So, there we are: Oxi.
Let me repeat this, louder.
OXI !
Yesterday, the Greek people rose against fear.
Against lies. Against thinly veiled and also bare threats from
shameless bullies—from powers-that-be who have long since stopped
representing the ordinary citizens of Europe, who have long since
shed their guise of people's representatives to wear the dark mantle
of the lackeys of special interests, which would dictate the way we
live our lives from the comfortable shelter of their velvet shadows.
Yesteray, the Greek people sent their
lying media and their crass fearmongering packing—all these TV,
radio stations, all these newspapers owed by the oligarchs, the very
same people who have stashed their money abroad, have avoided paying
taxes, and contributing to the Greek society.
Those very same oligarchs—yes, those whom the
European powers-that-be claimed Greece had to bring to heel through a
deep financial system reform—well, do you know what they campaigned for ?
You'd have thought they'd campaign
for « no », since any agreement with the creditors would
have brought about reforms which would have hurt them—according to
the propaganda of the creditors and all the falsely naive media of
Northern Europe. So, can you guess what the oligarchs-owed Greek media
campaigned for?
Well, the oligarchs threw all their
condiserable power and money toward the « nai », the
« yes » vote, which would have sent the Greek government
back to Brussels in shame, and would most likely have brought it
down. Then, a government of technocrats, unelected, illegitimate,
would have taken the reins of the country, to enact to the letter and
the dotted « i » the demands of the creditors.
As if Greece were some colony of the
19th century, and Northern Europe its overlord.
To reach this goal, the Greek media
spared no lie, no crass tactics. They announced chaos. They announced
that people's deposits would be plundered by the government. They
announced that hunger riots were just around the corners. They willed for
the most abject fear to take hold of the Greek people.
And yet, the Greek people said, NO.
OXI.
This proud, resounding OXI sent tremors
through Europe. It gave Greece its dignity back. Its pride, stolen
and trampled underfoot during five years while New Democratia and
PASOK were in power, their heads bowed, at the back and call of the
powers-that-be, no matter how wrong, how ugley the plundering of
their own people they were ordered to carry out.
This fantastic OXI, it's the beginning
of what will most likely be a long, protracted and hard battle. It's
also a bright light of hope, and not only for Greece.
This OXI awakens hope from the
ashes of austerity, for all the peoples of Europe. It saves
democracy, which was standing on the edge of the abyss, about to fall
under the relentless blows of an establishment which hides behind the
facade of undemocratic European Institutions.
They shamelessly told the Greeks what
they should vote. They threatened Greece with a brutal ousting from
the eurozone and Europe itself if its people didn't bow down and vote
to accept an endless austerity which would have bled the country dry,
and turned it into a failed state. So sure of their victory and their
power, so arrogant they were, that they went so far as to tell the
truth : they wanted regime change in Greece, they wanted Syriza
to fall and forever be banned from power, humiliated. They wanted an
unlelected government to rise, led by technocrats—pliable,
obedient. Yes, they went so far as to say it out loud :
Jean-Claude Juncker, Martin Schultz, Sigmar Gabriel, Jeroen
Dijssenbloem, and all that clique.
And they were denied.
In the cradle of democracy, people rose
above fear, looked them right in the eye, and said no.
Ftani !
The Greek government spared no effort
to reach towaard its citizens, to denounce the lies and set the truth
back in the center of the equation. One man in particular made
his voice heard. One man stood, and repeated the truth he's been telling the European elite time and again since January 25th.
Yanis Varoufakis.
The brazen, firebrand ex-Finance Minister
of Greece is loathed by his so-called colleagues. He's hated by the
European powers-that-be. Because he knows what he's talking about.
Because he can pierce through the lies, and expose them for what they
are. Because the truth he tells is crystal clear, unburied under
multiple layers of diplomatic or technical jargon. Because his voice rings true and
echoes far, because there is no pretense, no attempt at dissembling,
because he has never denied himself, and because he has made no
compromises appear before the powers-that-be under a guise that would
please them—it would have been the first act of submission—the
Greek people trust and love him. Because of all that, the European
establishment detests the mere sight of him.
Because, in five months, he has been
everywhere at once, relentlessly defending his country and appearing
in the media, talking to his people, explaining, giving them the keys
to understand what was going on—because he gave so much of himself,
Yanis Varoufakis empowered the Greek people to make their own,
enlightened choice when the time came.
So, I was extatic while watching the
last evening unfold, when « no » piled upon « no »,
in all the regions of Greece, and a proud people reclaimed its
destiny.
And tears filled my eyes when I read
Yanis Varoufakis' tweet this morning, announcing "Minister no more".
His resignation is a brave, noble thing
to do, and it does take away one of the most obvious excuses the
creditors would have used to justify the impossibility of finding an
agreement. I can read moves, I know the intricacies of a harsh
negotiation quite well. So I understand. Truly, I do.
They are not many, the people in power
who could make such a move, who could reliquish power at the height
of their power, just as they reaped what is an immense victory.
I salute you, Yanis Varoufakis. Your
bright fire has lit the path of dignity for your people—the way of
self-respect and free choice, of democracy, and indeed freedom
itself.
Here I type this blog post from a small
hill overlooking the pure, deep blue waters of the Kalamata gulf, and the Taygetos
mountain range beyond, half hidden in the Summer mists.
Yanis Varoufakis,
may you remain close to your people, close to Greece, and keep on advising the Greek government against
all the hardships, all the traps and all the low blows which will now
come.
May you keep on lighting the way for all of us.
The Greek people need you. They will keep on needing you.
We need you, all of us in Europe.
Thank you, Yani.
Thank you.
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