A Letter of Protest from Greece.

This was sent to me tonight by one of the people protesting in Greece.

Hi to all of you

I m writing  to INFORM you of what is happening for 48 days now in my beautiful country

we have been on the streets and the squares all over GReece,
PEACEFULLY demonstrating our dislike for the government’s actions,
for the corruption, for the absence of democracy in the land that gave birth to it…

The government and the WHOLE POLITICAL SYSTEM of our country for many years now
has been taking advantage of the people, the earth, the history.

It has come to the point that they THREATENED us again with TANKS on the streets JUST LIKE THE DICTATORS DID ALMOST 40 YEEARS AGO!!

They govern with LIES, by spreading FEAR and they have all media on their side. This is an uneven fight we are fighting…

On the 28 and 29 of June people from all over Greece, from all ages and walks of life, simple people that had never before gone to a march or a demonstration, gathered peacefully outside the Parliament to protest against the new measures, against the new loans, against a future with no hope, no dreams, no way out…WE KNOW THERE ARE OTHER WAYS. They know it too.

OUR POLITICIANS CHOOSE TO PUT THE INTERESTS OF THE BANKERS OVER THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE!

They chose not only to ignore our voices but to try and drown them with unprecedented violence and chemical bombs! Journalists who have been to war zones have TESTIFIED this was MUCH WORSE!
I will not bore you with details. If anyone wants to know more please contact me.

This leaves us no choice but to stay on the streets!
We’ re fighting to free our country from the oppression of our unconstitutional government!

Please support us!Spread the word! LET THE WHOLE WORLD KNOW WHAT IS HAPENNING HERE!!!!!

GREECE IS ONLY THE BEGINING – THIS DEVASTATION IS COMING YOUR WAY TOO… WE HAVE TO UNITE ALL TOGETHER TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING
WE WANT A SOCIETY THAT IS FAIR, DEMOCRATIC, HONEST WITH RESPECT TO ALL LIFE.

WE ARE MANY  THEY ARE FEW. IF WE UNITE WE CAN ACHIEVE    EVERYTHING

31 thoughts on “A Letter of Protest from Greece.”

  1. There is only one way to win and that is not to play the game.

    They cannot profit from what you don't spend, they can't tax what you don't consume. #Just Stop

    They have forgotten what capitalism really is about, Demand=Supply.

    Stop demanding and watch supply (their profit) wither on the vine.

    In a consumer society it is an act of revolution to stop consuming.

    Be a true revolutionary.

    #JustStop

  2. I second that BobRocket… and I third it and fourth it…

    We can win. No need to shed blood in the street.

    Use leverage against the system. Stop consuming. Close your lines of credit. Close your accounts in main stream international banks.

    Simple, quiet, elegant, lethally effective… and yet… so difficult to understand for the masses…

    That's our job. We must be able to explain how the system can be paralyzed without confronting the security apparatus. No need to descend into the street. Just withdraw financially from the system and watch the banks crumble.

    The alternative is that once these social movements coalesce in coordinated action cross border, a global conflict will be precipitated.

    We must somehow find a way to make people understand that inflicting a lethal blow to the system is easy and achievable. It only requires a bit of material sacrifice.

    Can we start a political movement? Can we go on a speaking tour around Europe?

    In my opinion, we should build on something that is already existing. I thought that we should, for example, leverage the Green base. The monetary system should be of primary importance to green parties the world over. Can we start with them so as to reach a political base that is already existing?

    How do we reach the masses Golem?

    Time is running out at an accelerating clip.

  3. I share the frustration with both commentators above. I have struggled for the last 12 months or so to understand this mess (with the help of David's great blog I should say) – but – still feel lost.

    The peaceful form of protest suggested appeals to me (and no doubt many of us here). My fear is, it is too sophisticated and, in any case, those most effected by the "austerity" programme are the very people least able to "withdraw" from the system – as they are already skint and not participating anyway. Unfortunately I believe it is most likely that when breaking point is reached – the angry youth will take to the streets. We will then need to ask ourselves – do we join them?

