Socialist Progressives
Related: About this forumSyriza's answer to austerity, he continued, would be this: "The bailout is over. Blackmail is over.
"History is knocking at our door," declared Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the leftwing coalition party of Syriza in Greece, during a speech addressed to thousands of supporters in Athens on Thursday night as he stood next to his foreign compatriot Pablo Iglesias of the Spanish Podemos Party.
"The wind of democratic change is blowing in Europe."
Pablo Iglesias, PodemosSyriza and Podemos have become the mouthpiece of the anti-austerity movement in southern Europe while Tsipras and Iglesias have emerged as key political leaders who emerged from the grassroots, street-level protest movements which rose in opposition to the severe economic policies imposed by elite forces following the financial crisis that began in 2008. In relatively short time, both Syriza and Podemos went from being non-existent political entities to standing on the doorstep of taking power.
With national elections in Greece just days away, and Syriza's polling numbers only improving, Alexis Tsipras announced that his party is prepared to "overthrow" the status quo and vowed to implement swift changes to undo the austerity policiesimposed at the behest of foreign creditors and attached to a bailout package offered by the European Central Bank and the IMFthat have left the Greek economy in tatters. Standing before the large crowd, Tsipras announced that by Monday, "[Greece's] national humiliation will be over. We will finish with orders from abroad."
Syriza's answer to austerity, he continued, would be this: "The bailout is over. Blackmail is over. Subservience is over."
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/01/23/verge-victory-europes-ascendant-left-declares-subservience-over
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)~Hisao Hanafusa
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)I sure hope they get it right this time.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)We. Should pay attention and support their battle, which is our battle too, and the world's battle against the 1%
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)and their super-national power is international alliances of the common people, and I don't mean just labor unions.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Yanis Varoufakis, tipped to be Syriza's new finance minister, tells Paul Mason what his party would do if it gets into government in Greece, and admits the prospect of power in Europe is "scary".
Interview here
http://www.channel4.com/news/we-are-going-to-destroy-the-greek-oligarchy-system??
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)in Athens 2500 years or so ago, was actually a "democracy" of the oligarchy. The citizens were persons of leisure, and total parasites on the labor of their slaves.
We seem to keep coming back to that exact system. Or never getting away from it in the first place.
So I fervently hope they get it right this time. Anybody who talks about destroying the oligarchy system is singing my tune.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)Although your point is well taken, not all were men of leisure
Anyway you can take the course for free and even get credit for it like I did,
It's really interesting and free
The Course
http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/clcv-205#syllabus
The lectures are on YouTube now, I listened to them on iTunes years ago
playlist is about 15 hours
http://m.youtube.com/playlist?feature=plcp&list=PL023BCE5134243987
Sample
The dark ages ""first lecture after the introduction
https://m.