Syntagma, Athens, June 15th 2011. How to put to words what we lived in this square, over the course of a single day?
A society in some spectacular turmoil; the most unusual of suspects have now taken to the streets. Syntagma was meant to be the epicentre of today’s attempt to block off Parliament as called by the square’s popular assembly. It was also the main focus point of the General Strike. At times, it felt like worlds in collusion: the naivety of pacificism, the fetischisation of anti-police violence. And around this collusion, a myriad others… In Syntagma today we fought off the Neo-nazis of the Golden Dawn, who had the nerve to show up at a General Strike. We saw the demonstrators’ clashing with police in the square’s South-eastern corner (for an unjustifiably long time) being followed by an astonishing, but only momentary, sweeping clean of the thousands on its square. People were trampled over tents, gassed like ants, fainting all over. By the time that the Delta motorcycle police tried to come into play, people had learnt the rules of the game — and they pushed them off. Twelve hours of nearly uninterrupted beating, tear-gassing, running, fighting. For these twelve hours, Syntagma compressed and showed naked the haphazard patterns into which people’s actions are cornered by this social order. A social order that is crumbling, an authority at loss, unable to manage its populace any longer. A regime that has fallen a while ago, only resting on the fallacy of some imagined national unity to try engineer change, to lengthen its days.
How can we possibly buy this? The hundreds of thousands who were out in Athens today already know: Syntagma was a storm; we are just waiting for the thunder.
26 Comments
Really interesting commentary. It seems that Greece, for whatever reason, is a lynchpin for the global economic banking oligarchy. A confluence of factors have led such a small country to be the epicenter of a world-wide storm. Greek society is divided, and embroiled in chaos for reasons that appear to rest mostly on chance circumstances.
The question that seems to linger for the world media is, will Greece default? These media spectators and market players only care because their money and system is at stake. They do not care about the Greek people one iota.
The spectacle of the riot serves an importance purpose. Although it represents chaos to those looking up close, it is part of a pattern that humans have devised to keep “fear” in their ruling class throughout the ages. It is a check and balance applied to counter the greed that stems from the ruling class no matter what ruling class there is. A lot of people ask, what is the riot going to achieve? What will this violence achieve? It is not supposed to achieve anything but a reminder to the power elite that if you exert your power you will see chaos. The Greek government may not take this message, and continue onwards towards its failed policies because some data-driven model cooked up by some Harvard economist told them there is a “right” method, a method detached from reality. However, when that method is implemented and it leads to predictable disaster, the masses will be there to struggle against the police and politicians. It is an endless cycle of human existence, and it will continue as long as there is corruption and repression in society.
Excellent summary of the day. There was a great moment in the middle of the afternoon when the cops were starting to probe the corners of the square and a group of drummers struck up in the middle and, just for a bit, we re-occupied the bottom section with defiant clapping and dancing. Then they fired a whole bunch of tear gas and we nearly choked, but it was fun for a bit.
people need to stop demanding.
people need to start building up a network for a new society without hierarchy.
Khaire.
http://facebook.com/rigelohim
”When you refuse to accept what you cannot change: this is trauma.
When you decide to change what you cannot accept: this is revolution.” ~ Amadeus Hellequin
All movement is change
It is time to move as before & as one.
You know where to find me.
πατέρας της Λακεδαίμονος.
Μου περιπλανηθεί στον κόσμο μέχρι εκείνη την ημέρα, όταν νόμοι μου πρέπει να αποκατασταθούν.
Η παρούσα διαταραχή δεν θα είναι της τάξης του μέλλοντος. Εξελίσσονται ή εξαφανίζονται.
Lykourgos
“the naivety of pacificism,”
What about the naivety of some ignorant yobs who are becoming overexcited, mix themselves with the cops-provocateurs, cause unnecessary troubles, can harm ordinary workers (somebody who can work under the minimum wage f.e), getting arrested and achieve practically nothing?
Blind violence is nothing more but a spectacle. The system uses that violence to produce more spectacle. It discredits the movement and gives an alibi to TV and authorities to fuck us up…
People need to understand that the fight of black bloc against the police is actually a fight of police against the police.
Julien: I think that’s what the author is saying in the rest of the sentence that you chopped off!
