"I too am Greek!": Solidarity with the Greek People

Saturday 18th of February, International Mobilization Day: We are all Greeks! When one people is attacked, all people are attacked.

Thousands of people are coming out in the streets today all over the world (France, Portugal, Denmark, New York City) in solidarity to the Greeks, who are brought down to their knees by the demands of the Troika, the IMF, the European Central Bank and the leaders of the Eurozone by enforcing austerity measures the people cannot possibly meet.

A trilingual weblog called Je suis Grec/I too am Greek documents the solidarity idea of people against the powers that try to harness their sovereign rights and their free speech & right to protest. From the people who began a campaign for the symbolic claim for Greek nationality.

"I do not like violence. I do not think that very much is gained by burning banks and smashing windows. And yet I feel a surge of pleasure when I see the reaction in Athens and the other cities in Greece to the acceptance by the Greek parliament of the measures imposed by the European Union. [...] The joy is the joy of seeing the much-trodden worm turn and roar. The joy of seeing those whose cheeks have been slapped a thousand times slapping back. How can we ask of people that they accept meekly the ferocious cuts in living standards that the austerity measures imply? Do we want them to just agree that the massive creative potential of so many young people should be just eliminated, their talents trapped in a life of long-term unemployment? All that just so that the banks can be repaid, the rich made richer? All that, just to maintain a capitalist system that has long since passed its sell-by date, that now offers the world nothing but destruction. For the Greeks to accept the measures meekly would be to multiply depression by depression, the depression of a failed system compounded by the depression of lost dignity.The violence of the reaction in Greece is a cry that goes out to the world"

From a piece in the Guardian exploring the secret pleasure in seeing someone rebel against the "debtocracy system".

"Greece is at the cutting edge of the austerity measures that are being introduced across Europe. All the evidence shows that while these measures may protect the interests of the rich, they just make matters worse for the majority of the population. What happens in Greece today we will see in Portugal tomorrow and in Ireland the day after. In Britain, the coalition government is pursuing similar measures which will see workers' earnings reduced, see them working longer for a smaller pension, and the NHS dismantled, along with other public services."

From a piece in the Guardian on the solidary between European peoples.

pics via hellenesonline.com & xpolis.blogspot.com