Occupation in Greece

[William Prest]

The enforced march of Greece to austerity by the ruling elite speaking through the Greek government both nationally and internationally has been blocked for the moment by Greek Communists who are currently occupying the financial ministry since early Wednesday March 3^rd, 2010. This is a clear message that Greek Communists at least, if not more of the population are not willing to accept the enforcement of the Friedman shock doctrine on their people and country. An article that is reflected by other media such as BBC news, is quoted below for reference.

“Hundreds of communists from Greece's All-Workers Militant Front on Thursday staged a sit-in at the finance ministry to protest against austerity measures announced by the government.

Around 300 protestors pushed their way past a lone guard early Thursday to gain access to the building and unfurl a banner urging Greeks to "rise up" and thwart the draconian debt-reduction measures.

Some activists also blocked employees from entering the building.

Greece on Wednesday launched a fresh round of austerity measures aimed at reassuring markets and winning crucial European support that analysts say could come soon. Related article: ECB meets on Greek finance crisis

The Socialist government increased sales, tobacco and alcohol taxes and cut public sector holiday allowances to save 4.8 billion euros (6.5 billion dollars), equal to about two percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Pensions in the public and private sector were also frozen.” (source Yahoo News)

Other sources such as BBC news inform us that the collapse of the Greek economy due to lack of capitalist trust could mean a end to pensions and other social benefits. Another country also under fire is Portugal, which many consider the next capitalist domino to fall under the full effect of the shock doctrine. There is high unemployment in both countries resulting in a low tax base and poor sales in the retail sector. Thus these countries are a money loser and have to be restructured in order to be more profitable. This type of program is now unfolding in the US, Canada and the rest of Europe. Earlier, the Iceland economy collapsed shortly after the speculative housing bubble burst on Wall Street in late 2008. The solution of the Wall Street capitalists was bail out money at home for banks and CEOs, de-industrialization at home and large investment in China and India where labour costs were much lower and health and environmental controls are virtually non-existent. In a world of collapsing economies, China and India stood out unique as being the only ones to grow during an expanding depression. Europe has no such bail out structure, such as in the US, in place and each country has to fend for themselves or risk bringing down all of Europe through devaluing the Euro, an all Europe currency.

It is this structure that is causing the rest of Europe to order Greece to force austerity and concessions on the working people, the pensioners, the sick and millions of unemployed. These are the very people that can't afford to take the kind of austerities that are recommended for improving the economy. Meanwhile, the elite and rich make sure that they are protected from such austerities. The shock doctrine is sold on the lie of laissie-faire capitalism and individualism in an era of encroaching and expanding imperialist monopoly capitalism. It is one reason why the Euro was crated to unite the various economies of Europe to stand in more effective competition to the juggernaut of US imperialism. But like US capitalism, the winning monopolies will take the assets, but leave the debts to the corporate individuals and workers overtaken. This is just another form of legalized theft and reflects the earlier loss of homes in the millions under the mortgage defaults in the manufactured sub-prime crisis of the US where workers lost homes and everything they invested over a life time.

When the Communists took over the financial ministry, they declared to the world by example of the necessary first step in order to wrest the mismanaged economy of the anarchy of capitalism out of the hands of greedy imperialist individuals. We hope that this will extend to all of the productive faculties of Greece and more, that this will extend to the rest of Europe and the world. It is time for a planned economy managed by the working class.

The Greek Communist Party was founded in 1918, shortly after the successful October Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917. The Greek Communists were initially composed of socialists, anarchists and communist groups. They struggled to create things like pensions, an 8 hour work day, trade unions, sick benefits and other things that were set by way of example in the Paris Commune of 1871 of which Marx himself had a lot to say. By 1920, the Greek Communists sought to create a Communist state operating on Democratic Centralism. They were also opposed to war, specifically against Turkey and later over the invasion by the Nazis. Those who think that Communism is dead, ought to watch and take note. On our part as communists, we hope that this will extend to exclude capitalism out of Greece and expand to the rest of Europe to set an example to the US and Canadian working class to follow. Those of us who are informed communists need to take note to work all the more as the vanguard to lead the world proletariat to a world wide planned economy.

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Greece

[William Prest]

Solidarity With Greece:

World Wide General Strike!

Greece is just the latest victim of the Chicago School of the Friedman Shock Doctrine of ultra austerity. Now that the rich have gambled away the value that was created by the Greek toilers, whether worker, farmer or fisher; the state appointed by the exploiters has demanded austerity measures. These include shocks such as no increase in wages despite inflation, a cap on pensions and other give back measures. They expect the working people and poor to pay back massive speculative gambling debts of a casino economy gone bust. Thus they are introducing shock economics to correct their mistakes on the backs of the working class.