“the naivety of pacificism, the fetischisation of anti-police violence.”
Traduzione in italiano \ Italian transalation:
http://napoli.indymedia.org/2011/06/16/atene-le-ultime-ore-di-pompei-pensieri-da-syntagma/
@ Julien Chaulieu -
“People need to understand that the fight of black bloc against the police is actually a fight of police against the police.” -You couldn’t be more wrong, in fact, it is the pacifists who do the bidding of the state and the police by spreading their masochistic faith in non-violence, as if the onslaught by the cops, regardless of the Black Bloc or provocateurs and fascists could have been prevented by offering them flowers.
What you fail to understand, is that there is a strong possibility of default and collapse in Greece, which will lead to scenes of violence far worse than witnessed yesterday, and the majority of it will come from the government as it thrashes around trying to restore ‘order’. The Black Bloc is not perfect by any means, but at the very least, they know how to turn the idea of autonomy into a reality when faced with the MAT and Delta stormtroopers…Taken to its logical conclusion, pacifism would allow the cops to beat, gas, and shoot people into submission, and then claim a ‘moral victory’, while the state carries on regardless, safe in the knowledge that the masses are content to feel they are morally superior, even as they begin to starve…Better a fetish for physical confrontation, than one for the ideas of the hypocrite Mahatma Ghandi (wife-beater and anti-semite)…
It’s Gandhi not ghandi and what proof do you have that he was anti-Semitic? Just because he didn’t support Israeli apartheid?
Traducion en Español \ Spanish translation:
http://madrid.indymedia.org/node/17725
Well, whats important to remember about Gandhi is that he did not invent the struggle against the colonial rule, nor was he and his movement the only ones fighting it. There was a pretty widespread revolt at that time against the british by the workers movement, for example, who went on strikes, rioted and armed themselves. I would argue that they were the ones who put Gandhi in the position to be able to negotiate with the british in the first place – because obviously they prefered his political sollution, rather than a full scale social revolution. So Pacifism is overrated and so is Gandhi.
If you wanna get rid of “interested investors” you might check out the tactics of the anti-olympics-campaigns in Amsterdam and Berlin.
Regarding the other “discussion” of the dogmatix: As it’s far too early for a militant mass movement you’d better except and trust in decisions made by the people. If the “riots” were cops against cops the assemblies will let you know, also if the order came from Pasok, ND or GADA…
Part of the people are major parts of the greek army also, so don’t worry.
C’mon, as long as the turks don’t invade some inhabited islands…
A very nice article indeed, setting things pretty much in their real context. However, I have to say here that overall the black block yesterday did much more harm than good. Although we caught some undercover cops in their lines, I am sure that several more continue acting as “comrades”, and many more just followed their lead not understanding what they were doing. In the beginning, they were just throwing rocks to sitting policemen on the top square part until they would actually force them to respond with tear-gas. When we stopped them, they moved on to the lower part of the square and started smashing the McDonalds, Great Britain Hotel etc. It was only after this that the MAT on the lower part of the square started hitting everyone and storming the square with tear-gas. And from the moment that the black block left the top part of the square, there was not a single tear-gas thrown for the rest of the day there, although the lower-square part was mayhem.
We tried the violent way for years now (if not decades) without results. This “non-violent” movement has managed in only three weeks to get more than a million people in the streets, and the government is desperately searching for solutions… maybe we should give it a chance for a change?
Do not get me wrong, I am not the “naive pacifist” type. I fully understand that when the government runs out of communicational tricks, they will hit us with all they have. Still, if we are the ones to start the trouble now, this time will never come, as the communicational weapons we give them will be more than enough to turn society against us! Also, I want to make clear here that it was not all of the black block that caused this. As a matter of fact, although they came worked up for trouble in the beginning, after a while many realized what was going on and held others back.
On a final point, chasing off some neo-nazis should normally be a good thing. I mean, I really feel good thinking about it. Still, this was done in-between of thousands of people, also hitting several “innocent” (even leftist) people in the process. I just hope that this will keep the Nazis away, and not turn them into martyrs (which would have the opposite effect than what the black block initially wanted).