  4. forensicstatistician

    The only solution is for the media (whether mainstream or social media) to properly educate and inform the people of this country about how Iceland tackled this issue by standing up to banking threats and actually implementing a democratic vote:

    http://michael-hudson.com/2011/07/greece-now-us-soon/

    This strategy needs a catchy phrase, something like the "Icelandic prescription".

  5. I have been in contact with some people from Greece, they basically don't know which way to turn. The possibility of default scares them because they are afraid they might end up in a worse place, in regards to their pensions, salaries etc.

    I pass them on links about Iceland etc, but they are between a rock and a hard place, plus I think the language barrier doesn't help & also there is so much confusion & things are changing by the minute. It must be terribly hard to know what to do & how to do it. It's easy for me, sitting on the sidelines to suggest this & that to them & basically, who am I ?

    I agree with all of the above, unfortunately I don't trust any politicians & the Green Party in Ireland were not a good advertisement for that movement, but perhaps they are the best we have got.

    It strikes me that Greece is the frontline test case, if when they default, it doesn't end up being the end of the world for them, maybe, hopefully, other populations will see this & act accordingly, possibly adopting methods listed above. I think this is one of the things that the Troika is afraid of.

    Then we could have a debt jubilee ? I must admit that Captain Barosso of the Titanic & Trichets bewilderment made me smile, someone should send them a link to this blog.

  6. I have just read a superb plan for monetary & fiscal reform put forward for the UK to the Idependent Banking Commission, written by New Economics Foundation, Prof Werner of Southampton University & others. It is based on full reserve banking & MMT economic principles. They explain in the submission how it could be easily implented.

    This could obviously be an excellent model for Greece exiting the euro (& Ireland etc.).

    Lets just remind ourselves of a key principle of MMT – a sovereign currency issuer government IS NEVER, EVER, CREDIT CONSTRAINED, OR NEED BORROW FROM ANYONE TO FINANCE PUBLIC SPENDING.

    The Euro is a fraud, a scam, a putsch on behalf of the banksters. The sooner Greece, Ireland & others in the periphery exit & tell the euro banksters to put their currency where the sun don't shine the better. The good people of NEF & others show the way forward:

    http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/NEF-Southampton-Positive-Money-ICB-Submission.pdf

    As for how to win (peacefully) in Greece – general strike, & keep going 'til the government leaves. But they +must+ have a plan for what follows.

  7. @bobrocket/guidoromero: Your 'Just Stop' suggestion is a sensible thing for people to do anyway, if only for their own sake. I don't think it is an effective way to fight the banking elite though. If we all stop playing the mortgage game, the credit card game, etc, the financial class will just switch their focus to more basic things.

    If ordinary people cut out consumerist rubbish from their lives and live within their means without borrowing, the bankers will find a way to exert power over us via the basic necessities we can't avoid buying, perhaps by speculating in futures or manipulating currencies. We've already seen them speculating on oil and on foodstuffs. I don't think we can hope to sort things out by following the rules of the existing system; the rules need to be changed.

  8. If ever there was a good media front for a peaceful 'revolution' look no further than Max Keiser. We will all be in the same boat as the Greeks eventually. We will need to present a common front. Unfortunately violence always happens when governments stop listening to the people.

  9. I'm a supporter of Positive Money's proposals as mentioned by mikehall above. As long as we have a debt based monetary system the problems will always return. The alternative is to allow the banks to collapse as they did in Iceland. Either way the agregate debt must be reduced. Australlian economist Steve Keens suggestion of wage based inflation to reduce the value of debt, whilst maintaining income levels is also worth a look ( http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/).
    In summary there are many solutions, but they all involve the financial elite taking a hit. And governments will not do that until they are forced to, because they are sycophants to the financial sector.

  10. Hi all, i have just sent off for Positive Money's new DVD – hopefully it'll be a good presentation, I'm sure it will.

    This idea below is quite interesting – i have met quite a few good people through it, and it's a good way to start opting out and joining together, many of our problems stem from the fact that we've become isolated from each other as fellow humans – this idea helps in cutting out the middle men, who generally trade on our laziness and fear.

    http://www.justfortheloveofit.org/

    Andother way is to starve the lenders of their lifeblood is by calling them on alleged debts that they might claim that you owe them.
    Very interesting, and only for those with their backs against the wall. . . . but it does work.

    http://www.justfortheloveofit.org/

    I'm looking into making biodiesel also. You're allowed to produce 2,500 liters p/a tax free.