Since the announcement of austerity measures by the so called socialist government, the workers have engaged in massive demonstrations, confronted the armed might of the police state that has taken harsh measures against the workers. They have occupied the ministry of finance building and are now engaged in a third general strike as of March 11th, 2010 that is still going on. The first general strike occurred on Feb. 10th shortly after the announcement of austerity. The second followed on Feb. 24th. Tens of thousands marched through the streets, attacking banks while the police attacked them. Some hammered off chunks of marble from bank facades to hurl at the police, while police used tear gas and riot gear to attack the workers. Some police, fir fighters and coast guard members actually joined the strikers. Those who joined the workers claimed that even the police have been hit hard by cut backs and austerity. This once fact is a threat to the Greek state as police support crosses the line to join strikers against shock doctrine austerity. Airports and many through fares were shut down in the strike cutting off transit and air flights in and out of Greece. We support the general strike and add that the workers of the world organize general strikes in solidarity and occupy all areas of production until the world imperialist bourgeoisie relent and yields power to the world proletariat.

The Greek workers are at war! It is a war of the government, the police state and the bankers against the very people who permitted them to rule and to syphon value out the hard work of the toilers. It is a war against all parasites! It is a war with roots in the United States and the secret cabal that runs the world wide imperialist capitalist order through the UN and Barack Obama's presidency. We must join them in solidarity or suffer the consequences of the shock doctrine that has instituted genocides around the planet in order to reap obscene profits and steal natural resources, while dumping toxins of all kinds on innocent children, mothers and workers. That doctrine was applied historically to Argentina and Iraq. It exists in a watered down form in many areas such as British Columbia, Canada. Capitalism tortures and kills! Capitalism must die!

[William Prest]

The Greek government has voted in severe austerity measures imposed by the combination of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to obtain a 100 billion Euro bailout package. In order to get this, the government was required to pass austerity measures that include cut backs in wages, raises in taxes, firing of many government employees and reduction of benefits to seniors, the disabled and unemployed. All of this has met with strong resistance by tens of thousands of Greek people for months on end. With the recent capitulation of the Greek government to severe austerity to bail out the rich, the people have ramped up their objections with the fire bombing of banks, encircling the government buildings in Athens and marching in a few major cities.

The roots of this are in the economic collapse that originated on Wall Street New York, USA of Sept.-Oct. 2008 beginning with the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage investment scheme. The immediate result was the foreclosure of millions of homes and a huge increase of homelessness. The economic collapse on Wall Street born with this, spread out to the entire world, ending with the unemployment of more than 100 million world wide. The USA and Canada then began to de-industrialization, creating more job losses and unemployment. Jobs and tools were exported to China and India, the only two countries that had growing economies while everyone else went through contraction.

What began in Greece, won't stay there unless the unemployed and those still working unite world wide to stop severe austerity in its tracks and make the rich pay for their speculative gambling on the stock market and with out lives. Austerity is a horror that will come home to roost as the nature of the full extent of the indebtedness of the developed world becomes nakedly apparent. The bailing out of bankers, corporations and the rich has caused a huge devaluation of the dollar in the US and Canada. This in itself is a form of austerity, especially when we, the unemployed, poor and working poor are faced with cut backs and increasing costs and taxes at the same time.

The current difference between Greece and BC is one of quantity and not quality. The austerity measures in Greece is being enforced with the armed might of the state, with the potential of other European states and US involvement. This is all part of something called the shock doctrine and it incorporates gruesome items like disappearances, torture, jailing without cause for an indefinite period, the loss of one's citizenship in their own country, night raids by police and all the other horrors that many typically consider to be a relic of the Nazi era. In total, the shock doctrine incorporates the simultaneous implosion of the economy along with loss every other conceivable thing we take for granted in civilized society. This is serious business and it is the innocent that are paying for the gambling crimes of the ruling powers, whether banks, state, church or landlord.

BC has recently endured the costly Olympic circus, that 17 day party that cost $8 billions for the party for the rich while the poor are now being economically strangled and thrown back out on the street. BC is undergoing a covert shock doctrine; which has been ongoing since the early 1980's but intensified when Gordon Campbell took dictatorial powers in 2001. We are still living that legacy for which the poor are now paying with cut backs, increased costs and the added burden of the HST. We must act in solidarity with the Greeks and for our own sakes!