| Interview: Theodorakis’ call to arms | |||||
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When parliament debated the EU-IMF bailout memorandum on February 12, Mikis Theodorakis and Manolis Glezos, famed for their resistance during the German occupation and the Greek junta, were looking on in the chamber. The two octogenarians and former MPs had just suffered a police teargas attack in Syntagma Square. They are among the most prominent crusaders against the unprecedented austerity dictated by Greece’s creditors.
In a recent open letter to the international community, entitled “The Truth about Greece”, composer Mikis Theodorakis points to a nexus of military industrial interests - from Germany and France to the US - which profited from Greece’s excessive borrowing for decades.
In an exclusive interview with the Athens News, the leftwing icon lashes out at the Greek political system and calls for a popular uprising.
Athens News: Why do you consider passage of the new austerity programme treason?
Mikis Theodorakis: In 2009, Greece was at a level of, let’s say, 100. In two years, the troika, the IMF and our government drove us to ground zero, as Premier [Lucas] Papademos conceded. Does no one wonder why the country is heading towards chaos, even though we are told every so often that the Europeans have sent tens of billions of euros? Where does that money go? It goes straight back to our creditors, while burdening the state with new debt and interest payments. That’s how debt rose to 160 percent of GDP, and with the new 130 billion euro package it will jump to 180 percent. That is unprecedented, and it means we will be bound hand and foot on a stake of debt and interest for the next 150 years. With what right can parties who represent a minority (polls give Pasok six percent voter support and New Democracy 20 percent) decide Greece’s future for the next 100 years?
What were your thoughts as you heard the parliamentary debate on the bailout?
I am not interested in a parliament representing a minority of the nation - they total less than 50 percent of the electorate combined. From a constitutional standpoint, they are illegal because they are staging a coup, just like the members of the junta.
Would disorderly default be better for the middle and poorer classes than the bailout?
How can one speak of default in the future tense when we already have absolute bankruptcy - when 423,000 businesses have shut down and the unemployment rate is over 20 percent. Don’t you see the people scouring through garbage and sleeping on sidewalks? Those who led us consciously to bankruptcy - the troika and the government - now claim they want to save us from bankruptcy. It is incredible! With the new memorandum they are legitimising the first one (2010), which did not receive a three-fifths majority [needed to cede sovereignty]. Law professor Yiorgos Kasimatis has argued that even 300 MPs cannot negotiate our national integrity (akeraiotita). All acts implementing the memorandum are thus illegal. The troika, the government and all politicians who took such decisions are illegitimate. You can be sure that one day they will be tried and punished.
Can the left wing alone overturn the memorandum?
No, not just the left. But the entire people can - from the patriotic left to the patriotic right. The homeland. Hellas. United as one fist, one day we will oust unworthy governments, troikas and Merkel-Sarkozy.
Greece is rich. Our people are hard-working. What do we lack? We lack essential national independence. Since the end of the civil war, since 1950, all the major issues - diplomacy, defence, economy and politics - were decided by the Americans. What are the parties that have ruled Greece? They are the parties that have the US’ blessing and are sworn to keep the left wing in the corner. However, today the Patriotic Left is beginning to awaken. These are the forces that saved Greece from the Nazis, first fought the junta and finally delivered democracy. On that point, I am in a position to know the hidden truth.
As for the two parties [New Democracy and Pasok] that have ruled Greece, they led us to excessive borrowing, corruption, subjugation to the IMF in 2010, and, from there, to catastrophe. This is the view of the people, who punished Pasok and [former PM] George [Papandreou], who went from 44 percent in the 2009 elections to six percent in polls today. People are beginning to understand, to wake up and to protest.
Who is to blame for the crisis - the Greeks, the Germans with their austerity model or the all-powerful markets?
The only crisis is the crisis of international capitalism, which is up against the international mafia comprising the giants of finance capital - of virtual money. Finance capital has apparently bought off today’s European leadership, which does not realise that it is putting a noose around its own neck. Today, the European leadership threatens and acts like a predator. Tomorrow, they [all of Europe] will be the victims, just like us.
Where is the political system headed after the expulsion of dozens of MPs from Pasok and ND?
After Pasok’s six percent in the polls, ND will definitely suffer the same decline. There may be new parties, but they are the same people and with the same mindset; people who accept our national dependence and the presence of an essentially foreign government. The political system today is like a train running on rails put in place by foreigners, who are leading us where they want to go. What difference does it make if the train carriages are filled with new parties? What if the conductor-premier changes? The train can turn neither right, nor left. There is no steering wheel. The speed and brakes are determined by foreigners. Today, they are driving us to absolute chaos. The only solution is to cut the rails and replace them with our own, in the direction decided by the Greek people, if at some point they have the power to take their fate into their own hands.
