After managing to ignore politics for the last five weeks, there is no escaping it in Athens - nor in the villages in Crete if you really look.
The owners of the little hotel I stayed at in Mirthios are showing the strain - the bi-monthly extra tax bill with the electricity account is causing them huge stress, as they never know how much it will be each month. They are also supporting one daughter who can't get work and another whose wages are too low to pay her rent.
I was in Sfakia for the elections - the owner of the hotel there told me he was disgusted the Nazis ("Golden Dawn") managed to win seats for the first time.
In Chania a shop owner said nearly all the shops around her had closed over the last year.
Here in Athens there are closed down shops everywhere, even on the tourist streets. Plenty of graffiti too, which I take ages to decipher as my Greek reading skills are still quite slow. Apparently there is an Occupy demo on tonight, according to BBC World News but I missed it in my hotel comfort zone. The police here have armoured police wagons and there were a few around Syntagma, but they could be there every day.
On the trolley bus today I was talking to three young African men - we were talking French and to deflect the questions about whether I was married or not I started asking about the work situation. One told me the racism in Greece means he can't get work so is trying to go to France, "but it's complicated" (if you've seen any of the films about illegal immigrants in Europe you will know why).
It's encouraging to see the high vote for SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left) and the anti-austerity message it is sending Europe. (see http://greekleftreview.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/the-greek-paradox-and-the-left/#more-2767). They are likely to get an even higher vote in the next election now the mainstream media has had to stop ignoring them.
I wish I understood more but I'm not staying here, and there is plenty in New Zealand to deal with: irrational welfare reform, privatisation of our collective assets and Prime Minister John Key making private deals with Sky City casino to increase pokie harm, to name a few.
Good luck to the Greeks - I hope they stand strong and develop a better economy that works for more of its people than the current one does.
The owners of the little hotel I stayed at in Mirthios are showing the strain - the bi-monthly extra tax bill with the electricity account is causing them huge stress, as they never know how much it will be each month. They are also supporting one daughter who can't get work and another whose wages are too low to pay her rent.
I was in Sfakia for the elections - the owner of the hotel there told me he was disgusted the Nazis ("Golden Dawn") managed to win seats for the first time.
In Chania a shop owner said nearly all the shops around her had closed over the last year.
Here in Athens there are closed down shops everywhere, even on the tourist streets. Plenty of graffiti too, which I take ages to decipher as my Greek reading skills are still quite slow. Apparently there is an Occupy demo on tonight, according to BBC World News but I missed it in my hotel comfort zone. The police here have armoured police wagons and there were a few around Syntagma, but they could be there every day.
On the trolley bus today I was talking to three young African men - we were talking French and to deflect the questions about whether I was married or not I started asking about the work situation. One told me the racism in Greece means he can't get work so is trying to go to France, "but it's complicated" (if you've seen any of the films about illegal immigrants in Europe you will know why).
It's encouraging to see the high vote for SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left) and the anti-austerity message it is sending Europe. (see http://greekleftreview.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/the-greek-paradox-and-the-left/#more-2767). They are likely to get an even higher vote in the next election now the mainstream media has had to stop ignoring them.
I wish I understood more but I'm not staying here, and there is plenty in New Zealand to deal with: irrational welfare reform, privatisation of our collective assets and Prime Minister John Key making private deals with Sky City casino to increase pokie harm, to name a few.
Good luck to the Greeks - I hope they stand strong and develop a better economy that works for more of its people than the current one does.
No comments:
Post a Comment