anything? You just rename half of them as no longer interested in looking for work, another quarter as gainfully employed if they babysit or provide another service for a neighbor for 1 hour per month, you force the elderly back into "jobs" like picking up litter or cleaning toilets for an hour a month and PRESTO you have 5% unemployment or less!
(Don't publish or report a labor participation rate, and don't break down the unemployment stats by demographics). They could come to the US BLS to learn how it's done.
This reads oddly like the last scene of my novel: https://roguelibrary.com/revolutionary-blues.html
This reads oddly like the last scene of my novel: https://roguelibrary.com/revolutionary-blues.html
Term for Millenials escaping Socialist western countries with tax collectors and Baby Boomers wielding golf clubs, purses, and Jimmy Choo shoes who realize the foriegner funded debt jamboree window is closing and blood must now be sucked from the young:
Refugee
Soshalizm is intellectual syphilis...in this case, the Greeks are dying of disease. Goodbye Hellas.
People giving me thumbs down must be soshalists determined to suck on others to live...
it's so hard to choose sides these days. Greedy banks or lazy Greeks? Murderous Allawites or genocidal Sunnis? Socialist Democrats or crony capitalist Republicans?
Not here to defend crony Republicans but Buffet, for example, is a Dem. His father was in Congress and Warren knows his way around DC. In fact, if you spent any time in and around Washington DC you would realize many "business" people are actually Democrats. Just sayin'...
(D) or (R) - they're all in it for themselves. I live just outside of DC.
Protesting the government is akin to expecting the man on the moon to solve your problems...GET that notion out of your head and move on, you'll be much better off that way...
The young people in Greece would be better off if they let the creditors come in and take over everything as payment for their parent's and grandparent's debts. Set up a Monarchy and leave people alone to fend for themselves. The diligent will thrive.
Socialism has FAILED!
Ah, yes, Greece.....that fabled fount of fiscal folly.
Didn't they take a snap vote a while back where they rejected austerity?
Didn't their leader sell them out? Just like Merkel? Just like chOdeBama?
Believing that our 'leaders' have our best interests at heart is like believing in Aesop's Fables.
Obama wants a race war.......... anywhere
Greece needs to arm it's citizens and disband it's military like the Swiss and sell the weapons it can no longer afford.
It needs to default on all loans to the EU like Iceland.
It then needs to pare down it's government at all levels to bare essentials.
Then it needs to remove all barriers to open up small businesses and get private business cash flow going and remove government interference as it is choking off the economy.
Government removal and debt removal are essential to bringing life back to Greece.
You clearly don't understand what happened in Iceland. Banks failed, not the country. It wasn't the country that borrowed money, it was the banks (that were partially nationalized) that over-extended themselves. Homeowner's mortgages weren't simply forgiven, only the part ABOVE 110% of the value of their houses was forgiven.
Greece can't default becasue the countries hold Greek bonds and those bonds WILL be repaid, and they WILL hold Greece hostage until the bonds are repaid. How do they force Greece to repay their loans? Very easy, they simply stop trading with Greece. And in a couple weeks, Greece falls apart.
FIND > Greece
Replace > America
Hit F3 until replacement is complete. FIF any bankrupt country's fiat system.
I was getting tired of discussing Oil and Syria anyway ......
About time for some politics theatre tomorrow just to keep those clicks coming?
Greek economy looks alot like the Parthenon...beat down and falling apart...
When the money is gone and debts pile up - game over - face it and adjust. Something this country still has to learn.
Lots of people checking their phones in pics, bullish for Apple.
And then, like good lambs, they will revote Tsipras into government. How many times has this happened?
greeks learning the hard way the very simple fact that no government creates prosperity but only redistributes wealth created by people
Does not really matter if it is right wing or left wing government, they are all the same corruptable fat cats living off of mice populace
Debt and credit saturation worldwide is a bitch.
Is Greece still a Country? Weird...
Nope, they lost their sovereignty to the bank.
If inactive means the same as long terrm unemployed in the US then Greece is in better shape than America percentage wise.
Going long ax handles
But they have government run healthcare. Government run pensions. Government run everything. Why not so happy?
My advice to make life better: create shit people want to buy. But there's no incentive when the government doles out the cash for not doing anything.
Wait for the new Toyota Prius cash for clunkers program. They will sell it as recycling in the name of climate change.
Come on Greek bureau of statistics!! That 24% unemployment rate reported just won't do! Here in the USSA that number is reported as 5% and at FULL employment!