Why haven’t you been able to unite the people in an anti-memorandum front? Is your new organisation Ellada designed to do that?
Manolis Glezos and I called on the people to flood Athens in protest, and they did. There were hundreds of thousands. In terror, the state power sprayed poisonous gases directly at us, to kill us. Glezos fainted and fell down. At first, I saw Charon (death) with my own eyes, as I could not breathe. I recovered and returned to my post, in front of the riot police guarding parliament. I took a loudspeaker and said: “Don’t be afraid. We won’t be storming. We will do that later, when we are ready.” That’s when they started throwing thousands of “bombs” of all kinds. The atmosphere became dark from smoke bombs and gas attacks. I was saved because I had a mask. Hence, you can be sure that Ellada is doing well, and it will accomplish the goal for which it was created.
Was the destruction of Athens planned? Is there a danger of a social explosion?
It was based on a plan to scare the people. If there were not the riot police unleashing gas and violence, a million people would have surrounded parliament. The people in hoods, hand in hand with riot police, fought us. Then you had the gangs, thieves and scum, who profit from looting and burning. You get a nightmarish situation, where truth - hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters - is hidden under a cloud of gas and smoke. That it contained anger, disgust, rage and decisiveness is what scares the powers that be, who try to push it aside in every way - mainly through destruction. Thus, the only party responsible for today’s hell is the political leadership. The government!
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If it doesn’t blow from the right, it blows from the left.
I’m surprised he doesn’t float.
He is full of more hot air than your average politico.
Old lunatic fanatic, Mr Theodorakis - so it is the Americans and the Germans fault that Greece is a ruined, corrupt, and horribly mismanaged country with zero competitive edge?
Agree, economically default is the best solution for the people, but politically who will continue to reign and suck out the blood of this country? The same people who did this all along?
No, this country needs a place in the EU for its own sake, needs an oversight of his economical and jurisdictional affairs to become civilized, competitive, and eventually, in a few years or more, considerably well off.
Otherwise Greece will continue to be what it is now; a third world country.
Sure Miki, why not? Blame the Americans.
Let me confuse the old leftist with some facts:
Prime Minister Constantine Tsaldaris went to the US in December of 1946, hat in hand, pleading to President Truman for US assistance to save Greece from falling into the Soviet sphere.
President Truman, a Democrat, in response to this plea, convinced the Republican Congress to grant $400 million to Greece ($300 million) and Turkey ($100). On May 22 1947, President Truman signed this appropriation into law. Thanks to President Truman Greece was prevented from becoming a Soviet satellite.
President Truman understood the institution of Democracy....unfortunately modern Greeks misunderstood the magnitude of the American action and took it as "free" money and proceeded to ignore Democracy.
What the old leftist Theodorakis doesn't understand is that Greece has long been USED (yes used) as the fulcrum of democracy between the west and the totalinarian monster - democracy as invented by Greece and defended by the Americans.
So go ahead Miki, blame the Americans, but the real culprits are the thieves and the leftist Papandreou clan that have ruled Greece since the 50's. By the way, if memory serves me correctly, the wacko old man Andrea became an American (Harvard PhD Economics 1943 and US Navy Corpsman) and his son George (June 1952, St. Paul, Minnesota) was born an American.
I like some your songs Miki, but do yourself and Greece a favor - stay out of politics; stop blaming the Americans, and hope that the Germans don't take over the Greek government.
"and hope that the Germans don't take over the Greek government."
To effectively take over the government, Germany would have to replace all officials in the administration (because it would be useless to giive orders that nobody follows). And that would require an invasion of Greece. But we aren't into such madness, such crazy fantasies about ruling other countries, anymore. Take a look at German media, talk with German people. We're actually annoyed that so many pundits demand that Germany takes the lead in the European crisis. We don't want that power, that comes with an enormous responsibility, and would rather like to contribute to support for people to enable them to help themselves.
Sadly, this isn't working in Greece, because no leading politician wants to be responsible for unpopular but necessary reforms, and they all rather like to put the blame on the troika. It's because of this lack of accountability and political support for changes that this crisis has become such a mess. Most of us Germans would vastly prefer if Greece would leave the Eurozone now and take matters into its own hands. We really had enough of providing more credits for this screwed up state and only receiving insults in return. Taking over the Greek government? It's our worst nightmare, really!
DrG, your comments are variously inaccurate, ridiculous, ill-informed, and verging on the contemptible.
