Πηγή: NewEurope
BY STRATIS G. CAMATSOS
Oct 24 2011
Last week, the public witnessed the largest-ever recorded protests in Greece. The cause is well-known throughout the world – the fiscal restructuring of Greece's economy through harsh measures imposed by the troika (the European Commission, European Investment Bank (EIB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)) affecting the middle-class and youth on a grand scale.
With ideals and notions of justice starting to creep out behind corners, peeping out from the underground crusade of believers, spreading among the popular movement with their determination and their savvy yet eerily effective online social tools, a wind of change begins to blow. There is something inexorable and angry in the air, but one word that is starting to take shape, derived from these mere thoughts and obscure visions, is becoming ever more possible, and sounds like a Siren song – revolution.
Is it possible that Greeks, and their worldwide supporters, parallel movements against today’s financial institutions, have had enough and are ready to get some answers and take back their livelihoods, their governments and their country? Thomas Jefferson once said: “Every generation needs a new revolution.” Could this be the time when this generation sees a real change, a real initiative that could usher in a new era reflecting the truly creative and hard-working mentality of the Greek people, or is it just another frustrating shifting political season that bears no fruit?
In order to tackle these intricate questions, some parameters must be set. First published in 1938, a scholar by the name of Crane Brinton wrote The Anatomy of a Revolution, in which he outlined the uniformities of the four major political revolutions of our history – the English, American, French and the 1917 Russian Revolution. The common themes of his study were seven prerequisites needed for a perfect storm of social, economic and political conditions to create a revolution of our generation, which will be modernised in their description to review the case of Greece.
‘Old regime comes tumbling down’
A revolution always begins with the problems of the pre-revolutionary regime. As Brinton cites, the problems may be massive government deficits, more than usual complaints over taxation, conspicuous government favouring of one set of economic interests over another, administrative entanglements and confusions. Of course, financial problems play an important role – three of the four historic revolutions began among people who objected to certain taxes and who subsequently organised themselves to protest against them. Brinton points out that there is a point where constituted authority is challenged by the illegal acts of revolutionists.
Over the past 27 years, from the fall of the dictatorial regime, Greeks were optimistic with their growing prosperity, which raised expectations in themselves and in their society. However, over these years of democratic rule, Greeks has also witnessed a political misrule – the sociologist James Davies put it best: “Manifest reality breaks away from anticipated reality.” Greeks saw their livelihoods being slowly stripped away, only to be given to the most scrupulous people governing the country. With the current financial crisis, the mood has definitely shifted from one spectrum to the other, with voices of dissatisfaction not with one political party or the other, but with the political aristocracy of Greece in general.
Revolutionaries
Brinton said that the stage for revolution is usually set when the upper classes break faith with society's other groups, and begin openly to prey on them in ways that threaten their very future. Not surprisingly, the other groups soon united, took up arms and rebelled. Brinton observed that revolutionists are usually not coming from the poorest section of society, but are those who feel that they are being restrained and cramped into a way of life that they did not expect nor contribute to.
In Greece, the wealthy that have been catapulted into the echelons of the ruling sector of society have created a gap between themselves and the deprived working and middle class. Although there is on paper access to education, health care, and capital to all, there are different classes accessible to different societal levels. Corrupt mechanisms put in place allow for the wealthy to grasp anything in their reach while the lower and middle-classes are allowed to lick the bones that they are given. Thus, the current situation is the perfect cradle for revolutionaries to be born, who are not only fed up with the current system but willing to change it too.
An inadequate government
An inadequate government can be found in different forms; however, they all have similar themes. Usually, they find various ways to funnel the citizens' tax money into the pockets of their own and begin to exercise the monopoly of coercion over others. The have acquired the power and are able to regulate others. The attitude of a politician towards the law is one of superiority.
Such a combination of like-minded politicians, forming the ruling government, creates an environment of bad management, poor judgement, selfish perception, and this eventually leads to social and economic turmoil that citizens do not agree with.
Greece's situation is no exception to the criteria of inexplicable government malfeasance when people's fortunes are being cherry-picked from under their noses. Regardless the political party, the government has been a magnate for the like-minded corrupt and selfish politicians, where the political leadership was not joined by a thread of the common good, but otherwise by a thread of individual good, having the effect of taking away from the fortunes of the citizens they have created with their own determination. When the people now, as many times before, spill out into the streets of Athens, they are pointing the fingers to their inept leaders.
