There's The Formula ...
Greece is hit again with violent street protests. The young and the unemployed and the under-employed all protesting vociferously against government austerity measures. The first government bail-out hasn't proven effective because of a lack of implementation of measures to be taken to meet the economic crisis.Greece is in danger of defaulting its loan, and is in need of yet another loan.
In its efforts to stave off complete economic collapse it is attempting to persuade its population that strict measures must be taken and must be accepted as a dire necessity. People, already stressed with high unemployment and tight budgets along with fewer government services are rebelling. And the Greek public has a well-earned reputation for violent protests.
And now, additional problems. With the economic downturn and the great uncertainties accompanying attempts at recovery, crime has arisen where once it was kept well in check. Violent assaults with weapons, and use of assault rifles in armed robberies are becoming familiar to the police, in Athens.
Statistics show that street robberies have doubled in two years, homicides are up 50%. "Crime has not just increased - it has become more complex and more violent, particularly organized crime": Thanassis Kokkalakis, police spokesman. And where has it all come from, so alarmingly suddenly, when the country is facing a double crisis of economic confidence and surging crime statistics?
The desperation of drug addicts, where long waiting lists for government-sponsored rehabilitation programs have been unable to meet demand. And the rising incidence of illegal immigrants coming into the country from Turkey or by ocean-going ships to the Greek islands. And migrants from Albania and Bulgaria whom the police claim exploit poverty-stricken arrivals from Asia and Africa.
Illicit trade and crime have resulted in squalid and exclusionary zones in tightly-packed, dark streets where police are unwelcome. The counterparts of such immigrant-heavy and socially-averse areas are seen in other parts of Europe, like the banlieues in France. They become infested with drug and sex trades and armed battles between groups claiming control of the illicit trades.
The presence of illegal immigrants and the sordid areas in which they live and both the petty crime and the crimes of extreme violence they engender has created a backlash among the Greeks, with the rise of right-wing opponents to their presence, and a surge of brutal attacks against immigrants. Far-right groups seek out migrants and beat them, leaving the indelible message of hate and exclusion.
The country is failing itself and flailing helplessly in its attempts at self-rescue. Prime Minister George Papandreou, a seasoned political veteran, would doubtless wish to turn back the clock. But events overtake the past and surge into the future at a pace and with a direction that no one might have predicted.
"Athens will sink if it descends into violence", he predicted. It has, and it yet may.
Labels: Economy, European Union, Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, June 16, 2011
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