At no point does Mr. Theodorakis say or imply that America, Germany, or any other country is at fault. When specifically asked who is to blame, he cites "the international mafia comprising the giants of finance capital," a reasonably supportable claim. His references to Germany and America reflect their actions as direct supporters (and beneficiaries) of anti-democratic regimes in this country, from WW2 to the dictatorship of the '70s to the new colonialism of the Troika today. It is also notable that neither country is making any effort to assist in de-corrupting the country, beyond scurrying to protect their own narrow economic interests.
Greece needs EU oversight to become civilized? Are you serious? You're proposing political and economic slavery for the country, in a manner that is every bit as demeaning as physical slavery. Your facile faith that "a few years or more" will be enough to make "a ruined, corrupt, and horribly mismanaged country" into one that is "considerably well off" betrays the shallowness of your understanding of the situation.
Finally, if Greece is a third world country, what business had the Eurozone in accepting it? Why would they take on such a disaster? And more to the point, why would France, Germany and their banks lend it over €60 billion? It wasn't charity: they didn't adopt the country to teach it to be civilized and competitive. It was business, and mutual exploitation. If you want to condemn Greece in that way, you likewise condemn those who have dealt with and profited from it.
Please take your search for an easy scapegoat elsewhere.
For an alcoholic to transform himself into sobriety, it requires a self admittance that "indeed, I have a problem"; only then will he be able to do something about the problem. The excuses that you and Mr Theodorakis are giving for Greece's problems demonstrates that the country is not ready (and i doubt it will ever be)to move forward. The old "blame game" is the lifeblood of the left and it will continue to be so as long as dinosaurs, like Mr. Theodorakis remain alive.
Forgive me, but did you even read my comment beyond the first line? I don't believe there is a single "excuse" for Greece in it. What I objected to was the singling out of Greece as the one and only culpable entity, and the more-than-implicit suggestion that legal and economic slavery was a fitting state for its citizens.
I can accept your statement that the "blame game" is the lifeblood of the left, if you can accept that it is the lifeblood of everybody else in the political spectrum as well. In calling upon the alcoholic (i.e., Greece) to admit his problem, you yourself are assigning blame. The essential question is not "which one is to blame," but rather, "what are the causes that brought us here?" The second question begs an honest examination of responsibility on the parts of all participants—responsibility for both the problem and the solution—and it will never properly be asked if the level of debate never goes above "Greece bad."
Mikis Theodorakis is right!
I am writing this as a German married to a Greek.
I am ashamed that my country has not generously paid war reparations to the Greek victims of the German occupation.
I consider it a scandal that the UN court prevents victims of the Nazi terror to take the perpetrators to court.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/world/europe/un-court-upholds-german-i...
While there is no excuse for German and French arms dealers and manufacturers for making a profit by selling submarines, tanks, helicopters and frigates to Greece, the questions remains:
Who has ordered this military material, how much in bribery did this person(s) get, and who has put this person(s) into office?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQGkP68AVTI&feature=player_detailpage#t=286s
Who is buying all these weapons, where will they be used?
http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/MS.MIL.MPRT.KD/compare?countr...
This is barking mad!
I would like to see the Greek fellow Europeans to rise and chase the dishonest, corrupt and selfish politicians out of parliament, all of them.
And then refuse to pay the banksters their immoral extortionate profits.
But please do not turn against your fellow European citizens who suffer under the same political elite and immoral system. Teach them how to clean up properly and how to establish a Europe based on a social market economy. Have a look at the examples set by Sweden and Norway. Ban usury.
There is enough blame for my adopted country Greece to go around...from the "Banksters" in the World including Goldman-Sach, AIG and others who plundered the Greeks and also the government of Athens who should have been more alerted to the economic problems that were developing quickly.
Remember always that the Greeks are a proud people and I as a solid Greek-American am very proud also. Don't be blaming Greece for their apparent demise but the major Euro nations that "don't give a damn about Hellas"..and if it were up to me, instead of having to kiss the Euros behinds, I'd go back to the Drachma and tell the rest of major nations to put the euro dollar where the sun does not shine...and it'll fit because they have the biggest prejudice that any rear end can hold..
Gia Sas Ellines..Hang in there...
Me Agapi kai karthia...
Georgos Pannos
San Francisco, Ca
In my opinion this is one of the few clear-headed accounts of the true picture of what has been going on since about 2008. I would refer the doubters to http://www.realitysandwich.com/homepage_sacred_economics.
Wow, the old lion stood up and spoke with vim and heartfelt urgency for the fate of his homeland and culture, encapsulating myriads of arguments that take in the spirit of the occupy movements in America, to the Pirates [the party of the 20 somethings] who took 10% of the municipal elections in Berlin last Fall, and all the commentary to this is pseudo-Rovian sophistry. This man is a mentor who has seized the kern of the problem and argued it without recourse to ethnic slandering or hyperbola. If his call finds no resonance, it will be a sad morrow for Greece.
