Image via WikipediaI have been listening to the news over the last few days and especially to some political shows, where they have been coming down hard on the people for striking and rallying all over the country in result to the tough austerity measures demanded by the IMF-EU memorandum.
Law after law, and policy after policy, they have angered the people so much that common everyday nobodies are braking the law on a daily basis just for survival. (Not paying hiked tolls, increased bus fare, etc...)
When policies and laws become unenforceable through extensive disobedience it is clear that a government is losing its legitimacy, for it does not have the support of the people anymore, and such is the case of the PASOK government here in Greece.
From the unionists, to the objectors and to the civil rights campaigners, disobedience, protest and rallies have become as common as drinking coffee here, and quite frankly are not regarded as alien. Some say this is because of economic reasons
I, on the other, believe that it is because people are flatly fed up. For many years the Greek legal system and its political masters failed to prosecute corruption, tax avoidance and the crimes of power and wealth in this country.
In fact the law system and the rule of law here is totally hypocritical and extremely unconvincing and this is because it has been associated for too long with the rule of powerful politicians, wealthy and corrupt industrialists and/or businessmen and their well paid propaganda/promoters/journalists (or as I have termed them in previous articles their papagalakia).
Citizens here might have given their consent to the constitution and government, in a real or virtual social contract, and promised their obedience, but they expected laws that promote the common good of the people in return and not an anything goes environment. None of these laws ever delivered, and that is why they are so highly disregarded by the people.
I will give you an example: A new tax policy that was just tabled in parliament says that if you owe the government money you will be jailed, simple as that! If, on the other, the government owes you money, then you have no right to claim it, demand it, protest and rally for it and the government has the right to pay you back whenever it sees fit.
The point I am trying to make is, how can a government expect its people to be obedient, law abiding citizens, and not react by protesting, when within its ranks the words profiteering and kickbacks are as common as drinking a glass of water…
How can it criticise or come down hard on its citizens for protesting about their welfare when it was the very system that for years plundered the power of the people for their votes?
And more importantly… how can you expect people not to reach the boiling point when every other day we hear of a new scandal… or a new investigative committee that is going to be set up to investigate the new scandal, or we hear about a “shady” public contract that is going to be signed that is totally scandalous, or we find out about scandalous contracts that have already been signed and have made half of the members of the Greek parliament own more homes, property and other assets than Century 21….!!!
And so on and so on and so on….
In fact, corruption is so big here, that all productive forces by the simple people of this nation are totally drowned. That is why Germans call us lazy… that is why I hear most of my friends back home tell me that all you guys do in Greece is drink coffee and go out every night. And I know this is not true… Indeed Greek people enjoy their coffees… but the majority of the people here cannot even afford the simplest things… in fact they cannot even make ends meet every month.
In a few words these buffoons who are governing us are limiting our freedom, pride and dignity, have tarnished our democracy with all their shady dealings, and more importantly have kneeled us to the point of eruption…. it is no wonder people disobey laws, scream for justice, and rally, what other choices do they really have?
I mean as long as it is non-violent I think in certain circumstances it is necessary. Don’t forget the protests and rallies during the Vietnam War during the 60s and 70s led to a major debate amongst judges and political philosophers and a war ended because of their strength.
It is common sense, when you vote for a government you are not giving them a blank cheque to do whatever they want. They work for us… and not vice versa. A controversial or wrong policy does not become automatically legitimate because it was enacted in Parliament and has become a law and it is not obligatory that the people accept it either. We are not robots… we are humans.
Going against laws that do not represent the people is a dangerous freedom it represents morality at its highest. It happens when someone reaches the point at which he says to himself “enough is enough, I can’t take it any more” and is prepared to risk punishment.
The result: it points the finger at the corrupt politicians and “Yes Men” and makes the citizen’s true agents of democracy. At that point, the attempt to control the people and turn the multitude into a pliant body politic simply and ultimately fails.
In the end, hope will bring about change, which in return will produce new realities for our nation.
Posts
