Political and cultural malaise forms core of Greek financial crisis

by Richard Pine

Irish Times
August 3, 2011

The agonising over the budget deficit is a minor matter compared with the task of reimagining their country that the Greek people now face

AT 5AM last Saturday, municipal authorities cleared away the “tent city” in Syntagma Square in Athens, opposite the Greek parliament, thus removing the visible presence of the “indignants” who had occupied it since May 25th, in protest not only at the current economic crisis but also at the poverty of Greek politics.

The problem has not gone away, however. In fact, it has deepened. Already, by the end of June, the indignants had taken their movement a step further with the foundation of the Unified Popular Front (UPF), supported by at least 100,000 signatories.

The cause of resentment is, principally, the lack of concern on the part of government and the international financial powers for ordinary citizens trying to live “a minimally decent life”, as the UPF’s founding document puts it. “Antisocial measures overturn domestic and personal planning, thrusting people into poverty, unemployment and misery,” it says. Beyond that is the issue of national sovereignty: “Greek working people face the prospect not just of losing their jobs, pensions and rights but also losing their country.”

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