First things first: contributors to this blog are not sympathetic to the Communist Party in Greece (KKE) – a far cry from that. However, even we as are anarchists took note of what happened in Athens on May 15th. On the one hand, the news is in the CP organising what might have been one of its largest demonstrations in living memory, with approximately 70-80,000 people joining in their main anti-IMF demonstration. On the other hand, corporate media have gone out of their – already deceiving – way in (not) reporting the demonstration: the photo below, or any photo showing the size of the gathering was not published in any corporate media outlet in the country, to our knowledge. The extremely limited coverage of the demonstration included no photos or simply photos of the speakers.
The CP, it seems, is now placed by most corporate media in the same camp with the anarchists and the extra-parliamentary leftists; on the camp, that is, that attempts to break the so much desired “national unity”, the last trick in the government’s hat in trying to push through with the IMF program. An interesting development and something to take note of.
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At the same time the communist leader, Papariga meets the conservative leader, Samaras and the minister of public order, Chrysochoidis.
CP is not placed in the same camp with anarchists and leftists. Just want to destroy the grassroot movement that is developing now and take control of the public anger. The CP cooperates with the State and this cooperation benefits both.
The original post does not claim that the CP is in the same camp with the anarchists though. I do find it interesting that the media are taking such a tough anti-CP stance, precisely because it cooperates with the State.
This seems to be a significant turning point and it’s good to see it covered here.
I suppose this was an entirely ‘disciplined’ and peaceful demo? I think the role of the KKE and their state collaboration is useful to the capitalist class in Greece (in so far that they constitute a false opposition), whereas any imagery of mass protest against austerity shown in the rest of the world is counter to the aims of the bourgeoisie internationally, so they can’t afford to have any pictures leak out. Their concerns are probably dictated by the current instability of the markets, and the fear of social resistance in Portugal and Spain. The US/UK media seems to be banking on social passivity brought on by the summer vacation period in Greece,(and the Marfin incident) giving the government a chance to offer up some ‘sacrificial lambs’ (tax-evading Doctors, a few corrupt politicians) to buy off popular anger…The bastards really do think we’re children…
“to bring – abstract – chaos, doesn’t promote anything other than the highest organized structures, that come with their own ferroconcrete plan of “justice” (the Stalinists, the police, the mafia, the parastate groups…” from http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2010/05/11/288-without-emergency-exit-from-rioter-info/ seems like the stalinists (KKE) already benefit from the pause all others did after the tragic 5/5 deaths.. how about the “businesmen party” of Mr. Vgenopoulos and other fractions of the Greek political scene? Is there any other political power to play a role in the theatre of this country’s breakdown, now that the counter-powers have silenced?
KKE have definitely come out stronger after May 5th. D’oh!
im glad this was posted. does anyone know whats been going on with the coalition of the radical left? did they self implode? at one point they looked like they might overtake the CP as the main pro state section of the left.
SYRIZA’s condition resembles that of Nietzsche’s God.
Comrades, have patience. This is going to go on for a while, and the anarchists (and other revolutionaries) are in it for the long run. Nothing is decided yet.
In 2008 “Three yachts” Vgenopoulos sued Coalition of the Left leader Alexis Tsipras and a local Athens television station, for allegations that Marfin was set up with Albanian mafia money..The conspiracy minded may like to look at the Ekathimerini column “Society’s hunger for new faces” (21/04/10) which stated- “Vgenopoulos may or may not be the right man to enter the flames of Greek politics, but what counts is society’s hunger for new people who seem ready to take on the system and not talk the staid lingo of politics.” Ironic, no given the deaths, and the scumbags subsequent photo-opportunity? But you couldn’t get better PR for a dictatorship if you paid for it..But then again…
These people can be the perfect counter-revolutionary asset that the Greek state and capitalism have been waiting for. Taking a look at history is very instructive at this respect and one does not certainly need to go as far back in time as 50 or 100 years… It is enough with 20 or 30 in Italy during the “Warm autumn”, Spain during the “Democratic transition” among some other examples to realise of the fact that what Leninist parties seek is to become the “official” negotiators and “representatives” of dissent. Those who do not agree with their patronising approach to their particular conception of the “struggle” may end up slandered, betrayed and sometimes killed or imprisoned.
