Greek Violence Ready to Escalate?
Will Greek violence escalate? Already lawful demonstrations mix with violent outbursts on the streets. The economy continues to deteriorate and voters won't hear of "austerity" even as the government makes promises to the rest of the EU in order to keep getting money.
But a recent incident occurred that may signal something more worrisome.
During a televised debate leading up to elections, the head of the "Golden Dawn" party, characterized as "neo-fascist" or "neo-Nazi" depending on your source, slapped the face of the female representative of the Communist party - three times. But you have to see the video to appreciate the rather violent confrontation that occurred between the two.
Back in the 1930s, Hitler's National Socialist (Nazi) party hated the Bolsheviks (Communists). There were violent confrontations on the street. Each side wanted to liquidate the other. When Hitler finally came to power, he surprised the world by signing a treaty with Stalin which called for each to attack Poland and split the country in half. (Even with that treaty, the Nazi government - which was elected to power in 1932 - began rounding up Communist rivals.) Eventually Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union did attack Poland and divide that unfortunate country. Shortly after that, Germany attacked the Soviet Union and the bloodiest fighting of World War II commenced.
I'm not showing the video below because I believe the violence you see will lead to World War III. After all, Greece is hardly Germany in the 1930s. But this outburst really caught my eye because I've been concerned about a continuing escalation of violence on all fronts because of our ongoing economic and financial crisis both in Europe and here. (Indeed, it seems to be a worldwide crisis that continues to grow, as we hear of Chinese, Asian, and general emerging market economic slowdown.)
What will happen is that politicians will take actions that cause some form of "austerity" to grip their citizens. The people won't stand for it. The politicians don't want to lose power, so they'll continue to pursue the same policies that caused the crisis to begin with. There will be no easy or rational way out. Politicians will wait for crises to grow ever bigger until there's chaos and violence.
Maybe we won't see this everywhere, but it does seem to be on the verge of happening in Greece. Will it stop there? Will it come to Spain soon as the Spanish economy continues its nosedive and austerity measures grip the Spanish people?
How about the U.S.? We're not Greece - yet. But cutbacks are starting to sink in and more people who are unemployed are out of work longer and longer. Are people running out of money? We've already seen how a large percentage of Americans have virtually no savings. We know that 46 million qualify for food stamps. You've seen statistics like this. The question is whether the statistics are telling us that a growing number of people are getting to the point where desperate measures appear the only way out. We may not be at the point of escalating demonstrations and violence, but should we be on the lookout - for our own sake and the safety of our families?
I wish I knew the answer. But I'm not taking any chances. I'm keeping my eyes and ears open and my mind sharp. You may want to do the same.
Here's the video. You'll see that as the disagreements build, water is thrown at a woman on the panel of political parties. Then the woman in the white blouse with black hair (Communist party) smacks the young guy next to her on the arm with a folder (the Golden Dawn party). The young guy then starts slapping, maybe even punching her - in the face. It's a bit shocking.
But a recent incident occurred that may signal something more worrisome.
During a televised debate leading up to elections, the head of the "Golden Dawn" party, characterized as "neo-fascist" or "neo-Nazi" depending on your source, slapped the face of the female representative of the Communist party - three times. But you have to see the video to appreciate the rather violent confrontation that occurred between the two.
Back in the 1930s, Hitler's National Socialist (Nazi) party hated the Bolsheviks (Communists). There were violent confrontations on the street. Each side wanted to liquidate the other. When Hitler finally came to power, he surprised the world by signing a treaty with Stalin which called for each to attack Poland and split the country in half. (Even with that treaty, the Nazi government - which was elected to power in 1932 - began rounding up Communist rivals.) Eventually Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union did attack Poland and divide that unfortunate country. Shortly after that, Germany attacked the Soviet Union and the bloodiest fighting of World War II commenced.
I'm not showing the video below because I believe the violence you see will lead to World War III. After all, Greece is hardly Germany in the 1930s. But this outburst really caught my eye because I've been concerned about a continuing escalation of violence on all fronts because of our ongoing economic and financial crisis both in Europe and here. (Indeed, it seems to be a worldwide crisis that continues to grow, as we hear of Chinese, Asian, and general emerging market economic slowdown.)
What will happen is that politicians will take actions that cause some form of "austerity" to grip their citizens. The people won't stand for it. The politicians don't want to lose power, so they'll continue to pursue the same policies that caused the crisis to begin with. There will be no easy or rational way out. Politicians will wait for crises to grow ever bigger until there's chaos and violence.
Maybe we won't see this everywhere, but it does seem to be on the verge of happening in Greece. Will it stop there? Will it come to Spain soon as the Spanish economy continues its nosedive and austerity measures grip the Spanish people?
How about the U.S.? We're not Greece - yet. But cutbacks are starting to sink in and more people who are unemployed are out of work longer and longer. Are people running out of money? We've already seen how a large percentage of Americans have virtually no savings. We know that 46 million qualify for food stamps. You've seen statistics like this. The question is whether the statistics are telling us that a growing number of people are getting to the point where desperate measures appear the only way out. We may not be at the point of escalating demonstrations and violence, but should we be on the lookout - for our own sake and the safety of our families?
I wish I knew the answer. But I'm not taking any chances. I'm keeping my eyes and ears open and my mind sharp. You may want to do the same.
Here's the video. You'll see that as the disagreements build, water is thrown at a woman on the panel of political parties. Then the woman in the white blouse with black hair (Communist party) smacks the young guy next to her on the arm with a folder (the Golden Dawn party). The young guy then starts slapping, maybe even punching her - in the face. It's a bit shocking.
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