Failure to lead by the entrusted societal group
This is related prerequisite to the one above but deals with the ruling class, not only the politicians, but the ones that have gained clout in society from a recognised ability to lead. Revolution becomes inevitable when this ruling class also shows a failure in their duty to lead in time of need. It is also a shared characteristic in political revolutions that they occur at moments when the world is changing at a rapid pace, yet the ruling class deal with this by clinging on to the old, individually profitable, and familiar way of doing things.
In Greece, this problem became clear when in the times of inevitable change, the country was consistently governed by political dinosaurs who have not been able to evolve into the 21st century way of thinking. Their persistent oblivion, and ignorance, to explain the situation to its citizens creates an infuriating and terrified societal base. Continuous promises in electoral campaigns that never seem to be carried out are commonplace, and the economy has been static with no investment being made to carry the country and its citizens into a producing and export based economy rather than a consumerism and import based one.
This egocentric mentality, coupled with incompetence, created an angry and disheartened society that was the basis of uprising.
Fiscal incompetence
A national economic reversal is a major spark to ignite a revolution.
In Greece, salaries have not materially increased during the last decade, while the cost of living became more expensive, with Athens being one of the most expensive cities to live in the world. In terms of wages and social standards, Greece in fact ranks amongst the worst-paid countries in Europe. Pensioners usually find themselves surviving on less than €600 per month, and average salaries in public service are around just €1,200. In the private sector, legal minimum wage is somewhere around €700-€800.
In addition, the tax system that is based on archaic fiscal forms and corrupt practices created a cycle of social irresponsibility of not paying taxes. A progressive tax system is considered by many as the best tax system as it helps the government to earn more taxes, as well as protect the lower income individuals from the burden of high taxes, and properly distribute the money. However, this is not a part of Greece's economic structure. Instead, the tax system is like a maze where the smartest “mouse” is the only one able to dodge the obstacles and find its way to the slice of cheese that should be enough for everyone, but is only eaten by those few smart mice.
Unjust use of force
When a government starts using force in a way that is found to be unjust and no longer fair, the people begin to get restless. This can occurs in many ways, some more obvious than the others.
In Greece, the major problem is found in the inconsistency of the judicial branch. Those in power have created an echelon of a group being above the law; sentencing is inconsistent and disproportionate. Although caught up in many scandals, criminal acts against society, individual fiscal gains at the expense of the lower and middle-classes, and exploitation, the ruling “aristocratic” class has been able to evade judicial and criminal punishment. This has led to contempt for the power of the state, a disrespect in the laws themselves, and has raised the people's determination to stand together to oppose state power.
Leadership by the revolutionaries
The final prerequisite is that revolutionaries require and need leadership. It is not enough to have unrest among the working and middle-classes, but there is also a need for people thinking outside of the box, with new ideas and with a symbol or leader, who can bring inspiration that trust can be achieved again between the people and the government. The latter usually, but not necessarily, comes from the intellectual elite, but from outside of the current political regime. Davies stated that this intellectual group catalyse the revolutions because they make common cause with the lower classes. This group is high risk for the ruling class because when they become isolated due to their ideals not being met in society, they will find this common bond with the working people where they see inspiration in. The combination of intellect and forceful determination is a lethal combination against the ruling class.
Revolution in Greece?
After briefly describing the seven prerequisites for a revolution, the question still lingers as to whether Greece is on the way to a modern political revolution.
The answer is not yet; Greece is missing the catalysts that will enable a political revolution, as there is no leadership amongst the protesters. This leader, or symbol, will have the same ideals with that of the protesters and who can amplify them in an effective way. It is not enough to have a basis for the uprising, but also a net to harness it with a clear, set out goal. The only way to have this is if there is leadership; one that does not blossom from the existing governmental structure.
As we saw these past few days, the protesters in Greece do not have this. Although they have come out together to denounce the government, they have different factions, sub-political groups, and syndicates that create disparity between them. Recently fights broke out between the black-hooded anarchist group with the civil communist syndicate, and eventually caused a death of a fellow protester. This sad event favours the ruling class if the anger is steered away from them and onto the protesters themselves. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “The more there are riots, the more repressive action will take place, and the more we face the danger of a right-wing takeover and eventually a fascists’ society.”
Therefore, I call out to the protesters of Greece to find their common voice, their unified cause, and form one single group that is not divided by political ideals, social class, or economic standards. I also call out to the unknown leader, outside of the norm, to come forth and take this unified voice to make it heard and revered by the ruling class. Without this, Greece will never reach the perfect storm to ignite the revolutionary spark.
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