So-called Communist parties and the Left are the same in Greece than anywhere else…. The first anemy of revolution is them, much more than the very same police…
Of course, among their rank and file, this is out of the cliques of masters and “profesional revolutionaries” at the top of their hierarchical structures, the vast majority of their blind-folded followers are not to blame for the kind of shit their leaders are able to do when it comes of imposing others the indisputable “truth” of their latest (and this time yes, the best and ultimate) interpretation of the Holy writings of materialism.
We must be very careful with these organisations. What they did in the past they can do it again. Let’s learn from history.
The IMF is now urging Greek capital to cut private sector wages..Gives truth to the lie about “bloated” public sector pay, and exposes the reality of a wider attack on proletarian living standards.
The collaborationist role of the French Communist Party in 68 finished it off as a political force. The impoverishment of Greece that has been agreed by European governments and institutions will run on for a decade at least. M is right. This is just the start. And at the start the Capitalist state,its political and trade union agents are at their strongest. The economic and social crisis in Europe is growing.
Mass demonstration Bucharest, Romania tomorrow.
From Reuters today:
“Eventually, the situation will evolve to street violence because we can’t tell our children we have no food to put on the table,” said Valentina Apostol, a 40-year-old nurse from Buftea, a town near Bucharest. “It will be like it was in the 1989 revolution and people will end up dying on the streets. We are practically living worse than in the communist era.”
UK media ignored union protest of min.15,000 in Madrid,Saturday.
post or repost this if you would.
To friends and comrades in Greece,
On Thursday, May 13 a dozen of us held a demonstration against the Greek
Consulate in Chicago. We want to remind you that even in the most
difficult times, you have the active solidarity of uncounted others around
the world. A vast subversive project is still taking shape everywhere,
however slowly, and your struggle is one node among many.
Repression may be raging against you there, and our numbers here might be
small, but the important thing to remember is that you’ve found your
resonance. This resonance spreads around the world, laying foundations
for real connections and the deepening of struggles.
Our goal is to make material the interconnections, to spread a concrete
practice of support and solidarity. We are inspired by your example in
this, so our banner read: “Athens to Chicago – Fire to all prisons,
freedom for all prisoners.” Our words and chants dedicated this
demonstration in particular to the anarchist prisoners in Greece (the 6,
Christos and Alfredo, Yiannis, among many others), and those killed in the
struggle (Lambros and Katerina among many others).
We want freedom as soon as possible for these imprisoned comrades and for
the anarchist prisoners here, but one day soon too, we will share across
wide oceans the acute pleasure of shaking to bits every prison and every
confinement. We also, of course, made reference to the recent riots,
tragedy, and repression, and extend our greetings to everyone in struggle
against austerity measures imposed by State-Capital.
To the Greek state,
It is possible that by your vicious repression, your manipulations, and
the desperate EU bailout you may yet briefly extend your existence. But
the game will be over, sooner or later – we will lay low your whole world
and eradicate exchange and domination in all their forms.
-Anarchists in Chicago
Also: Various groups of comrades came together for the demo. A member of
the Industrial Workers of the World read the following statement:
The International Solidarity Commission (ISC) of the Industrial Workers of
the World (IWW) supports the workers in struggle in Greece and their
strike actions in opposition to the threat of “austerity measures” by the
Greek government, who claim those measures are needed to stop the country
from bankruptcy. We are encouraged to see workers across Greece take a
stand against the government’s gamble with their livelihoods and
exploitation of their labour. They have taken to the streets, and stopped
working in a visible and powerful refusal to pay for the mess of the banks
and financial speculators.