    Food, water, fuel. Maybe now is the time to start thinking about how you might get these essentials should normal service be interrupted.

    I feel a large problem is coming from people who are more invested in the system than i am – ie those with pensions & savings & property. They, naturally, will want to resist losing everything. I believe that they will lose everything and more anyway if they dont get out of fiat and into metals pronto.
    Unfortunately, I think that many are prone to believe any and all reassurances and threats of disaster from 'authority' figures, rather than bite the bullet and admit that they've been conned, and that we're gonna have to start again in a fundamental way. It's a normal reaction, but they don't realise how fragile things are.

    They still 'believe'.

    Reading the comments on the cif article, you can see also just how polarised [politically speaking] people still are. They still throw around left/right tory/labour comments – and as long as the punch and judy show suspends their disbelief, they are properly stuck. [In Plato's cave, if you like, watching the flickering pureed shadowplay]

    Silver & gold are ramping up as i type – but you still can't get most people to even think about getting some. Go figure.

    K

  11. Fungus FitzJuggler III

    Indeed there are solutions. But there are obstacles too! We have put on fat during the years when credit was pushed. Much pain is due therefore and cannot be stopped.

    A more radical organization is a possibility. A subsistence economy, made hyper efficient through the web and green principles versus the high tech high credit economy, complete with leeches and war. Both may exist in the world and have done for centuries. But that requires consent and that is being engineered with some families joining one or the other.

    WE actually no longer have scarcity, except as engineered, unless we are brainwashed by TV to believe we need an ipad or whatever. We no longer need a way of dividing people. Or do we?

  12. Not convinced by the argument we dont have scarcity. Too much evidence that energy sources have peaked, eg Chris Martenson and Richard Heinberg. Economic growth only possible with cheap and plentiful supply of energy.

  13. They don't see the unemployed. They see the employed.

    Their chart is opposite to ours. Their wheel will still turn.

    It's a bit like a termite mound being smashed by a sledge hammer. The termites just want to carry on building it back up. Just because there is not much growth doesn't mean they don't get paid. They get paid what they used too, no difference and as long as there is telly to watch who gives a fcuk.

    The only thing we can change is minds, that's it. We can't change the system (yet), we can only change minds.

    So the only real question is how can we change minds? This uproar with Murdoch was about tapping the phones of the dead. Easy for anybody to grasp and point out how wrong it was.

    The financial system is another kettle of fish that most don't comment on because they have no info. Reading the comments on G's piece in the Guardian brought it home that there is no home of easily digestible facts about what happened. It can be clouded over. "We only gave the banks 37 billion and we'll get that back" etc.

    I'm passing the buck here but somebody just needs to list it in chronological order with explanations of things not commonly known. Even positive money or NEF haven't done it. They have to waffle on about this and that. Imagine Hawkeye talking to 4 year olds, something like that.

    Financial scam for dummies.

    Then all the people who truely believe this is reality need to spend their reality handing out said information in all forms information can be handed out, rinse repeat. Have you noticed how people just spout what they saw on telly or in the paper?

    They need something simple and true to spout out. They would if they could, and when that knowledge is given to people without the extra monetary faff, just the scam, it will kick off. People are dying for a truth they can parrot like repeat with confidence.

    We assume we know but don't do much about it, to really change it. Picture change and put yourself in the picture. How to change it is the question.

    You is the answer. Because if you look about nobody else is. Or we can just watch and say I told you so, or I told you G said so.

  14. @ 24k

    I get what you're saying there. But I think just keep plugging away & try to engage people with potential solutions besides pointing out the cr@p.

    Every time the financial turmoil resurfaces represents an opportunity to speak about problems & solutions.

    Just had an email from NEF with a link for the (UK) 'Good Banking' petition, it all helps I think. (It's putting forward the positivemoney etc approach I linked above.)

    http://goodbanking.org.uk/

    I must say that a few months ago I had little idea what, if any, solutions had been developed to an implementable level. Tho' MMT isn't referred to in the NEF etc ICB submission, it's clear it's based on those principles & I feel I have something solid I can get behind as well as a good overview of where it fits in the scheme of things. I sense things are moving along. In the next 6 to 12 months in the UK, major austerity effects are going to kick in & broaden. The anger that will flow from that is a window of opportunity for smaller, saner voices to be heard.

