Petros Papakonstantinou
In an interview published in the French newspaper Liberación, March 3, 81-year-old Michel Rocard, Prime Minster during François Miterrand’s administration, declared, "My conclusion is that the inequitable developments will lead to a civil war. This implies important questions for Greece. How can elections be held in this environment? How can anyone govern telling the people that they must give up 25% of their salary over the next 10 years in order to pay the debt? No one talks about this, but the only way to get out of the problem in Greece is through military rule."
Three days later, the Spanish El País published an article by sociologist Ignacio Sotelo about the Greek crisis which arrived at the following conclusion, "The danger exists that democracy could be destroyed by a developing process approaching social revolution. The radicalization that this process could imply would not be tolerated by the upper classes in Greece and most likely, not by their European associates either. This obliges them to justify some form of military intervention." Several British media have expressed sentiments along these same lines, "Fears of army coup as Greece hits meltdown," according to the Daily Express.
We should not underestimate the seriousness of these statements, mistaking them as exaggerated. Despite the social horror being proposed and the enormous difficulties, the lack of continuity and leadership within the popular movement (which cannot be derailed by the elections, a hopeless quagmire), a social explosion is not inevitable. The question is not if it will happen, but when and how and what the outcome will be.
In an interview published in the French newspaper Liberación, March 3, 81-year-old Michel Rocard, Prime Minster during François Miterrand’s administration, declared, "My conclusion is that the inequitable developments will lead to a civil war. This implies important questions for Greece. How can elections be held in this environment? How can anyone govern telling the people that they must give up 25% of their salary over the next 10 years in order to pay the debt? No one talks about this, but the only way to get out of the problem in Greece is through military rule."
Three days later, the Spanish El País published an article by sociologist Ignacio Sotelo about the Greek crisis which arrived at the following conclusion, "The danger exists that democracy could be destroyed by a developing process approaching social revolution. The radicalization that this process could imply would not be tolerated by the upper classes in Greece and most likely, not by their European associates either. This obliges them to justify some form of military intervention." Several British media have expressed sentiments along these same lines, "Fears of army coup as Greece hits meltdown," according to the Daily Express.
We should not underestimate the seriousness of these statements, mistaking them as exaggerated. Despite the social horror being proposed and the enormous difficulties, the lack of continuity and leadership within the popular movement (which cannot be derailed by the elections, a hopeless quagmire), a social explosion is not inevitable. The question is not if it will happen, but when and how and what the outcome will be.
Related:
Greece 1964-1974 "Fuck your Parliament and your Constitution," said the President of the United States ~ excerpted from the book Killing Hope by William Blum
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