(…from the Greek streets)
Totalitarianism does not always come with a bang: it’s not shiny military vehicles on parade every time; cinematic take-overs of the presidential house, or crazy-eyed generals barking during emergency TV broadcasts. Sometimes, it seems, things can be far more subtle. The raid of a “fringe anarchist occupation” here, some extra police patrols there. And there. And there. And there…
The democratic state, as any state, is inherently violent: of this we have no illusions. And yet what has been happening in Greece as of recently is extraordinarily even by the measures of order imposed by the greek state. The current regime had never completely broken its ties with the dictatorship it supposedly replaced in 1974, to be sure – and so brute force has never really been that well masked behind the democratic façade. Yet still: an anarchist occupation is evicted twice, then has its doors built up (the Zaimi Occupation in early May, in Athens). Anarchists and anti-authoritarians currently in prison at are a record high in decades, at least (18 in total, by our last count)… Police “visit” anarchist spaces, leftist offices, preventing those inside from exiting or going to the general strike demonstration (Athens, May 20th). “Pre-emptive action” has now become the rule.
Under a thick veil of media silence, the Greek state is, discreetly but quickly, transforming itself into an even more totalitarian structure. A fear of what is to come? A desperate attempt to keep the most “subversive” of the population off the streets – the same streets where, time and time again, change has started from?
If something scares them the most, is the public defiance of their rule. Heckled ministers and demonstrators taking on the police. If something worries them, is any attempt to crack the “national unity” façade: the image of hundreds of thousands taking to the streets doesn’t sit to comfortable with the “we are all in this together” mantra, despite the Greek PM’s most desperate attempts…
…to the streets, then: to make our rage public, to cancel out any attempt for totalitarianism to creep further into our lives. This blog started just over eighteen monts ago, out of a spontaneous need to cover what had been happening in the Greek streets after the assassination of Alexis by the cops. Some six-hundred days later, three-hundred (and something) blog posts more, the blog is still here; our need to be out on the streets and to communicate from there is stronger than ever.
… from the streets, then: right from where social war rages, where the national unity façade is shattered, from where we take our lives, finally, in our own hands!
12 Comments
Happy #300, Occupied London!
When they kick out your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun
British SWP (Trotskyist cops) write today:-
“The unions called for another rally May 29, at which workers which will surround the parliament building to demand that their representatives vote down the proposed counter-reform of the new pension plan.” Did ADEDY really say this?
Shout @ the police and you can go to prison for up to 5yrs in my country. Their not shy kicking your door in either.
Viva Great Britain!
The rally of May 29 has been canceled.
A new rally will take place on 5th June.
Also, on 27th May the trade unions will decide their next moves (hopefully strikes)…
@CLASH-
Thanks, it never ceases to amaze me how there is such a disparity between the unions fiery rhetoric and their strategic staggering of strikes and rallies…roll on the time when their members see through the bullshit and begin to self-organise.
Greetings from Tehran – Iran
I started to read your site when the riots started in Greece and I show pictures and movies from what’s going on there to all my friends . WE ARE WITH YOU GUYS , We’re with anyone who is fighting for their rights .
I guess you heard about the peaceful protests in Iran and how it turned violent when Police and Basij Militia started shooting people with live rounds … and we didn’t even use petrol bombs only stones .
they tortured and raped prisoners etc.
here we’re fighting with government for our most basic rights for democracy and freedom , in here you can’t even wear the clothes you like , imagine how they treat with you when you speak your mind !
there is a big protest on 15 jun in Iran, I’m sure you all will hear about it . we need all the support from all over the world
so the least you can do is to upload some pictures and videos from what happened in Iran .
we’re counting on u guys .
Greetings Mehran! Check this out-
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/sep/ainfos00383.html
Good luck and solidarity for 15 June!
direct action paper SchNEWS reports that Romania is also experiencing unrest, and plea-ing for an IMF bail-out as well. http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news723.php
let us disrupt and bankrupt global capitalism!
It’s curious, because on the one hand, yesterday the IMF was saying there was no need for other ‘indebted’ countries to impose austerity as hard as in Greece, next thing, today, they are turning the screw on the Spanish Govt.to squeeze workers harder…It would seem these apparently mixed messages indicate a level of uncertainty over social resistance…and fear of the consequences.
The IMF is caught between forces it cannot control. If it says every European government must force down the real wages of the working class it confirms the colossal scale of the crisis. And the Euros collapse will accelerate. If it pretends the debt funding crisis is a ‘little local difficulty’ it will convince every agent in the market that the debt crisis is out of control. And the Euro’s collapse will accelerate, etc.
i have been in greece in the last couple of months. when i first came here i was surprised by the feeling of freedom here, compared to where i use to grow up (austria). the change in the last month indeed was dramatical, now with all the police roaming the street and try to shut down everyone and anything, it almost feels like home… welcome to european horrorland!
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