We never know what events might strike a chord with us; after all, we live in the age of globalization and information hitting the Internet sometimes within minutes. It’s why I can, for instance, watch the Daily Show online and actually *get* most of the references. I sympathize with your confusion regarding conflicting information from news sources-I’ve been on something of a quest for a news article I can just link to my non-Greek friends when they ask me “say, why has your country exploded?”. Half the time I’m not even sure our own journalists, who supposedly should know better, have a complete understanding of what’s going on (and when I say ‘journalists’, I do mean a more sober portion of print journalists. It goes without saying that TV news are a circus).
The military junta (1967-1974) is relevant to current events insofar as ‘protest culture’ in Greece is concerned. What it’s done is left people here with a deep distrust of the police, a distrust entirely justified by the fact that not only does the Greek police engage in tactics more appropriate for a totalitarian regime (the difference is, the violence is not institutionalized, but ‘isolated’ accidents), but the fact that they always get away with (at best) a slap on the wrist shows them that they are, in fact, above the law. Don’t take me at my word: check out Amnesty International’s report on Greek police practices.
The rage over this boy’s death is about the fact that he was shot for no other reason than a trigger-happy cop took the police’s mission of cleaning out the ‘undesirable’ (that label including: students, leftists, Goths, anarchists, artists, activists, school kids and oh, anybody who might decided to go there for a drink, such as yours truly, every other weekend) too far. It’s about the fact he walked away and tried to conceal the shooting from his superiors. It’s about the fact it has happened before (http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/12/102081.html). And very likely, will happen again.
But of course it’s not just about this particular shooting, or police state-sponsored thuggery and impunity. Many news abroad have made references to ‘corruption and political scandals’ of this government-but this doesn’t quite cover the running joke that Greek public life has become. State frauds, massive corporate frauds (with political backing), the Greek church selling off state property with the State’s backing, shady business dealings…and that’s just the last six months or so. With absolutely zero accountability or even an admission of a screw up. People have asked the (not unreasonable) question of we just don’t vote them out-not realizing that all-encompassing corruption in Greece is a truly bipartisan sport. The Opposition, which has been sprouting righteous rhetoric and unrest over the boy’s shooting…were the ones in charge in 1985 where the cop who shot the other 15-year-old walked free. And when I hear Americans complain about two generations of Bushes in power or Hilary attempting to succeed her husband, I want to laugh: Nepotism? We’ve had various members of the TWO same families in power for most of the last 30 years. And then of course there’s massive unemployment, the economy, education, social security, healthcare overwhelming problems that nobody seems to want to even TRY to fix (you might have heard about the massive forest fires in Greece last summer: we’re STILL holding our breath over restorations, both environmental and financial to the victims).
Sorry for going on and on. I’m just trying to illustrate why people have taken to the street (and not just students/school kids: it’s trade unions, teachers, parents who to live in terror every time their kid walks out the door, the unemployed/disenfranchised, and plenty of ordinary citizens who’ve had enough). But of course youth is at the centre of it, as it should be. They haven’t made their peace that it doesn’t matter if they study/work hard/attempt to excel within a system that’s rigged for them to fail. Frankly, I hope they never do.
no subject
We never know what events might strike a chord with us; after all, we live in the age of globalization and information hitting the Internet sometimes within minutes. It’s why I can, for instance, watch the Daily Show online and actually *get* most of the references. I sympathize with your confusion regarding conflicting information from news sources-I’ve been on something of a quest for a news article I can just link to my non-Greek friends when they ask me “say, why has your country exploded?”. Half the time I’m not even sure our own journalists, who supposedly should know better, have a complete understanding of what’s going on (and when I say ‘journalists’, I do mean a more sober portion of print journalists. It goes without saying that TV news are a circus).
The military junta (1967-1974) is relevant to current events insofar as ‘protest culture’ in Greece is concerned. What it’s done is left people here with a deep distrust of the police, a distrust entirely justified by the fact that not only does the Greek police engage in tactics more appropriate for a totalitarian regime (the difference is, the violence is not institutionalized, but ‘isolated’ accidents), but the fact that they always get away with (at best) a slap on the wrist shows them that they are, in fact, above the law. Don’t take me at my word: check out Amnesty International’s report on Greek police practices.
The rage over this boy’s death is about the fact that he was shot for no other reason than a trigger-happy cop took the police’s mission of cleaning out the ‘undesirable’ (that label including: students, leftists, Goths, anarchists, artists, activists, school kids and oh, anybody who might decided to go there for a drink, such as yours truly, every other weekend) too far. It’s about the fact he walked away and tried to conceal the shooting from his superiors. It’s about the fact it has happened before (http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/12/102081.html). And very likely, will happen again.
But of course it’s not just about this particular shooting, or police state-sponsored thuggery and impunity. Many news abroad have made references to ‘corruption and political scandals’ of this government-but this doesn’t quite cover the running joke that Greek public life has become. State frauds, massive corporate frauds (with political backing), the Greek church selling off state property with the State’s backing, shady business dealings…and that’s just the last six months or so. With absolutely zero accountability or even an admission of a screw up. People have asked the (not unreasonable) question of we just don’t vote them out-not realizing that all-encompassing corruption in Greece is a truly bipartisan sport. The Opposition, which has been sprouting righteous rhetoric and unrest over the boy’s shooting…were the ones in charge in 1985 where the cop who shot the other 15-year-old walked free. And when I hear Americans complain about two generations of Bushes in power or Hilary attempting to succeed her husband, I want to laugh: Nepotism? We’ve had various members of the TWO same families in power for most of the last 30 years. And then of course there’s massive unemployment, the economy, education, social security, healthcare overwhelming problems that nobody seems to want to even TRY to fix (you might have heard about the massive forest fires in Greece last summer: we’re STILL holding our breath over restorations, both environmental and financial to the victims).
Sorry for going on and on. I’m just trying to illustrate why people have taken to the street (and not just students/school kids: it’s trade unions, teachers, parents who to live in terror every time their kid walks out the door, the unemployed/disenfranchised, and plenty of ordinary citizens who’ve had enough). But of course youth is at the centre of it, as it should be. They haven’t made their peace that it doesn’t matter if they study/work hard/attempt to excel within a system that’s rigged for them to fail. Frankly, I hope they never do.