There should be no
question mark in this post's title, no. There should be an
exclamation mark, an expression of joy instead of doubt, a hope
nobody really expected anymore, but such are our doused European spirits, nowadays.
2014 saw many bad
things happen. Wars, terrorism, evil incarnate as the cowards hiding
behind the ISI label used false religious pretence to rape women and
little girls, children, and to slaughter countless innocent people.
Planes crashed, boats took fire and more people died. A terrible
disease reared up its head where it was not expected, in a quasi sure
sign that humankind is venturing beyond limits, borders it should not
cross in the ancient primary forests of Africa.
In Belgium, a
government was formed, that is blatantly anti-democratic regarding
the French-speaking minority, all thanks to one French-speaking
rightwing party, its leader all too preoccupied with the prospect of
becoming Prime Minister to worry about betraying the people he's
supposed to represent, endorsing ultra-right economical and social
themes and actions that his party hadn't even laid out during the
electoral campaign. Austerity is about to strike hard, in a country
which had been preserved the folly imposed all around Europe by
Germany – that is its rich pensioners, who care nothing about the
misery, the pain, the shame and utter despair the return rates they
demand for their pension funds create for hundreds of millions of
people. The lackeys of a very small minority are now in power in
Belgium, and they're more than anxious to cater to their masters. To
make them richer, by making everyone else poorer, hiding behind the
false justifications of phony economy gurus. In the face of the obvious failure of the austerity policies imposed by Germany and the
likes of David Cameron, it's folly to start down the road that
destroyed the social and economic balance of other countries, and
yet, this is what the Belgian government is engaging in.
Still, Autumn saw
huge demonstrations and strikes. A perfume of refusal, in the hearts
of those who are being robbed of their rights, all so that the rich can get
richer. But of course, it wasn't enough. So, while we're taking a
break and wait for the new year to come, I can't help but wonder :
what's next ? Will we roll over and take sheer injustice, ugly
betrayal and madness with bowed heads ?
In Greece, the
depression has destroyed countless lives. People lose their jobs,
their abillity to access healthcare, their access to electricity, the
ability to send their kids to school, their homes...their lives.
Reduced to a state worse than that of a third world country, Greece
seems condemned to endure ever more pointless austerity, as well as
moral lessons from Germany, which should know better and shut its
trap.
Wait, no :
strike that. Correction : Greece SEEMED to be condemned.
In this passing of
the year 2014, in the time when Light rises against the Dark and hope
for the renewal of Spring flowers in hearths and hearts, something
happened.
The inept, grotesque
government formed by ND and PASOK fell, unable to gather enough votes
to elect their presidential candidates – and when one knows how
devious the Greek presidential election system is, designed to allow
for betrayal and changes of hearts (however motivated)
between the three election rounds, well, one realizes how much anger
and refusal there must be, even among this fickle, poorly reliable
body that is the Greek parliament.
What this
incompetent government wanted to avoid, what its masters – Germany,
the ECB, the IMF and the European Commission – wanted to avoid at
all costs in a stunning display of authoritarian refusal of
democracy, is going to happen.
There will be
general elections in Greece, and they will take place on January
25th, 2015. In less than a month, democracy will at last regain its place.
And in these
elections, it seems that SYRIZA, the one credible leftwing party
left, might win, and at long last get to power. This is what Germany,
the ECB, the IMF and the European Commission have dreaded for more
than two years : the rise of a party that isn't full of cronies
and lackeys solely focused on their own agenda, all indebted to the
powers-that-be. SYRIZA is their nightmare.
SYRIZA is Greece's
last, best chance. For the future. For hope.
Already, the
powers-that-be muster their forces : the IMF has announced it
will cut its funding to Greece. In yet another gross disregard for democracy, Germany is unsubtly warning the Greek
people that if they do not vote « as they should », than
it will cut the life line, and let Greece die – no matter that
austerity hasn't helped, and won't ever help, that it destroys
people and their society, that it fuels hatred and the horrors of
parties like Golden Dawn, no matter that everyone knows that Greece's
debt is unsustainable, and that all austerity does is pushing people
deeper into poverty and despair, in the waiting arms of the
neo-nazis.
There will be worse
in the weeks leading to the elections : markets will plunge –
the sacra-sanct, infallible markets. The so-called godlike invisible
hand will warn the Greek people of the doom that awaits them, should
they err in their vote, and fail to re-elect the failed, grotesque ND
and PASOK. Greek banks will threaten default. Rating agencies will
review their quotes. Fake economic gurus will foretell fire raining
from the skies and the earth splitting beneath Greece's feet.
And yet, the
Greek people will vote. And yet, they will have the power to say no.
To try and win free. Oh, I have no doubt it will be hard, difficult.
I have no doubt that the forces that will unite to bring Greece down to
heel will be terrible.
But, tell me, what
do the Greeks have to lose ? They have already lost everything.
This is their one
chance to fight back, to regain their pride, trampled from underfoot
by people who should know better, who should have the decency to say
nothing. This is their one chance for hope. And yet, I know that a
great many Greek people are so far gone, so tired of failed promises
and lies, so weary of trying to hang on to hope, that they just want
to shut their eyes and do nothing. Wait. Sleep. Be oblivious.
This is the reason
for my question mark. Are the Greek people resilient enough to shrug
off all the pain, the burdens, the misery and the despair hammered on
their shoulders to look up, and dare hope ? Dare challenge the
powers-that-be ?
Hope sometimes hides
in the most unexpected places. Here is one : a song by Alain
Souchon and Laurent Voulzy – The Clever Bird :
Oh, beware all those
who are bereft of everything
Sings and sings a
small, clever bird
Rising up to the
sky, flying and diving
Above realms and
republics
The clever bird
watches and sees
The financiers
cloaked in Mystery
Playing on their plasma screens, hey
Playing on their plasma screens, hey
With the money that
so many people hope for
Masters and servants
From their sheltered
offices
They don't hear the
bird singing
They don't head the
bird's song
Foretelling their
danger
So, I join my hopes
to those of all the people who wish for change, who have fought and
will continue to fight for change. For a better, fairer world. This
is not an impossible goal, an unattainable objective, no matter how
so-called wise men and women berate you that it's kidlike delusions.
I know this, at least. I hope the Greek people remember it. For if
Greece rises to the challenge of the powers-that-be and dare place
their trust in SYRIZA...
Everything will
change.
Greece might well be
the symbol, the flagship of change, the beginnings of a fire that only needs a spark
to rise and bring warmth and light to our dying Europe in the coming year.
May it be so.
With all my heart, I wish you a happy new year, Greece. I wish you hope, and pride.
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