Rather then acquiesce to the official lie of a nation united in necessary
sacrifice for the common good, they have exposed that the working class
are not the cause of the crisis. We will not suffer for it. As the slogan
goes, in Greece and elsewhere, we won’t pay for their crisis! As one of
the first countries threatening such wide-sweeping cuts, and in turn
verging on bankruptcy in this crisis, the protests of workers in Greece
are for us all.
As governments across the world respond to the current recession, a fruit
of the unfettered gambling by capitalists with the wealth of the earth and
the labour of workers everywhere, by further cutting into the subsistence
and rights of the working class, we are glad to express our solidarity
with the workers of Greece.
We are grateful to them for refusing to comply with the lie of “austerity”
measures, which amount to the demand of a sacrifice by the poor for the
benefit of the rich and for continuing to take a brave stand in the face
of police repression.
In the hope that their struggle, which is also a struggle for workers
everywhere, may continue and succeed, the IWW aim to lend our support, by
action in solidarity, where it is within our grasp to do so, in our firm
knowledge that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’.
In Solidarity,
The ISC of the IWW
about the communist party:
What kind of CP is it?
Are there any libertarian aspects to it,or is it just a classic anti worker vanguardist marxist-leninist type?
The KKE has zero libertarian aspects. It is just a classic anti worker vanguardist marxist-leninist type…Unfortunately it has an historically strong following, not least because of it’s resistance role during the German Nazi occupation 41-45…Members have been known to physically attack @’s on demo’s and hand them over to the polizei..
just like the SWP in britain then. where is the luxemburgist spirit in CPs and SPs these days…
FUCK LENIN.
bald headed fascist.
Comments like BE AWARE or INCUBUS could also come from fascists or state agents. Their largest fear is a unit front between KKE and other left groups and anarchists. Before you comment such bullshit you should read some texts about the problematic, for example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Front
I can assure you that I am neither a fascist nor a state agent, that would be as likely as an alliance between filthy Stalinist shit KKE and anarchists.
INCUBUS you dont understand the difference between unit front and alliance. First get information before posting shit, please!
I understand very well what a united front is, like the one during the Spanish Revolution, where the ‘Democrats’ and Stalinists used Anarchists as cannon fodder and where they were murdered and tortured by Red Fascists. I think you’ll find that their is no love lost anywhere in the world between Anarcho’s and State Communists…See ROL and BABEOUFS comments above and you’ll see I’m not alone in my view. If, on the other hand State Communists abandon their faith in their Central Committee,hierarchy and dialectical Materialism…
I am also not a friend of the communists or KKE but I think in a practicle way. We are not living in the 19th or 20th century and the KKE is not a uniform group of State Communists or Stalinists, they are a little bit more different even they are idiots. The main problem is that without creating a unit front in a few years no KKE, no Anarchists, no Exarchia will exist anymore. The system will destroy them all like in other european countries. But I am shure you and many others prefer this and dreaming the rest of the poor life of a theoretical revolution or system change than agree with a unit front.
Anna, I think Incubus’s point, is that historically speaking, every ‘united front’ has turned around and betrayed it’s anarchist allies, and has gotten many of them killed. Understanding the actual reality of history in comparison to lofty ideas is not dreaming, it’s being cautious. For instance, the page you cited itself cites Trotsky. Trotsky suggested a ‘united front’, but betrayed the Maknovists at least twice, leaving them dying in the fields in Ukraine. Notice I said at least twice. Not just once. History lessons like these are why people who know of them cringe when they hear the words ‘united front’.
@YO-
Yes, absolutely comrade, and not forgetting the Kronstadt mutineers too…
I say it again: We are not living in the 19th or 20th century, the situation is different. And if you want historical lessons dont forget that the german nazis got their power because Trotzkis unit front wasnt successful.
Now we should think about actually strategy, what is yours? Sitting infront of the internet and posting historical lessons?