It is only through detailed interviews like this that we really get the best of the best in information that is needed for us all to understand what is really going on in certain parts of the world.
There is a lot that we all need to do in order to learn about the sustainability and what is happening other than listening to the media who is stifled in their reporting.
My greatest respect for Mr. Mikis Theodorakis. He is right in many points.
This time it is Greece who are affected, next time ... who knows?
To explain my point and offer a solution for the Greek people I have added two links below.
The thing is that Greeks KNOW that something is wrong, but they don´t know really what and don´t have a designed solution to the problem.
As Mr Theodorakis says: "There is an international conspiracy whose target is the complete destruction of my country." This might be true or not. What can we do with this information? What can be DONE about it?
In order to inform people I suggest the following video, which gives a historical view of the problem. Greece is not the first country having this problem. And then there is a solution. In order to understand the solution I invite Mr. Theodorakis and all other Greeks to study this video and thereafter study the solution.
May Greece always stay Greek.
The whole documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXt1cayx0hs
And it gives a SOLUTION!
http://www.themoneymasters.com/monetary-reform-act/
I do not understand why a nation such as Greece needs 300 Politicians for a population of 11 million. The US with a population of 308 million has 535 members in congress. Change needs to start from the top and one way of doing this is to call for the abolition of 150 Parlaimentary jobs and the slashing of 50% of MP's wages. Where is the example by Parliament for the Greek nation to change? The people should be in front of Parliament demanding the above changes.
Finally, a realistic account of history and what is actually going on. As far as the US is concerned, every interference in an other country's affairs, diplomatic, subversive spy agency, or military, is explained by "support of democracy". What happens next is the imposition of another dictator or some other sort of authoritarian regime. Then follows the pillaging of those countries by corporate fascists, the destruction of public institutions, the privatization of all public services, including healthcare, the erasure of pensions, the confiscation and destruction of all natural resources, with pollution of land, air, water, and food.
Mikis Theodorakis is a great Greek, a man whose advice the country should follow. If not, there is only complete destruction waiting and then a neo feudal state. The banksters are going to pillage the country into the stone age. There won't be any value left to extract once they're done.
The quality of Theodorakis' "punditry" is nicely exposed in his take on how Greece allegedly could have prevented the crisis:
"Mr. Papandreou could have dealt with the financial crisis (which as I have said reflected the European one) by borrowing from foreign Banks under the usual interest rate of under 5%. If he had done that, there wouldn’t have been the slightest problem for our country. In fact, the opposite would have occurred; because we were on an economic growth path, our standard of living would certainly have risen."
http://www.oid-ido.org/article.php3?id_article=1247
If you seriously believe that Greece could have simply escaped the consequences of the global economic crisis by borrowing more money at an interest rate of 5% (hahaha!), then you certainly also believe storks deliver babies and Santa Claus hands out gifts at christmas. You Greek people know your country very well, do you really think it could have not only weathered the storm, but even delivered a higher standard of living, something that the most successful economies didn't manage to achieve? Come on, folks!
Theodorakis is a great songwriter and composer, but when it comes to politics and economy, his views and advices evidently are worse than those of the most demagogic politicians of his country. It's more of the same old mix of distortions, paranoia and wishful thinking, but Greece needs a different kind of leaders now, persons with knowledge, reason, and realistic judgment. It's your choice who you want to listen to, but it's also your responsibility. If you follow Theodorakis' weird ideas, you can't seriously complain afterwards about his "cure" having made the desease worse.
Imagine loaning billions of dollars to a bankrupt nation just so it can pay back ridiculous loans made by irresponsible bankers to an irresponsible Greek government which leaves taxpayers to carry the can. The idea is so stupid it beggars belief.
Micky Theodorakis is a living legend. I am privileged to have been born to see and hear his monumental music and accomplishments. Politically, he is in tune with the world - a world in which he is a seer, an actor, a prophet. Who else could have nurtured opinions so directly as his with his experiences? His mission is not over; he has not reached ripe age for nothing. He keeps us apprised of where we are headed. His open letter reflects to a great degree how matters really are; the indisputable truth. Those who oppose are those we should be wary of.
The world is in danger of re-entering the 1920s era when the worker was little more than a rich man's slave, when children worked in mills because education is unattainable due to cost, when women were expected to adhere to their lord and master. Capitalism has proved itself for what it is - an enemy of the common people! Opportunism and greed! War and exploitation! Boys die in the name of patriotism when the real for wars is plunder. I wish Mr. Theodorakis a very long life with good health and many more successes.