Post by tidequeen on Nov 20, 2013 22:35:15 GMT -5
Greece today is a troubled nation, deeply unsure of its future and deeply aware of the hardships that are beginning to be endured.
I was in Athens recently at the invitation of the EU and the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs to speak to adult migrant teachers on the lessons to be learned fromAustralia's migrant settlement and migrant education experience. The Greek adult migrant program which essentially teaches Greek to legal migrants from places like Albania and Pakistan is in turmoil as the government devolves responsibility for it to the local municipalities. Few of the teachers I spoke to will retain their jobs.
My return journey was snapback hats delayed by more than 24 hours due to a general strike that closed down Greece, including the Athens international airport. And I was present at the demonstration in Syntagma or Constitutional Square in front of the iconic Parliament building, where all major Greek protests take place.
As the 60,000 protesters paraded into the square, I came from the streets behind the Parliament through the police lines to snapback hats observe the march. Hidden away in the side streets were hundreds of heavily armed riot police, young and tough in their mien and more than ready to do snapback hats battle. As it turned out, they were not needed. Except for a few ritualistic skirmishes at the end, the march passed off peacefully in contrast to an earlier protest.
The demeanour of the marchers was of complete seriousness with no hilarity or frivolity. In fact, there is much to be serious about. Six months ago the Greeks were looking around for scapegoatsthe Americans, the French, especially the Germans, the greedy international bankers etc. That has now changed.
All the placards, usually directed at their own government and at the failure of the rich to meet their taxation responsibilities, were all written in Greek none was in English to carry a message internationally. The Greek people, albeit slowly, have come to realize that their predicament has resulted from the incompetence of their own governments, both left and right, that extends back to the leftist government of the early 1980s of the father of the present prime minister, George Papandreou. They have lost trust in their politicians. And they have realized the 2004 Olympic Games was an over expensive jaunt their small nation could ill afford.
Athens itself, home to 40 per cent of the Greek population, is beginning to have a tired, tattered look. From the commanding view of the Acropolis, Cheap Michael Kors Handbags one cannot see a single crane breaking the skyline. In and around Omonia Square, the other main square, some middle range hotels have closed, shops had been battened down and even a supermarket has closed. Homelessness and suicide rates are said to be up.
Even though the Greeks have stopped spending, appearances are being kept up. In the Hondos department store, the perfume and make up sections were their usual busy selves whereas the fashion dress and handbag counters were without customers. Fortunately, the tourist market is generally holding up and I was struck by the number of Aussie accents I heard as Australian tourists embarked on their tours of the Greek isles.
My three former RMIT students facilitated my visit. They told me how their wages as government employees had been cut by 30 per cent. Especially Cheap Furla Handbags daunting was the crippling property tax of 2 4 per cent, depending on the economic status of the area. It is to be paid through the electricity bill no tax payment, no electricity.
One student, a social worker with refugees and the disabled, is married to an electrician; they have a young son. She told me that she has not been paid for three months. Every time she goes to the supermarket, she is accompanied by her father who pays the bill. She asked me whether they should keep their small amount of savings in a Greek bank. She reflects that those Greeks in trouble will get through only because of extended family support. She said that if things really get desperate, "at least I have my Australian passport".
Another will have to sell some inherited land on a new era hats wholesale Greek island to snapback hats pay the property Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren tax which is partly designed to hit those who have not previously paid their full taxes. Right across Greece, the Orthodox Church is distributing help. One morning, close to my hotel in downtown Athens, I counted 80 young illegals, all Cheap Michael Kors Handbags male, lined up outside the Catholic Caritas Hellas office.
Everywhere I went, people, especially professional people, explored with me the possibility of migrating, particularly to Australia where so many have relatives and friends. A forthcoming Australian embassy seminar had been completely booked out. We will have another Greek migration wave over the next 5 10 years.
Athens is the birthplace of western democracy, and one of the politicians gave me a copy of Pericles' famous funeral oration for those who had died fighting Nike nfl jerseys china to defend it. It is ironic that democracy may eventually be at risk in Greece, highlighting the consequences when democratic leadership goes awry. And ultimately that is the point it is the power of the people who must ensure the competence of the governments they elect. It is the power of the vote.
