- Why do people think we should go back to the drachma, mum?
- Do some people not like Greeks, mum?
- Is the euro better than the drachma, mum?
- If we leave the euro, will we be poor, mum?
These are just some of the questions that my children are asking me these days. Possibly also avoiding to ask me, because they have already sensed how difficult it is for their parents to answer these questions.
Today's Guardian website this morning: They really want us out (and I mean the UK). They wanted us out throughout the whole crisis. They present their ideas matter-of-factly, using all the facts and figures that point to this direction, as if it is a done deal. Now all they need is to see us out, so they can wear their facetious smiles and say 'about time, really', and read about something else instead while they take the tube to work and back home. They do not think that perhaps this is the reason why London is having its hugest tube strike ever.
It's now all up to what Syriza can speed through the system to 'save Greece'. Save Greece from what? Austerity? Whether we have euro or drachma will make no difference to the harshness of the times that we will be forced to live in. So it seems that Greece will not be saved after all, no matter what happens. We want to keep the euro because it feels nicer than the drachma. But at this eleventh hour, we need to be prepared for what we will be told by other EU countries, and we didn't really come out looking that good in yesterday's meeting in the European Parliament. The 'others' cannot for the life of them understand what exactly we are asking for: they think we are asking for more money without reforms. We don't even need Syriza to draw up a plan to get the economy running. Guy Verhofstadt (MEP for Belgium and a former PM for Belgium) did that for us in the European Parliament, mentioning things like taxing ship owners (a protected class) and the Orthodox church (another protected class). I wonder if he realises that unmarried daughters of former public servants STILL get a pension, just because their dads were public servants. They can still have their happy fuck and be in a relationship - just as long as they don't marry, they will continue to get that pension. In Greece, we are being fucked by the ruling class from all sides.
So why did I vote NO last Sunday, since I knew that Syriza had made a HEAP of mistakes in its five months in office? It wasn't difficult to predict their massive failure. Here is why I did it: If national elections were called instead of a referendum, Syriza would have won outright. It would have been a GREAT way to get rid of the 'i-hate-immigrants' ANEL wankers that Syriza is in coalition with in one flat blow. But it would have taken a longer time to organise an election (perhaps). Time is not on our side. The referendum in my opinion gave the same result as an election would have: a clear win for Syriza, with the added bonus of a clear blow to Nea Dimokratia. PASOK was done away with in the 2012 election. Now Nea Dimokratia has suffered. I am truly GLAD of that. Syriza may be completely inexperienced, but it's NOT dumb. It has a long long way to go to become a party with a proven track record. I didn't vote for them in January 2015. But I am truly GLAD that we are not being ruled by the same names involved in Greek politics in 1981-2014. THEY were the ones that got Greece into this mess. I wont forget that when I tell my kids about the situation we are in, even if I was actually voting for those jerks in the past.
Oh, global capitalism. You've just been making it up as you go along, and now reality's caught up with you...
Greeks were heading for this crisis ever since they entered the EU in 1981. This week will signal the end of THAT crisis, and the start of a new one. It was never an economic crisis to start with, it was a crisis of values, identity, the things that were important to Greeks right from the start.
A Kiwi friend emailed me recently to tell me that he has problems explaining to his work mates why the Greeks voted so stridently in the NO camp: "All I could answer was what my conservative staunch very proud father used to tell me: ANY ONE CAN LIVE ON THEIR KNEES. My FU attitude must be genetic." That pretty much sums up why I changed my voting tendencies last minute. If we are not wanted somewhere, then so be it. We will continue to survive even without the euro.
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
These are just some of the questions that my children are asking me these days. Possibly also avoiding to ask me, because they have already sensed how difficult it is for their parents to answer these questions.
Today's Guardian website this morning: They really want us out (and I mean the UK). They wanted us out throughout the whole crisis. They present their ideas matter-of-factly, using all the facts and figures that point to this direction, as if it is a done deal. Now all they need is to see us out, so they can wear their facetious smiles and say 'about time, really', and read about something else instead while they take the tube to work and back home. They do not think that perhaps this is the reason why London is having its hugest tube strike ever.
It's now all up to what Syriza can speed through the system to 'save Greece'. Save Greece from what? Austerity? Whether we have euro or drachma will make no difference to the harshness of the times that we will be forced to live in. So it seems that Greece will not be saved after all, no matter what happens. We want to keep the euro because it feels nicer than the drachma. But at this eleventh hour, we need to be prepared for what we will be told by other EU countries, and we didn't really come out looking that good in yesterday's meeting in the European Parliament. The 'others' cannot for the life of them understand what exactly we are asking for: they think we are asking for more money without reforms. We don't even need Syriza to draw up a plan to get the economy running. Guy Verhofstadt (MEP for Belgium and a former PM for Belgium) did that for us in the European Parliament, mentioning things like taxing ship owners (a protected class) and the Orthodox church (another protected class). I wonder if he realises that unmarried daughters of former public servants STILL get a pension, just because their dads were public servants. They can still have their happy fuck and be in a relationship - just as long as they don't marry, they will continue to get that pension. In Greece, we are being fucked by the ruling class from all sides.
So why did I vote NO last Sunday, since I knew that Syriza had made a HEAP of mistakes in its five months in office? It wasn't difficult to predict their massive failure. Here is why I did it: If national elections were called instead of a referendum, Syriza would have won outright. It would have been a GREAT way to get rid of the 'i-hate-immigrants' ANEL wankers that Syriza is in coalition with in one flat blow. But it would have taken a longer time to organise an election (perhaps). Time is not on our side. The referendum in my opinion gave the same result as an election would have: a clear win for Syriza, with the added bonus of a clear blow to Nea Dimokratia. PASOK was done away with in the 2012 election. Now Nea Dimokratia has suffered. I am truly GLAD of that. Syriza may be completely inexperienced, but it's NOT dumb. It has a long long way to go to become a party with a proven track record. I didn't vote for them in January 2015. But I am truly GLAD that we are not being ruled by the same names involved in Greek politics in 1981-2014. THEY were the ones that got Greece into this mess. I wont forget that when I tell my kids about the situation we are in, even if I was actually voting for those jerks in the past.
Oh, global capitalism. You've just been making it up as you go along, and now reality's caught up with you...
Greeks were heading for this crisis ever since they entered the EU in 1981. This week will signal the end of THAT crisis, and the start of a new one. It was never an economic crisis to start with, it was a crisis of values, identity, the things that were important to Greeks right from the start.
A Kiwi friend emailed me recently to tell me that he has problems explaining to his work mates why the Greeks voted so stridently in the NO camp: "All I could answer was what my conservative staunch very proud father used to tell me: ANY ONE CAN LIVE ON THEIR KNEES. My FU attitude must be genetic." That pretty much sums up why I changed my voting tendencies last minute. If we are not wanted somewhere, then so be it. We will continue to survive even without the euro.
©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.
I remember the drachma in the PASOK years. One yr sth costed 100 drs and the next yr 200 drs. Imported goods, cars, TV's everything was so expensive. Outside Greece you felt like a poor relative. Inflation was so huge that people didn't know how to protect their savings and only secure investment was buying property.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I don't travel abroad anymore and I hope my new car will last for about 20 yrs so I could jump in for drachma as well. I'll give Tsipras a few more months to tax the rich and fight corruption. What is he waiting for?