More on the Athens riots
Prependum (for my parents): Yes, we’re still going. Don’t worry. We’ll be peaceful, we’ll be careful, we’ll be ok.
Kimberley pointed me at a Rowan Thorpe rant about the Athens riots. It’s a good rant, and he’s angry about some of the right things.
I’m not sure, though, that the issue of whether the rioters call themselves ‘anarchists’ is so important. The childishness shows in the impulsive short-sighted violence, not in the label attached to it. (I don’t know enough about the political position to call myself an anarchist, so I don’t have the unpleasant feeling that ‘my’ label is being appropriated by a bunch of violent idiots. I imagine I might feel differently if they were rioting in the name of formal pragmatics.) I agree totally with the childishness of dressing in uniforms (whether official or ‘radical’) and inciting violence. But I miss, in that rant, some anger at the root causes of this madness as well as the immediate expression of it.
There are two groups of people I’m very angry at about this mess, and another two I’m fairly angry at.
I’m furious with the people lighting fires. Whatever they call themselves, that’s not ok. What do they want, precisely and specifically? And how is setting buildings on fire helping them to get it? (I applauded when they set the christmas tree on fire; burning police stations is nothing but childish misdirected revenge; and I simply cannot understand how anybody could think it’s a good idea to set a library on fire.) The only answer I can find to these questions is: they want to set things on fire.
I’m furious with the Greek government. People don’t riot without two preconditions: (1) They think they’ll get away with it, and (2) They believe they don’t have any other way to be heard or to get what they want. The first condition shows the government has absolutely no control over the populous; how then is it “governing”? The second is exactly what a democracy is supposed to avoid. These are people who believe, rightly or wrongly, that their government does not, will not, hear their complaints. How is that “democratic”?
I’m angry at the policeman who shot a 15 year old boy. But I’m furious with the system that made it possible for him to do so: the political system that put an aggressive man in uniform with a loaded gun and sent him out for a predictable ‘clash’ with equally aggressive young people; that gave him every reason to believe that he could literally get away with murder.
The Greek justice system, it seems, does not work. Police agents are not properly punished for crimes committed in uniform. Two sets of people believe this (whether it is in fact true is relatively unimportant): the police themselves (who act as if their uniform gives them power instead of responsibility), and the students (who believe that the justice system cannot be trusted to deal properly with these crimes). If they have no faith in official justice, and if they feel aggrieved enough, of course people will take the law into their own hands. And of course the result will be a mess, the hotheads who shout loudest end up leading the protest which turns into a riot, any fool can see this story can’t end happily. The point of a justice system is not just to punish criminal behaviour, it’s to reassure people that criminal behaviour is being punished, so that they don’t feel the need to take things into their own hands. It’s to stop things like this before they even get started. The Greek government has failed here spectacularly; blame the idiots in uniform but blame even more the idiots who put them in uniform.
The last group I’m angry at is the moderates; my friends, my girlfriend, the people whose side I’m on. The people who marched yesterday to the Greek embassy in Den Haag chanting “Cop, pig, murderer” and left a message of solidarity demanding the release of every rioter held in custody. You are missing the point. Demand an election, demand a bipartisan government, demand a reform of the police system. Demand the power to change things, put into the hands of those you trust to represent you. Demand that the system be made to work, as concretely and specifically as you can.
Because the demands you have made, they’ll be accepted. The officer who shot Alexis Grigoropoulos will be punished, sure no problem. The rioters will be released, as a gesture of goodwill if the burning stops. (And every shopkeeper left without a shop will be furious with you for denying him justice, and grateful to the government for paying out when his insurance wouldn’t: you make it all but inevitable that the entire left becomes “Those anarchists who rioted in 2008”.) And when Korkoneas is punished, the police system and government can proudly say “Look, we’re cleaning up, we sent that murderer to jail!” and nothing fundamental has to change.
You should march in protest not out of ‘solidarity’ with hopped-up pyromaniacs but out of a desire for change. And a desire for change doesn’t just mean that you don’t like things the way they are, it means you know how they should be made better and you ask for it. It’s not very romantic; it’s hard to make a chant out of; it probably doesn’t involve burning anything. But honestly, how much better off are we without the christmas tree, the police stations, and the library?