    The system is going to try & muddle on, lurching from one crisis to the next in a desparate effort to stave off a complete collapse. This period is fertile ground to promote wider knowledge of real solutions imo. The whole Murdoch thing is making people think more about how trustworthy the MSM is (not). It all helps.

    I've sent David a couple of emails asking if there's any possibility of getting a TV docu together on monetary/fiscal reform.

    Found this simple but effective debt/deficit piece on youtube recently:

    'Debt & Deficit in a Nutshell'

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei_B5MTJofI

  15. (Double post Bexzy style)

    I put myself in with the 4 year olds.

    People come up to me still in work saying they saw my video and liked it and you can see it in their eyes that they know we're getting fcuked but that's as far as it gets and I only get a bit further.

    The day everybody talks about something other than what's in the paper may be the day. So I think they/we/I need something other than the paper.

    Maybe another video 😀

  16. Crinkly & Ragged Arsed Philosophers

    There is no easy solution and rebellion always hurts more than it gains.

    For the people of Greece I would suggest you club together and raise some cash and find a sympathetic legal team to indict your government and its creditors on a case of Odious Debt.

    Odious Debt is a recognised legal strategy that has been used by the USA three or four times – the last was in refusing to honour the debts of the Hussain regime. Only they never made it public. Effectively an odious debt is one that has been made by a government or regime that has not benefited or been imposed at the behest of the people.

    Hit the IMF and ECB with that and while its going through legal process it will give you time to organise changes without the punitive measures of default being enacted.

    Look to the actions of Ecuador.

  17. @ Mikehall

    Yeah solutions are good. But Columbo stuck to facts to solve case (I think I pull off his acting stupid routine quite well) and using desperation as leverage is proper dude.

    "Monetary reform?"

    "Pitchfork!" Said the desperate man.

    We're a troupe of mankeys in which some of the mankeys shake a branch and make the other mankeys run away dropping their bannanas. Then the branch shaking mankeys get to eat the bannanas.

    Will a new way to organise bannanas really work?

    We need to get the mankeys to say.

    "Give me back my bannanas sir and stop shaking branches or Geoffrey and I are gonna cave your head in with this brick".

    "That's right". Said Geoffrey.

    Don't need to use the brick, just the threat of the brick, the realisation there is a brick.

    I hope the Greeks can solidify into one voice, that the bystanders get into the game that they're playing anyway wether they like it or not. Living the reality that is now rather than the one in the mind.

  18. It's as though we're all living under the sword of Damocles, waiting for it to drop. On the one hand, we have some bottom-up popular protest; on the other, some top-down solutions like those floated by Positive Money.

    But THE crucial question is how to connect the two – how to get from grass-roots revolt to a position where the proposed solutions can be implemented. Ultimately, the answer has to lie in wresting power away from those who currently wield it.

    We need a plan for how to bring that about. Any ideas?

  19. I couldn't sleep last night thinking about recent & not so recent events. I came up with an idea of what might be going on, especially in regards to the US. This could all be built on my feverish imagination, combined with my basic but enougth to get me by, knowledge of the financial world. I make assumptions, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/its-official-the-whole-world-thinks-republicans-are-dangerous-maniacs-2011-7?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business+Insider+Select&utm_campaign=BI_Select_071511#ixzz1SJ12

    This whole business of the Republicans blocking the raise in the deficit ceiling. The politicians involved might be looney right wingers, but I think those who control them, the financial elite know the score. I think that they know that the Euro will collapse, sooner or later. Assumption:- this will result in the collapse of most of the world's economies, including the US. So knowing this they are using the ratings agencies, controlled by them to "Bring it on " I think they would prefer Obama to be in as big a mess as possible, seeing as it is coming anyway, the debt ceiling issue is part of the plan.

