Statement on the continuing social struggles in Greece

After the November elections, the social-democrat government of PASOK has begun an unprecedented attack on the rights and income of workers and pensioners. Meanwhile, the banking system exercises suffocating pressure on small businesses by imposing the disablement of further loan taking and lack of cashing and, thus, leads small and middle size businesses to shut down. The news of workers getting fired are, on a daily basis, numerable, while the ads for new work placements are substantially non-existent; even when they exist they exist on humiliating terms.

The country has entered a process of mixed borrowing from the IMF and the EU while the presence of the Troika is now constant. The governmental effort to demonstrate a decrease in the national financial shortage takes place through the increase of direct taxation on first need goods, through the decrease of staff in the public sector (health system, education etc), through the dramatic delay in payments for staff as well as suppliers, etc. At the same time, the state constantly enlarges and arms the policing-repressing mechanism and fills streets, squares and neighbourhoods with thousands of police officers.

The cruel financial -and not only financial- measures imposed so far by the governmental policy, as well as the imposing of the IMF, have not come through the condition of social peace. Of course, the demonstrations and strikes that have taken place have not managed to stop the above reality. However, they have functioned, in the least, as a sign that the society is not asleep and that it has the strength, if it wishes, to resist.

The demonstration of the 5th of May has been the key-date -or peak point- for these mobilizations. The general strike taking place on that day was combined with a- for a while uncommon- demonstration in the centre of Athens. The participants were by far more than one hundred thousand. The decay of the political system, the constant involvement of high rank politicians in financial scandals, the pre-election lies and the barbaric financial and suppressive policies combined with the policies of offering huge financial aid to banks, have created, within the society, a clearly negative view of politicians. This view was predominately expressed in the above demonstration by the majority of the demonstrators. Two “traditional" local anarchist slogans ("Let the brothel- parliament burn" and "Cops- pigs- murderers") dominated the entire demonstration. The crowd tried to enter the building of the Greek parliament. The pressure exercised on the police forces was so grand that the police needed to attack the demonstration at various points in order to manage to break it. That intensified atmosphere, or at least the brainless decision of some individuals to set fire on a bank, constituted the cause of death through suffocation of three bank workers. This incident upset the crowd, and the dramatic psychological shift lead to the crowd's voluntary dissolvement. The government, the political parties, the media, and the business world rushed to create an atmosphere against strikes, demos and anarchists. The following strikes and demonstrations were characterized by gradually smaller participation right up to the beginning of the hot summer when everybody rushed to take holidays being aware of the fact that a really tough autumn is on its way.

There is, thus, a great political and social fluidity. Most people do not trust the existing political parties. However, this does not mean either that they do not trust the political institutions or that they seek sedition or a social reform. Furthermore, let us not forget that the existence of the Greek patron-clientele relationship state- that has been there since the foundation of the Greek state- presupposes not only the existence of politicians, but also of voters- "clients" who try to assure for themselves a job in the public sector or favourable treatment by the state bureaucracy . The above mentality combined with a pervasive petit-bourgeois and consumerist culture that has been dominating the society for, approximately, the last thirty years, cannot be easily outgrown towards a radical direction. By proclaiming to their voters-clients that "this game is over", the state and the political parties, currently, claim themselves as the enemies of the mentality that they have been breeding for so many years. However, today the game is being totally defined by the international money market. Thus, the voting-clientèle of a certain region is now, manifestly, a bunch of extras on the site of their so-called democracy. At the same time it is attempted for the people to be persuaded that they are co-responsible for wasting the state funds, in order for them to accept, the "punishment"-policies with no complaints.

Before we close this description, we find it useful to refer to some elements that we consider important in the anarchist-anti-authoritarian practice, as we call it in Greece.

The presence of anarchists-anti-authoritarians at the social mobilizations is now something more than visible. If some years ago their presence was strong only at demonstrations concerning education, today they constitute an inextricable part of demonstrations that concern worker issues. The foundation, through anarchist or libertarian initiative, of some first degree unions that function on the basis of direct-democratic assemblies, paved the path for anarchists to participate in workers struggles not as simple visitors. Their presence for example at the demonstration of the 5th of May can be identified in three forms. Firstly, it was the form of being present and fortifying the block of the first degree grass roots unions and assemblies of the working and the unemployed. Secondly, it was the form of participating at the blocks of certain anarchist groups or organizations. Last, it was the form of being present at the demonstration not as a discernible presence and with a focus on the clash with the police forces. A new element, that appeared at a demonstration that took place later on, was the presence of blocks created by open assemblies from different neighbourhoods of Athens or assemblies of workers and unemployed individuals. These new blocks were formed in their neighbourhoods and later joined the main demonstration. In these small but very active assemblies, one can see the unification of local interests and worker interests, the unification of local struggles with class struggles. This "Movement of the Neighbourhoods", sprang out of the events of December 2008.Today, it constantly breaks grounds in Athens but also in Thessaloniki and constitutes an important front of autonomous individuals from political organizations or parties that deal with social struggles. Today, it has achieved small but tangible victories. Anarchist groups or individual comrades have played initiating parts in such assemblies (Agios Dimitrios, Agia Paraskeui, Petralona, Zografou, etc), placing self-organization and direct democracy at the basis of a constantly developing social practice. Furthermore, these forms of assembly have constituted the womb for the bringing up of new struggles (mostly concerning social spaces) or new efforts for workers’ self-organization (local assemblies of workers and unemployed).

group of libertarian communists
31/7/2010