Addendum: We will be in Greece next week. We will probably be avoiding the places where the rioting has been the worst, depending on how the situation developes over the next week or so. I’m sure this is the only thing we’ll talk about for our entire holiday, and I’m sure I’m going to meet a lot of people who disagree with me totally. There are some questions I’ll be asking them: (1) What exactly (concretely, precisely) do you want to change? (2) What are you doing to make that possible? (3) What level of violence are you prepared to be involved in, and what level to condone? (4) How are you going to ensure that those levels are enforced, that things don’t escalate beyond? (5) Are the people you ‘stand in solidarity’ with in agreement with your answers? (Or: how much sharing of responsibility does ‘standing in solidarity’ entail for you?) I think I’m satisfied, more or less, with my answers to these questions. Before you attack me for not understanding the situation or the background (Ολγάκι μου, κοιτάω εσένα…) ask yourself how clear you are on your answers. I think it’s important.
Comments
If the cop is not punished then I will eat my buffalo-skin hat. The point is that punishing one officer, because of the threat of widespread rioting, is absoluately no guarantee that anything changes about the system. I believe it's even counterproductive to demand this, since it gives something easy the government can 'give in' to and then they can claim that they are taking positive action.
As for whether the rioters will be released: certainly not while there's still rioting going on. But I would expect (perhaps this is naive of me) that there will be some sort of statement after things have calmed down somewhat, claiming that they are being let off lightly in the interests of not creating an inflammatory situation. Again essentially an easy concession for the gov't to make, letting them claim to be the good guys without changing anything systematic.
Olga: "Things that we have been demanding for years now, but no-one listens. NO-ONE."
Ok. So what can we do best in the wake of all this burning?
March, peacefully (peacefully!) making the same demands. Coordinated action with a definite goal. Now while people in the country are moving and people out of the country are watching. (Well, better wait until the movement within the country isn't straight to the matchboxes and lighters...)
This madness has shown what protest that goes unanswered leads to. If we can make the same protests and make sure they don't collapse into madness, perhaps they'll get some kind of answer now the alternative has been seen.
Hopefully. That is our last hope...
Well, you can always move to New Zealand. (Πλάκα με κάνεις;)
Having read your blog-post and the comments to it so far, I want to say I agree wholeheartedly with what you (& Όλγα) say. Also (for what it's worth) I agree that whether the rioters call themselves 'anarchists' is not necessarily the most important point. I primarily used that angle to highlight the absurd level of uninformed hypocrisy on all 3 sides of the equation (police, their "enemies", and the mass media cynically milking the situation for a fast buck as usual).
My main thrust is that there are a dangerous number of uneducated people roaming around, waving arbitrary flags in an attempt to legitimise aimless, violent outbursts (which aren't even focused enough to be called "agendas"). They undermine the people who are trying to be constructive (under various banners, and in some cases under none). I actually agree with the things you are angry at (and you felt I missed in my rant), but what I tried to state, perhaps not clearly enough, was that there is an even deeper cause to all the things you mention (pyromaniacs, irresponsible government, dysfunctional justice system, unreliable police, etc). Put simply, if people were more informed, aware, and truly "educated" it would give them enough context to be repulsed by the stupidity and pointlessness of their present actions/reactions, to realise they are being systematically used as smokescreens for far more dangerous actions, committed by far more dangerous people, and to seek out more constructive forms of activism, and more effective ways of expressing themselves. I even include many of the so-called "authorities" in that remark (as being used as tools of distraction).
A relevant quote: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be... The People cannot be safe without information. When the press is free, and every man is able to read, all is safe." - Thomas Jefferson
By the way: I know you were half-joking, but must add that I don't particularly endorse the recommendation to move to NZ either, it's got its own set of "issues". Note that I voluntarily live in Greece - not NZ...!
Hi Rowan, thanks for stopping by. I should have said in the post that just because your rant didn't discuss these things is no reason to expect you haven't thought about them.