  20. I think they realise that the cupboard is now bare & that they will not be able to rely on any more bail-outs, as the US is skint. A piece from Max Keiser detailing JP Morgans derivative mountain :-

    http://maxkeiser.com/2011/07/02/accordingly-it-sure-is-a-good-thing-that-the-world%e2%80%99s-biggest-derivatives-player-j-p-morgan-has-%e2%80%9cseemingly%e2%80%9d-never-ever-made-a-bet-even-%e2%80%9c1-wrong%e2%80%9d-with-t/

    The major individuals would have obviously stached away plenty for a rainy day re:- Golem, Swiss deposit a/cs etc, but I am sure they will have a plan B on how to keep the game going.

    I am trying to think this through as though I am a person who lives for power & has no empathy. So what to do ?

    Get rid of Obama, install a face, such as Palin, who will be happy to do whatever is necessary to keep order & to deflect attention onto suitable scapegoats. I am assuming that in the chaos, the rest of the world, with their puppet governments would be adopting similar measures. This would be a perfect situation for the widespread application of Neo-liberalism & the milking of whole populations & states.

  21. It might then be a good time to do what is necessary to kick Gaddafi out of Libya & feast on his riches & while we are at it, maybe sort out those Iranians, or whoever else stands in our way,because at the send of the day, Who is going to stop us ?

    Next week should be interesting.

    Please somebody, tell me I'm mad, stupid, badly informed or whatever & that there is no chance of this happening.

  22. I wish I could, but anything is possible. Try not to lose sleep worrying about what might happen – good things can happen too (eg on the Murdoch front – and who knows where that might lead?).

  23. @ Neil
    I'm a conspiracy theorist before the event, hopefully & most likely it will be like all my predictions, totally wrong. It just seems to me that the lunatics are truly running the asylum. I don't really worry about these things, on a conscious level anyway & I don't sleep that well anyway.

    The Murdoch thing & Cameron's embarrassment have been a silver lining, it's just great to see petty tyrants up to their eyeballs in the same stuff as they peddle.

  24. Ignore that previous comment. I haven't posted here for a while because blogspot has become troublesome with my google id. Anyway, this post really goes with the previous link to the Guardian but most people probably read comments on the latest blog entry so that's why. Anyway, according to the Guardian article, EFG is 44% owned by the Latsis family who are the largest bond holder for Greek debt. Spiro Latsis seems to be top dog and according to the Wikipedia article has a personal fortune of 9 BN (how much has the family combined?). Oh, and he is a friend from economics school with Jose Manuel Baroso!
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiros_Latsis

  25. @steviefinn
    According to http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2011/07/11/debt-default-debt-ceiling/ :

    "The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says this in Section 4:

    The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.

    Basically, this clause is a green light for the President to force Congress to fulfill the debt obligations of the United States, whether it likes it or not… and Republicans are very aware of this."

    However, on the domestic front, see http://www.zerohedge.com/article/sigma-x-trading-suggests-european-contagion-may-be-shifting-italy-uk#comments .

  26. @Neil
    So perhaps the Republicans are just playing to the teaparty gallery.

    & Lloyds could be up shit creek without a paddle, seems to me that chaos is now in control & it's hard to keep up with the pace of events . If it hits the UK, it will be some shock to the population as the majority opinion seems to be that it's those foreign types that are in big trouble, hopefully they will cop on at last.

    I would like to be a fly on the wall to be able to see the reactions of the control freaks & our glorious leaders as they go into headless chicken mode.

    It will be a tragedy for many, many people, chiefly those who are not to blame, but to be honest, if it's going to happen, sooner the better. Then the real fight begins to make sure those bastards can't do it again & that we can make the World a fit place for the children.

    Thanks Neil.

  27. The standard of commentary to Davids post is as usual excellent (I've been reading, but not posting for quite a while now).

    Greece and the average Greek citizen, forget your pension, that has been stolen, forget retiring, you will work till you drop, consume till you die.

    This is the fate of the lower middle and working classes across all of Europe as ordained by the higher classes.

    You can tell that these are the higher classes as the protests ask/demand concessions (the protesters know their place, it is outside the gates)

    The protesters validate the high status of the people inside the gates by protesting.

    #JustStop

    Go home.

    Stop Paying
    Stop Consuming
    Stop Voting
    Stop Validating Their Existence
    Dis-Engage

    Start Doing It For Yourselves.

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