The tear gas, plexiglass riot shields and brute force of the Athens police brigades were no use in staving off more than a thousand angry people traveling from Crete to protest against tax hikes last week.
While the austerity street clashes of Greece dropped out of the American consciousness for awhile, it is probably no surprise that farmers engaged in confrontation outside the agriculture ministry regarding austerity measures when police blocked their entry into the building.
Reportedly, farmers there have been historically exempt from taxes but that might be a thing of the past with the Greek austerity chopping block so active. “Tax rates are expected to reach 26%, while pensions are being cut by as much as 22% by 2022,” The Guardian reported.
More than 1,100 stockbreeders and farmers arrived on overnight ferries in the early hours of [last] Wednesday, to protest against increases in tax and social security contributions demanded by the creditors keeping Greece afloat.
Footage showed the farmers, many wearing black bandanas, smashing the windows of riot vans with shepherds’ staffs, setting fire to rubbish bins and hurling rocks and stones.
When the agriculture minister, Evangelos Apostolou, initially refused to meet a 45-member delegation representing protesters, anger peaked. “Dialogue is one thing, thuggery quite another,” the minister said, before attempts at further talks also foundered.
What Now?
The Guardian adds,
The government is seeking to complete bailout talks over controversial income and spending cuts with visiting inspectors representing Greece’s international creditors. The country is due to make debt repayments of €7bn (£6bn) in July and faces the prospect of default if the bailout review is not completed.
“We have come to ensure the victory of farmers and to have results,” said Yannis Psarakis, a farmer from Kyparissi, outside Crete’s main city of Heraklion. “We want to have them take back everything they have encumbered us with. To us, it seems like the powers that be have looted everything.”
Similar clashes took place in Thessaloniki, where Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, was taunted by protesters and asked if he could “survive on a pension of €400 a month”.
How much longer can Greeks hold out without fatal effects? Two years ago, rural Greeks survived austerity by gardening, bartering and subsisting on very little – but many of them only had a few months left of survival. What happened to them, and what happens now? Other EU member states probably do not want the reminder of Greece’s economic crisis looming too close.
As for the U.S., on top of crazy proposals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership under its various manifestations – we bail out parasites we call Wall St – while Americans go hungry – so that suits can keep playing speculation-roulette and pop derivatives like gum bubbles, tanking the markets like good jolly fun. They produce nothing and have no consequences. Maybe Americans should find their wills again and hold Wall St, Congress and the Federal Reserve banksters responsible for once if they don’t want economic riots to join the other forms of civil unrest here.
Photo credit: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters
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Heather Callaghan is an independent researcher, writer, speaker and food freedom activist. She is the Editor and co-founder of NaturalBlaze as well as a certified Self-Referencing IITM Practitioner.
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Take note Americans. 1000 sticks against 100 guns may work in Greece but here the police will just start shooting us and half the sheeple will agree with it. We are our own enemy.
But G’ma, we have 300 million weapons.
This is the same pump and dump scheme they just call it by another name.
The unholy goatworshipers were given the keys to the unfederal baloney bank of the U.S. and most every country. They have declared war on the populations, but most aren’t aware of different battles being waged.
Vaccines – this is abuse. Killing the auto immune system and unleashing untold havoc in the body.
Synthetic drugs – attack organs while masking symptoms.
Chemtrails – raining down micro particles of various poisons and couple with HAARP is used as weather war.
Perpetual oil wars – winning is not the objective, death is.
GMO – attacks internal organs.
EMF – causes white blood cells to mutate.
Drones, red light cameras and constant watching.
Fluoride – causes brain rot and other ailments.
Common Core for our children – teaching them bogus facts about fascism, racism, homoism and other isms.
Climate change – was global warming and started the same time HAARP and GWEN appeared on the scene.
END the FED and all zentral bankz.
Income tax is theft that started on 12/21/1913 when the treasonous Woodrow Wilson gave these vile inhuman swamp creatures the keys to the unfederal reserveless bank of the U.S.
Silver stakes required.
keep spreading this info! and more! thanks.
Very good information summary and … it is the reality!
Well done! Thank you.
Nations like Greece gave up their sovereignty for cash. They sold their birthright for a mess of pottage. The Greek people should vote the current government out of office!
IMO it is too late for that kind of actions.
Evil has been brought to the greek people already by all these austerities. People are becoming desperate. A civil war is looming?
The people should just throw out the EU-dictatorship.
The clou in the background in the EU is, when you are not paying your EU bills, you have lost your EU-vote. Think about that. Democracy? The politicians are pulling the people the second leg.
The Greeks have been austered into oblivion IMO for a certain goal.
I always wonder what and how many resources are under the greek soil of which the people haven’t the clue, but the Zionists Banksters have this information and want the Greekd Land for nothing and for more profits in their own pockets?