I certainly don't disagree with you. We could have a right wing-ding battle about emphasis, maybe, but I'm actually mainly interested in what can be done next. I'm pretty new to this politics business (was a bit surprised to find myself holding strong opinions) and I'm genuinely trying to figure out what one person (non-Greek not in Greece) can constructively attempt and achieve.
If we do make it to Athens I'll drop you a mail, maybe you can give me some pointers. (Original plans were for a triumphal national tour, now under some revision for obvious reasons.)
About NZ: I'd never give up my passport. But I'm not so keen to leave Europe just at the moment either. The major issue NZ has for me is, it's bloody far away from everything else (except Australia and really who cares?). Retirement option, maybe...
Hm. Bracketing: "right (wing-ding) battle" not "(right wing)-ding battle".
Not sure if it's the logic, the linguistics or the programming getting in the way here but whichever it is, I do too much of it.
Oh, yes - I sympathise with that self-bemusing programmer/linguist/etc feeling... Often when I re-read (and over-read) stuff too late at night I end up with a distinct
void main(void) { }
feeling. In my case it usually boils down to a "lack of coffee" getting in the way.
Thanks for this post.
Most news reports about the situation in Greece leave a lot to desire. The information about massive, violent riots as a result of a policeman shooting some young man doesn't make much sense if you aren't provided at least some context, and the newspapers usually fail to do that. Independent media, on the other hand, usually have their own agenda (which may not be as obvious as in the case of mainstream media), so they require a lot of filtering. I don't believe you to have a hidden agenda in manipulating information about the riots, however, which makes you a rather reliable source of information. And, you have done all the heavy lifting.
Your vacation may turn out to be rather interesting.
(BTW it is strange to find the the blog of a Kiwi linguist living in Amsterdam a good source of information about the riots in Greece... Life is full of surprises).
I've got a pretty direct line (via Olga) on the anger and frustration giving rise to the rioting, although I couldn't tell you from my own experience how justified it is. It might give you some social context to know that the lawyer defending the police officer has attacked the character of the kid who died; the inflammatory stupidity of this move just boggles my mind.
Here's more political/economic context, if only a little.
I agree with you totally. We were not marching in Den Haag "demanding the release of every rioter held in custody". It was just a reaction to what was going on. We were not very organized to demand anything. I do not agree with the release of every rioter. But I know that the police arrests whoever finds in the way, not only the vandals. And there are more innocent people arrested than guilty. Those people should be released. But this is not the point right now.
In our discussions with the people in Den Haag who were marching together but did not know each other, we were talking about all this that you are mentioning. What should we do? What should we demand? An election, a bipartisan government, a reform of the police system - as you say. Things that we have been demanding for years now, but no-one listens. NO-ONE.
Don't judge all Greeks from those who burn everything down as a blind reaction to what is going on. Most of Greek people do not agree with this way of expressing your anger. There are thousands of people who are trying to "demand the power to change things" with peaceful ways. Unfortunately there are no ears to listen to us. And we are too sad that people reach the point where they just go out burning whatever they find in their way...
And something else. You say, "the officer who shot Alexis Grigoropoulos will be punished, sure no problem", but you shouldn't be so sure. Policemen in similar situations in the past have not been punished. There is no justice. If the riots were not happening, the incident of this murder would have passed as an accident, and no-one would have been accused (Saturday night, right after the incident everyone -in the media- was talking about an incident where the policeman was defending himself from an attack of a group of around 30 young people! Which was an absolute lie. The kid was shot after a verbal conflict!). Today I was reading on the newspaper that the lawyer Alexis Kougias said: "The investigation shows it was a ricochet ... In the end, this was an accident." So, do you still think anyone will be punished? This announcement is not official yet. But I believe that if it becomes official the riots will never end until the whole country is burned down... And surely the riots will not be released.
The background is indeed too complicated, and would be quite difficult for you to realize in depth in just 2 days. You are right to disagree with the vandalisms. They can only make things worse. I am only saying that there is a reason for all these vandalisms (which I also disapprove).