Get with the program!
Next up after are commercial break. Tranny IMF director whisked off too another interview.
Lloyd Bkankfein is a billionaire. Hang him.
He's not a billionaire. Lloyd is a illusion of debt based bullshit currency that has been highjacked.
You will learn in time.
This is just speculation on my part but I suspect Greece may be truly screwed. As it gets colder and more European nations refuse to accept their dictated allocation of the horde, Greece is likely to be stuck with a large number of them and many may back up rather than stay in the Balkans which may prove more hostile towards them (both socially and climatically). Even after the winter, when many migrants face deportation there may be many that flee to warmer European countries, closer to home, and that's Greece. Considering how famously Greeks and Turks get along I'm sure the less "euro-civilized" Mid East and African Muslims will fit right in.
Greeks: Take advantage of your strengths. Pay no taxes of any kind. Period. The government wants austerity, so give it to them in spades.
This "austerity" term is being totally abused. The government needs austerity, not the people. So the solution is obvious... people keep their money and stop giving the banks and government money. Let the banks and government default. Who needs them, anyway?
Does this mean government employees lose their jobs? Sure! Good. They can go work for whatever private companies supply the services government used to supply... those services people want to pay for, that is.
Oh, and kiss the EU goodbye. You don't want to be slaves to those authoritarian creeps anyway... unless you're hopelessly insane.
Your posts kick ass,........always.
~ DC
Yep Ann rocks with many great posts.
A nation wide stall of peacefull nondestructive people going barter is a great way to remove the fd up system. Starving the free shit army long enough for the real producers to take back the country.
Government by force? Not in barterland baby. Just stop kissing banker ass and start kicking it hard. A barter system is just the thing for honest folks that produce. In one smart move the fiat magic can be stopped.
Now comes the real part of the work that must be done. The stall needs to go global. If we can do it. Maybe just maybe this fiat thing can be killed once and for ALL.
Its all about the real producers. We should drag the free shit army right into barter town kicking and screaming. Then kick their ass but good. Two moves to checkmate.
Anyone else noted the lack of logic of the protest in itself?
A protest is, essentially, a way for the public to signal its will to the government while waiting for an election.
Voting is, in itself, the greatest protest that there can be in the sense of sending a signal to the political parties.
Now, Greece voted at the beginning of the year and sent a very strong signal against austerity electing tsipras. Then voted again for a referendum to send an even stronger signal. Protesting to send the same signal, in a weaker form, that two votes have sent and was then bypassed is substantially pointless. It is like trying to blow off a fire after you have first thrown all the water and then all the CO2 you have at it... pretty senseless.
Of course, it's even more senseless that you get to vote again and you keep in power the main actor that first swore to bring forward that signal and then reneged on it, but by this point I think it's clear Greek people have a logic on their own.
“Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who writes the laws.” Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812), founder of the House of Rothschild.
“A “non-political” central bank is an oxymoron. The putative “father of the Euro”, economist Robert Mundell is reported to have explained to one of his university of Chicago students, Greg Palast: “the Euro is the easy way in which Congresses and Parliaments can be stripped of all power over monetary and fiscal policy. Bothersome democracy is removed from the economic system”
“Killing the Host” by Michael Hudson
This reads like the final scene of my novel: https://roguelibrary.com/revolutionary-blues.html
When will people in the USA have the balls to do something like this???
You call this balls? You must be catlin.
Greeks have been protesting for 7 years. The effect is A FUCKING GOOSE EGG... ZERO. They have been ignored.
Until they start burning gov buildings and hanging the politicians who sold them out, nothing will change.
You know, no matter what country it is, the unemployment rate for people who are or should be retirees is much less than those just entering the workforce.
Possible causes of this:
1) Old people hanging onto their jobs since they don't have enough saved for retirement. This keeps slots for new hires closed that would otherwise open up.
2) Is there a difference between the output of old and new workers?
3) Is there a difference between work habits and pay requirements between old and new workers?
It's hard to feel any sympathy for the greeks. They happily suckled on the socialist tit for long enough and are finally are finding out there's no such thing as a free lunch and the beast is rolling over and crushing them.
Let them default but never give those fucking lazy shiftless layabouts another penny/cent/pfennig in credit.
Let them go to hell in a hand basket
It's all they deserve
and let the gobshites who lent them money take the hit too
I took a Tsipras this morning