Live coverage from Greece: Manifestations in Athens, Thessaloniki

by T Sun Feb 12, 2012 21:09

You can find more coverage of the ongoing protests this evening Sun Feb 12th in Athens at this link

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/

Police helping a man with inquires about govt policy

by micheal s Mon Feb 13, 2012 21:04

My old man used to tell me that real socialism meant "to each according to his work". It certainly didn't mean a right on the part of the indolent to be supported by people who work twice as hard.

The Greeks, who believe that taxes are optional, and whose public servants retire on generous pensions at 57, have been offered the mother of all wealth transfers by German taxpayers who cannot collect their pensions until they reach 67. And all these Helenic ingrates can do is whinge and throw mollies at the police and make offensive and racist comments about their beneficiaries that are straight out of the crude oeuvre of John Cleese. If I were the Germans I'd tell the Greeks to go and pay themselves with a currency that would be a better measure of the value of their labours than the Euro. Let 'em eat Drachmas.

And just in case you think I'm picking on the Greeks. A similar message should be sent to our failed banksters and all the other wasters who think they have a right to be supported by working people.

by T Tue Feb 14, 2012 00:18

This is rather misleading. The bailout money will not even reach Greece as it will be automatically used to pay off German and French banks. This bailout is a bailout of Northern European banks and nothing else. It has little to do with the misleading points raised by the commentator above.

In the same way with regard to Ireland, the bailout here is equally as much about bailing out the top 500 hundred developers, bankers and speculator where the bulk of the debt lies. Nevertheless the governement has ran an very successful campaign since 2008 in this country to convince the population that they are somehow to blame because it is only by doing that, that people are more willing to pay out and accept the cuts. So far the desired result of little opposition has been achieved. This is the price we buy when the propaganda is so good that a large passive majority of the population uncritically soak it in and accept it.

by serf Tue Feb 14, 2012 00:37

micheal s: "My old man used to tell me that real socialism meant "to each according to his work". It certainly didn't mean a right on the part of the indolent to be supported by people who work twice as hard."

The people of Greece work hard. I've been there. There is a class at the top who are disproportionally paid, well connected and corrupt. they are the 1%. The 99% do not share in their good fortune. As in Ireland, You cannot blame the 99% for the sins of the 1%.

micheal s: "The Greeks, who believe that taxes are optional, and whose public servants retire on generous pensions at 57, have been offered the mother of all wealth transfers by German taxpayers who cannot collect their pensions until they reach 67. And all these Hellenic ingrates can do is whinge and throw mollies at the police and make offensive and racist comments about their beneficiaries that are straight out of the crude oeuvre of John Cleese. "

Again the straw man, divide and conquer, blurring the line between the 1% and everyone else. Blaming the poor for the foibles of a corrupt / rich minority. Turn the German slaves against the Greek slaves and the Irish slaves and get them to fight among themselves. cute.

micheal s: "If I were the Germans I'd tell the Greeks to go and pay themselves with a currency that would be a better measure of the value of their labours than the Euro. Let 'em eat Drachmas."

But they won't because the German 1% gamblers and their investor friends want the German 99% to loan the Greeks the money to pay back the German 1% for the money they gambled on Greece thus leaving the Greek 99% and the German 99% in the shit whilst the German 1% and their investor pals get to swan around on their yachts, reimbursed and unscathed by the crisis. Only then will they consider letting the Greeks and the Irish default. Thats pretty much whats going on over there and thats whats going on over here. Can't you see that?

Yes the money loaned itself was blown and mismanaged by many in the Greek political and bureaucratic class and others of the privileged classes but the ordinary person in Greece is still as poor as always.

micheal s: "And just in case you think I'm picking on the Greeks. A similar message should be sent to our failed banksters and all the other wasters who think they have a right to be supported by working people."

so let me get this straight, while continuing to pay the gambling expenses of anglo and it's investors to the tune of billions, and leaving open tax loopholes and not making any efforts at properly taxing the rich who benefitted from the "tiger", we should meanwhile throw everyone currently dependent on signing on, men women and children, into the street with nothing and continue to remove all services including hospital services etc. and just tell them all to get (non existent) jobs or starve? What sort of warped neo-con psycho fucker are you??

by serf Tue Feb 14, 2012 17:43

micheal s: "And just in case you think I'm picking on the Greeks. A similar message should be sent to our failed banksters and all the other wasters who think they have a right to be supported by working people."

And btw, saying this at the end is just a clever means of hiding your true agenda against social welfare recipients. You know very well that it actually means nothing as we don't directly support the banksters like seanie fitz / fingers from week to week unlike we do with the poor. No, THEY are immune to that particular kind of blackmail (reserved for the poor) because they stole their money in nice lump sums and are living comfortably off the millions they embezzled and squirrelled away in pension funds.

The only thing we can do to people like them is remand them in custody WITHOUT BAIL pending the results of an apparently eternally slow investigation and meanwhile perhaps seize everything they have and freeze their assets. Are you advocating that? if so, I agree! In fact we should do it tomorrow!

BTW, do you include right wing FG politicians on >150k and making more in unvouched expenses than is spent supporting one person on social welfare for a year in the term " other wasters who think they have a right to be supported by working people."?