Greek protesters storm the Acropolis

Greek protesters storm the Acropolis

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/04/greek-protesters-storm-acropolis

Helena Smith in Athens

World markets plunge over fears that Greece's economic crisis will spread to other countries despite austerity measures

Protesters drape banners in front of the Parthenon today. Photograph: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images

In a dramatic escalation of the anger unleashed by the economic crisis engulfing Greece, communist protesters stormed the Acropolis todayas the euro and world markets plunged on concerns about the debt-choked country's huge bailout from the EU and the IMF.

Irate trade unionists took over Athens' ancient landmark as fury over an unprecedented package of austerity measures, agreed in return for a multibillion euro aid package from eurozone nations and the IMF, intensified.

I think the damage is done.

I have never used this smilie before...

:hide:

the people of the world are waking up. The rich are getting richer and we're told to accept wage freezes and austerity packages. Fuck that.

I hadn't heard that canard in a while.

I guess if we rise up we will be called "socialists"

However, that is a weird thing to call anyone opposing the Socializing of the Too Big To Fail crowd. isn't it? They got Main Street's money, they keep the profits, and only dela with us when another round of Bailouts is needed.

is a socialist or a communist.

The working class in most other nations has maintained their radical traditions.

In the United States this tradition will be relearned as this economic and political crisis deepens.

Thanks.

It's a legitimate political movement in almost every country in the world but this one. Do you have something against communists? Why do you let the right stigmatize a word?

"Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece (Greek: Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas), better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ (usually pronounced "koo-koo-eh" or "kappa-kappa-epsilon"), is the oldest party on the Greek political scene."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Greece

After WWII, but didn't know if the Party was still active at this point in time.

That's probably why.

who spent their nation into crippling debt with promises they couldn't keep and social goodies to the people they couldn't afford but that kept them getting elected.

Their pensions are meager to begin with. 500 Euros a month? That's a social goodie to you?

When the govt has to borrow increasing amounts of money to promise you a meager pension you have a problem.
When the citizens of a country take pride in NOT paying taxes you have a problem.
When your country has had no real economic growth but keeps borrowing more and more money you have a problem.

Hey wait seems like the US has a problem too.

Simple concept:
Given long enough time line is revenue < expenses you go bankrupt.
Can't keep spending money that isn't yours (and never was) forever.

That applies to an individual (buying some goodies on a credit card) or a govt (promising some "goodies" with other peoples money). Only the scale changes, the concept remains rigid.

but if you use it as a way to get elected when the funds just aren't there to begin with, it will simply create a big problem down the road, one that younger generations will have to pay for. This isn't just a problem in Greece of course. And perhaps the biggest factor about government spending is what kind of an investment it is in the country's future. Most welfare programs, like social security, while obviously necessary to give people a way to live are not good investments. Tax cuts are another form of not good investment, as most consumers simply put their money in savings with it or pay off bills, again, a kind of short term economic boost.

However, spending on things like education, infrastructure, scientific research, poverty fighting programs etc. can have real and incredibly great returns. When your government spends most of its GDP on things with very little returns and is spending in debt, much like ours, these things will happen. Our military spending is probably our biggest drain of all that doesn't serve some humanitarian purpose by and large. But in countries like Greece, they don't have a bloated military budget to cut. The only cuts they really can make are social-welfare related, and those of course are the hardest to cut politically.