July 07, 2015

Greeks reject forced austerity

After the July 5 decisive referendum vote in Greece against further agreement to 'austerity' measures to repay debts to European banks, some analysis.

The July 7 edition of Democracy Now! has two major stories on the situation in Greece: "A Europe of Equals": Report from Athens as Greek Voters Seek Alternatives to Austerity", and
Economist Richard Wolff on Roots of Greek Crisis, Debt Relief & Rise of Anti-Capitalism in Europe

And from Transform! European network for alternative thinking and political dialogue,  and their women contributors, see:

Over 61% OXI (No!)
Greece said loudly NO to austerity and Yes to democracy!

By Katerina Anastasiou | 06 Jul 15

On the 26th of June, Alexis Tsipras announced a referendum in Greece for the 5th of July. The people of Greece were called to decide on their future. The question, even though frequently falsely cited, was whether the Greek people agreed to the counter-proposal made by the lenders. It demanded more austerity measures, more pension cuts, more taxes, more suffering for the people of Greece that have lived under savage austerity for more than 5 years. For the record, the proposal made by the Greek government previous week and that initially appeared to be accepted by Greece's creditors, was rejected after all.  Alexis Tsipras made the decision to call Greece's people to the ballots. This decision was for some light hearted, for the austerity hardliners in Europe immature and for some others even "antidemocratic". The peoples of Europe, without exaggeration, considered this decision heroic.  Over 250 demonstrations and solidarity actions worldwide were organized within hours. Thousands of solidarity messages, videos, photographs, songs. From the Irish taking up the streets to their own parliament demanding support for the Greeks, to the Spanish replacing European Union flags in Cordoba and Zaragoza with Greek ones and from the 50 mobilizations in Italy to the people of Poland and Georgia, the Greek referendum managed to unite the anti-austerity, anti-neoliberalism movement worldwide.  Peoples all over the world finally managed to learn Greek and for a matter of fact it paid off. The most important word right now in Europe and the world, seems to be "OXI"(NO). OXI to austerity, OXI to financial governance, OXI to market-conform democracy, OXI to impoverishment of the many for the benefit of the few.  Greeks decided today. Despite a week of pure terror by the markets, the closed banks, the corporate media and the lenders, people of Greece took a stand and said NO! No more. With a majority of over 61,5% they sent a message to the world and it reads: Remember who they answer to. Take your lives back!  We have hard days coming ahead. We will not come to peace so fast and the struggle is not over. But today we celebrate! We celebrate and prepare for the struggles ahead! 

United we stand and we will prevail!

 Ευχαριστούμε Ελλάδα"

 And...

"The post-austerity era in Greece: Problems and possibilities from a feminist critical perspective" 

By Aliki Kosyfologou | 24 Mar 15

Excerpt:

"Historically, the system of social organisation in Greece retains a traditional character in comparison to other European societies, which refer more to the standard of bourgeois democracy and the principles of the Enlightenment period. However, it is true that since the restoration of democracy in Greece in 1975, institutional reforms have promoted and established an institutional version of gender equality.

In particular, the feminist movement in Greece has been a catalyst for the expansion of democracy and contributed to the institutionalisation of gender equality in the early years of the eighties, but it has failed to lead to a collision with patriarchal ideology, which until today remains a fundamental aspect of Greek popular ideology.

The measures taken in the context of the memorandum agreement in Greece downgraded institutional equality and consequently undermined the status of social equality. Take, for example, the employment sector: layoffs in the private sector, the conservative reformation of the pension system and unemployment have affected more women than men. A very specific example of this can be seen in the deepening of the pre-existing wage gap between women and men." ...