The First Domino Falls in Greece

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Published on Monday, May 21, 2012 by Common Dreams
The First Domino Falls in Greece

by Shamus Cooke



[font size="1"]Demonstrators protest against government austerity measures outside the Greek Parliament in Athens last month. (Photo: CNN)[/font]


Greece’s situation is not an isolated event, but a bellwether for the industrial world and beyond. The fallout from the 2008 global crisis hasn't reached bottom yet, and the depths will be dug deeper as the Euro crisis spreads — political crisis will create economic crisis and vice versa, as periods of calm and stability are replaced by international turmoil and panic.

The media and politicians have portrayed the Greeks as indolent and stupid, refusing to swallow the economic medicine needed for a healthy recovery. But the austerity medicine of the bankers — slashing and privatizing the public sector, cutting wages and benefits, mass layoffs, etc. — is a cure that threatens to kill.

What will happen in Greece? Its future was hinted at in the last elections. The centrist parties were devastated by the reality of economic extremes; the "middle ground" simply fell out from under them, since society had been torn asunder by the inequality of the very rich versus everybody else.

In consequence, the radical left party SYRIZA is polled to come in first in the next elections, based on its firm stance against austerity and its uncompromising attitude against the bankers of Greece and beyond. The corporate politicians wanted SYRIZA to take part in a "unity government" that would magically rebuild the country’s lost middle ground and continue the pro-banker austerity policies. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/21-2

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