In a manner eerily reminiscent of the way young people rioted all over Paris, France in 2005 to protest their political, social and economic frustrations, young people have been rioting all over Athens, Greece for seven-consecutive days now to express similar grievances.
Granted, the riots in Athens were sparked by the shooting and killing of a 15-year old student by the police. And the immediate outpouring of sympathy over this incident was overwhelming and even riotous.
Yet there’s no denying that fellow students venting emotional grief soon gave way to alienated youths venting political grievances in a “destructive mania” that has already caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and scores of injuries.
And even though this transition seems to have been lost on Conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, most Greek politicians are acutely aware of the issues that are fueling these riots:
It is clear that this wave of discontent will not die down. This rage is spreading because the underlying causes remain…. These protests are a vehicle with which people can claim their rights and shatter indifference and false promises. (Opposition politician Leonidas Kyrkos)
But I warned it would be thus. In fact, here’s what I wrote over three years ago:
[T]he riots in France should serve notice on other developed nations that have relegated [the poor] to ghettos where crime and every order of vice pervade…These riots demonstrate what little spark it takes for the simmering resentment that burns in ghettos to set nearby cities ablaze and terrorize an entire country… There but for the grace of God…
[World beware: French riots affect us all, The iPINIONS Journal, November 8, 2005]
Specifically, reports are that the young people in Athens are protesting the widening gap between rich and poor, lack of job prospects and pension reform that threatens their future welfare.
Apropos my warning, riots are spreading throughout Spain, Italy and other countries as young people are taking to the streets “to attack targets of economic oppression” in solidarity with their Greek comrades. And where this will end, nobody knows….
For example, I can imagine nothing breeding more alienation amongst the poor in America than having the government dole out $700 billion in taxpayer money to Wall Street bankers (no matter the justification or rationalization) but refuse to loan a mere $14 billion to Main Street automakers (with millions of blue-collar jobs on the line).
More to the point, if the big 3 automakers go bankrupt as result of this refusal, it would not surprise me if the children of laid-off auto workers (or the workers themselves) begin rioting in the streets to vent their resentment and frustrations.
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World beware: French riots affect us all
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Miranda says
Leonidas Kyrkos is an interesting personality, a “landmark” for the left in Greece. It would be interesting to read a translation of his recent interview in which he firmly condemns riots and argues against a depoliticising twist that must not be complacently encouraged (especially by leftists) or we risk to lose completely the ground from under our feet. I may find the time to translate what he says.