[lbo-talk] "Greeks Challenge Austerity" by T. Harrison and J. Landy

[Joanne Landy]

At 03:28 PM 8/15/2012 -0500, you wrote:
>On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 1:10 PM, Joanne Landy <joanne.landy at igc.org> wrote:
> >
> > The Greek Grassroots Challenge to the Politics of Austerity
> > By Thomas Harrison and Joanne Landy
> >  Co-Directors of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy (New York)
> > 
> <http://www.cpdweb.org/docs/2012.greece.shtml>http://www.cpdweb.org/docs/2012.greece.shtml
>
>I haven't read the full document yet, but based on what you've posted
>here, I have two, or maybe three, quibbles. First, I think the Golden
>Dawn-Syriza opposition is overdrawn and overlooks the way that GD is
>in many ways encouraged by the government; see particularly the
>current, ongoing pogrom of migrants in Athens and other cities. Your
>article makes it sound like GD alone is responsible for the misery of
>migrants, when clearly it's government policy assisted by GD.

Well, government policy on immigrants is indeed terrible, but Golden Dawn 
exerts a strong influence on this issue.


>Second, Syriza's stance, which seems pretty absolute, that Greece stay
>in the eurozone is politically problematic and strategically
>foolish--it is signing away its own bargaining power. Tsipras begging
>understanding from Hollande and Merkel doesn't help.

Well, Syriza has made it clear that they don't and won't accept the 
austerity measure that the Eurozone masters are demanding, so that's not 
just begging for understanding. There is a good argument to be made for 
letting this process play out, rather than unilaterally withdrawing from 
the Euro -- though as we said in our article, we weren't sure that Syriza's 
strategy is the right one on this.


>Third, you seem to find hope in slogans/programs like "We are all
>Greeks." I think the nationalist undertones there are troubling, and
>I'm not sure how they aren't the mirror of right-wing flag-waving. It
>seems like a slogan/strategy ripe for racist/right-wing cooptation.

Tis slogan is the opposite of right-wing flagwaving. It is beckoning for 
international solidarity.


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