@ANNA-
Surely the idea of a united front is an historical lesson? As for your value judgments about me, the internet is primarily a medium for ideas. You have no idea as to who I am my age, gender, nationality or experience. This egotistical point-scoring, flaming and holier-than-thou attitude is as silly as it is pointless. Whether or not I am engaged in some form of activism that you approve of is irrelevant. I’m just a nobody, one of hundreds and thousands of nobodies who hate capitalism and authority with a passion. You ask me what my strategy is, although I can’t think why!? Here are my thoughts…
Capitalism is in the throes of the worst crisis for 80 years. The international bourgeoisie are using it as an opportunity to increase the rate of exploitation in the industrialised western nations (euphemistically called ‘increased competitiveness’ and ‘deregulation of the labour market’) they are also aiming to destroy the social market model that has, by and large, kept class peace since the end of the last world war. This means the abolition of hard won social welfare rights and the right to collective bargaining, concessions won from the boss-class through class struggle, or the largesse of the peddlers of soft power, the social democrats. As far as capital is concerned there is no other alternative economic model. The crisis has come about not just because of an unfettered, deregulated ideology of monetarism and free market greed, but also because of the deeper structural contradictions arising out of new technology in the means of production leading to a devaluation of both labour and capital. The solution, to the bourgeois, lies in austerity as applied to Greece. Forcing the population to accept these measures is crucial to their project. Should they be defeated this will presage a wider crisis, in that Greece defaulting or restructuring its debt, or seceding from the EU will bring about another banking crisis. French and German banks are heavily exposed to Greek government debt, and any inability to pay will cause a liquidity/credit crisis with no lender of last resort to turn to…They have no other tool with which to combat this should it happen apart from increasing the money supply (‘quantative easing’) which in turn would translate into no growth/inflationary cycle-leading to hyperinflation. This would in turn produce a global crisis the like of which has not been seen in almost a century with proletarians having no option other than to rebel, because the Social Contract between rulers and ruled in the western world will have reached a fatal impasse (one which they can only escape from through totalitarianism and/or war-Korea, China, the Middle East). Although capitalism is on the offensive, its attacks present an unparalleled opportunity to invert the situation. In effect, while Greece is being used as a social and political laboratory for this attack, it is also an ‘Achilles Heel’. The Greek movement as it appears to be at the moment seems factionally divided between the Insurrectionists and those who favour grassroots organisation. Neither of these strategies will work alone, in isolation to bring about the overthrow of the tyranny of Capital. These two theoretical stances can be, need to be, synthesised into a functional unity, in the spirit of a real, lived, solidarity and mutual aid. They should complement one another, because ultimately neither are mutually exclusive ideas. Capital can also be attacked through the creation of new autonomous social forms, just as much as physical attacks on the state, along with the encouragement of a radical subjectivity, in neighbourhoods and workplaces. Radically violent actions which can be recuperated or manipulated must be avoided at all costs, lest they be portrayed as an example of ‘Anarchy being more dangerous to the people than Authority’. No violent act should be undertaken unless its purpose is clearly understood by the ‘average’ proletarian. This does not mean however that anyone should give up their right to violence or militant action. Those who believe that the ‘ends justify the means’ or that the people can be ‘forced to be free’ will either be used or eaten up rapidly by the technocratic state. Similarly, ideas and attitudes that suppose the masses of individuals who constitute the proletariat are ‘brainwashed’, ‘ignorant’ or ‘stupid’ must be rejected. Rigid adherence to any ideological precept or any theoretical ghetto is an obstacle to social revolution. Everyone can and should organise with everyone else, because our freedom is co-dependent on the freedom of our comrades/neighbours. The creation of autonomous popular assemblies will guarantee different ways of thinking, acting, organising and communicating, for new forms of resistance and attack. In a crisis of this magnitude no theory or practice should be taken as a given. Capitalism is weak and wounded, and it is time it was given the coup de grace.
Like I said, I’m a nobody, but at least I’m nobodies nobody. Take it or leave it, construct your own strategy, share it, discuss it, act on it…
This incident about Greece’s monetary problems ought to be a warning from above that the U.S. of A. may be in similar danger economically. The dollar is in trouble just like Greece is in trouble. Take from those who produce i.e. work and give to the shiftless. What an incentive to those who produce???
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