HAIL THE GREEKS

While our union 'leaders' snooze to the November General Election and insist that the Labour Party is somehow 'different' from the National Party, the Greek people show how it is really done..


In little old New Zealand we are being told by our well paid and complacent 'labour leaders' and their lackeys in the media and the blogosphere that 'our' salvation lies in voting a neoliberal Labour Party into power in November.

This is a party whose shambolic leader says there is no alternative to the 'free market' and whose finance spokesperson says Labour will not shirk its 'responsibility' to make cuts.This is the party whose leader froths at the mouth at the mere mention of the Mana Party and who thinks its moderate left-social democratic economic policies are 'extreme'. This is not the Road to Salvation - this is the Highway to Hell.

Refreshing it is then - and inspiring - to see the Greek people resisting the austerity demands of their Government.

The European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are insisting that the Greek Parliament vote to accept more austerity and privatisation before they will release a 12 billion euro loan to Greece.

In New Zealand, where union 'leaders' like Helen Kelly and Robert Reid think 'protest action' is about issuing a press statement and sticking a video on YouTube, Greek workers and their unions are not prepared to accept the austerity attacks. Consistently, opinion polls show that between 70 and 80 percent of the population are opposed to the Government's plans.

The strikes and mass protests have thrown the Greek government into turmoil, and got Europe’s ruling classes worried about their ability to impose their will not only on the Greek people but the people of Europe. They are looking nervously at countries at Spain and Portugal which have already seen protest action against the policies of austerity.

While the corporate media has, predictably, been highlighting the Greek protests turning 'violent' - while ignoring the ongoing economic violence of the Greek Government - what we are witnessing is the Greek people declaring that they will not be conquered by a Government that is the puppet of the IMF, the European Union and the European Central Bank.

Ordinary Greek people are not cowed by the corrupt corporatism that dominates the European Union.