(and sorry for the length of my post)
@INCUBUS
Excuse me, what about harming an innocent worker by smashing the window of McDonalds? You know somebody who works under the minimum wage? What about having another 5/5?
What has happened in Athens on 15nth of June wasn’t really essential. You know in that protest there were mothers with babies. How about killing some young children? Also, what we saw in Athens during the 15nth of June was a few overexcited teenagers attempting to fight with the police. I am not against violence but there must be some strategic plan on that. You can’t START violence. You can use violence only to DEFENCE the protest. As long as there are babies and elder you CAN’T start a fight with the cops.
Did you forget the attack in the camps? Some of these masked oafs attempted to destroy the “direct democracy” camps. How do you call this?
Who the hell told you I am a fun of the racist Gandhi???
@HumanWannabe
Well, that`s my point of view too. I understand the anger, but 15.6. was a very harmful action in a sensible situation – as stupid as naiv pacifism.
Do you protestors ever really work? I mean bust your butt 60-70 hours a week work? The legacy of communism and socialist policies trashing any sense of entreprenurial expansion of your sad economy. Ruled by the ever proven failure of “government run everything” and myopic labor unions–you Greeks need
Do you protestors ever really work? I mean bust your butt 60-70 hours a week work? The legacy of communism and socialist policies trashing any sense of entreprenurial expansion of your sad economy. Ruled by the ever proven failure of “government run everything” and myopic labor unions–you Greeks need to get less government run breastfeeding programs and more individualism and true republican reform. Be responsible. Stop being thugs.
@ the capitalist shit called David Peterson
Really??? Aren’t you a bit ashamed to call yourself a republican? Perhaps not in the US but the rest of the world hates you. Of course we will continue protesting, disturbing you and make you feel even more uncomfortable. Soon you will loose power. Watch us destroying your capitalist shitty dream you twat. You individualist shit.
Obviously you are an ignorant person, cause FYI nobody works on a day of national strike.
Patently you are an disillusioned individual, that parrot talks & ape thinks in the master’s jargons, cliches & dogmas. And evidently you are a fallible goof, unable to get even a comment right.
Face it Peterson, you’re old, grey, erroneous, bitter, and suffering from a severe inoperable ideologic brain construct tempering with your unobjective sound judgement, so why don’t you just quietly fade away along with your terminally ill individualistic American Dream, behold it’s time’s up, just like your life-time runs out fast old man. Hooray, hooray.
@ Incubus, say I don’t understand, isn’t that yet a plus to be anti-Semitic?
I mean did the rise of global Zionist apartheid for the last couple of centuries totally slipped from your mind or is that another one of the taboo subjects on your ulterior self propagandist agenda?
@David I know everything Peterson
Read:
http://eagainst.com/articles/cornelius-castoriadis-the-rising-tide-of-insignificancy/
Peterson,
Working 60-70 hours a week is a good thing ?
“I mean bust your butt 60-70 hours a week work?” and this is what you call progress!!! Real progress is to work very little. Whatever means to you, work is just an obligation. You can’t deny it.
@ HumanWannabe- yes!
@JULIEN-never said you were a fan, agree about excitable teenagers, but as I said, we should never renounce our power in any form…
@JOHNNY-don’t bother me you odious, unintelligible little man, because I won’t reply to any of your empty opinions.
On violence- It’s good to know that those prepared to confron the state physically took a more nuanced, subtle view of when and how to exercise their power on the street. Conscious awareness seems to have superceded the old balck and white thinking of a philosophy af action.
The passive demos are tactically more favourable for the people…But the option to use force should be and is reserved as a right…Unthinking or ritualised violence is in itself a wealness ( See the mindless violence of the cops as an example…)
Our minds are our first and most potent weapon…
It seems to me that we are all living in a real world MATRIX… There are those of us whom notice what is going on in the world and in one way or another try to contribute by sharing information in the hopes that most people will wake up. And there are those who are stuck in the matrix and cast comments as to whether activists work. In answer to that… Yes we do and in many cases more than 60 – 70 hours a week. But the difference is we are not wearing blinders because were are afraid of the truth. Truth is we are no more than a renewable workforce that corporations can sell their unwanted crap to. Wake up people before your kids become part of a world wide fascist military machine.
You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.
~ Mahatma Gandhi
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