I was going to the local tax office this afternoon in Greece (I needed to pay a fee for the replacement of a lost ID card) and as I was approaching I noticed several police cars, cops cordoning off the sidewalk and after a little bit a fire truck, ambulance and military truck as well as a few unmarked vans pulling up. Apparently an employee noticed a hand grenade at the balcony of the 2nd floor and they called police and evacuated the building. As I was leaving the bomb squad was moving in with their remote robot and police were evacuating all nearby buildings.
I don’t know how, or when, the grenade ended up there but enough people are angry about all the tax increases and new taxes that it is hard not to jump to conclusions. And, judging from the side conversations I overheard, many of the people milling around didn’t seem at all upset at the prospect of a tax office getting blown up.
Category: austerity
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Faith in people and community
Yesterday afternoon I was in the center of Athens with my mother and after we finished some errands and visiting with some friends we decided to stop by a local place that she likes, to get something to eat. Just outside the entrance an older man was pacing around, hand slightly extended, muttering over and over again Πεινάω (I am hungry), a sight and sound that has become quite common in greek cities. We put a few coins in his hand, gave him a smile and went inside. About 20-30 minutes later, while we were eating, I noticed that the same man had also come inside the restaurant. He was immediately and warmly greeted with his name by the owner and his young daughter who were busy serving the remaining customers. After a few minutes they showed him to a table, and the owner brought him a small plate of food and some bread, and after the man had sat down, a rather large glass of red wine. When the folks at the table next to him had finished their meal and left the owner took several slices of unused bread (when you go to a restaurant in greece they will always bring you silverware, bread and water) and handed them over to the eager older man. Several times the owner’s daughter (who is probably in her twenties) stopped by to exchange a few words, a smile and a touch, which always produced a very large grin from the older man. When I passed his table on my way to the bathrooms we also looked at each other with a smile, and he made the classic greek hand gesture that shows satisfaction with one’s meal.
As my mother verified and I have heard from others, there are many places who have such “regulars,” people from the neighborhood who are down on their fortunes and who will be taken in by restaurants towards the end of the busy meal times and be given what is left over. In the USA folks often have to go through the dumpster to get the leftovers. That is happening more and more in Greece too, but it is also nice to see that at least some of those who have no food will be taken to a table and served with a smile, and a large glass of wine.
After reading and hearing about a lot of the news that I have been posting, seeing something like that was food for the soul. Fuck the state, the banks and the troika. My faith is still, and always, with the people and community.
A few days ago a young girl died from poisonous fumes in Greece after she and her mother had been using a homemade brazier to heat their apartment when their electricity was cut off for non-payment. You would think that this is as bad as things could get for the poor mother but no. She was promptly charged with involuntary manslaughter due to negligence for the death of her daughter. Fortunately, the judge invoked a provision in Greek law by which if the victim is a relative of the accused the judge could rule that the accused has suffered enough and no further punishment would be necessary (or just) and promptly dismissed all charges. But the greek state decided that this is not good enough and initiated deportation proceedings against the woman, who is a Serbian national, giving her 30 days to leave the country, proving once again that in the land of austerity “justice” can be swift and heartless, if of course you are weak and powerless (investigations into tax evasion, corruption and other criminal charges against the rich, powerful, and well connected have been notoriously dragging on for years). She had been in the country legally but had fallen behind in paying the necessary resident permit fees since she was unemployed and broke.
There has been enough outrage in Greece over this that the government finally relented under the pressure and has given a 6-month extension to the woman for “humanitarian” reasons. But with temperatures dropping and at least 350,000 people throughout Greece who have had their electricity turned off permanently for non-payment and many more who cannot afford the cost of heating oil (which doubled a couple of years ago when the government significantly raised the taxes on it) I am afraid that stories like this will keep coming. Because we are told that the cost of “rescuing” Greece (see rescuing the banks and politicians) is to relegate a huge part of the population to abject poverty, hunger, ill health, evictions, foreclosures, unemployment, carbon monoxide poisoning, despair, and suicide.
Maybe one day we will have real justice and the politicians, bureaucrats, bankers and troika negotiators who are pushing austerity will be the ones who will be charged with the murders that they are bringing down upon the people. In the meanwhile, every morning I wake up and hope that I will not read any news about another person who didn’t.
#DispatchesFromTheAusterityFronts
Just so that we don’t forget who this is a crisis for and who benefits from the “austerity” measures.
“Whereas in 2009 the wealthiest fifth of the population had incomes that were five times higher than the poorer fifth, they now earn 7.5 times more, according to Manos Matsanganis, an associate professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business.”
http://www.enetenglish.gr/?i=news.en.society&id=1629
How does that happen? How do the rich get richer and the poor poorer? Well, this is one way:
A 28-year old greek man was beaten to death when he went with a friend of his to help her collect her accrued, and unpaid, earnings. When they went to the restaurant where she worked and she asked to be paid what she was owed the 43-year old owner called a bouncer and told him to “clean up.” The bouncer, wearing gloves with metal interior, beat up the 28-year old knocking him unconscious and then proceeded to kick him. Police who were notified by witnesses arrested the bouncer immediately and the owner a little bit later. The 28 year old was transported to the hospital where he died from severe head wounds.
http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.ellada&id=399798 (in
greek)