"Defiance over Greek fee hikes spreading; More are deciding to say, 'I Won’t Pay’ by Elena Becatoros, Associated Press / February 23, 2011
ATHENS — They blockade highway toll booths to give drivers free passage. They cover subway ticket machines with plastic bags so commuters cannot pay. Even doctors are joining in, preventing patients from paying fees at state hospitals.
Some call it civil disobedience. Others a freeloading spirit. Either way, Greece’s “I Won’t Pay’’ movement has sparked heated debate in a nation reeling from a debt crisis that has forced the government to take drastic austerity measures — including higher taxes, wage and pension cuts, and price spikes in public services.
What started as a small pressure group of residents outside Athens angered by higher highway tolls has grown into a movement affecting ever more sectors of society — one that many say is being hijacked by left-wing parties keen to ride popular discontent.
A rash of political scandals in recent years — including a dubious land swap deal with a rich monastery and alleged bribes in state contracts — has fueled the rebellious mood....
Critics deride the protests as yet another example of a freeloading mentality that helped lead the country into its financial mess....
Here we call it the WALL STREET MENTALITY!
See: Goldman Sachs Screwed Greece
Yeah, that's them. They screwed a lot of people.
Many accuse left-wing parties and labor unions of usurping a grassroots movement with legitimate grievances for their own political ends.
Of course, if corporations or right-wing governments and groups use it that's okay.
And if you run some undermining, cointelpro program here in the U.S. that is fine, too.
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Of course, Greeks who know about Gladio understand what agent provocateurs are:
"Greek general strike turns violent; 15 police hurt in protest of austerity moves" by Derek Gatopoulos and Nicholas Paphitis, Associated Press / February 24, 2011
ATHENS — Youths wearing ski masks hurled chunks of marble and fire bombs at riot police as clashes broke out yesterday in Athens during a mass rally against austerity measures, part of a general strike that crippled services and public transport around financially struggling Greece.
Police fired tear gas and flash grenades at protesters, blanketing parts of the city center in choking smoke and forcing thousands of peaceful demonstrators to scurry into side streets for cover....
And Obama didn't bomb 'em?
Stathis Anestis, deputy leader of Greece’s largest union, the GSEE, said a “small group of troublemakers marred the otherwise peaceful protest.
Yes, we have SEEN THESE KINDS of TACTICS BEFORE!
“Unfortunately, some people don’t want to understand that such behavior, intentionally or not, undermines workers’ struggles and only serves the plans of governments, employers, and all those who want to take tough repressive measures against workers,’’ Anestis said....
CUI BONO?
State hospital doctors, ambulance drivers, pharmacists, lawyers, and tax collectors joined school teachers, journalists, and thousands of small businesses as more middle-class groups took part in the protest than have in the past....
Oh, the PROTESTS are GROWING!!
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More "protest":
"Greece launched a tirade against US credit ratings agencies yesterday after Moody’s downgraded its debt grade further below junk status, warning the bailed-out euro country might have to default on its massive borrowings....
All so bankers could get paid.
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Related:
"Greece... the most expensive military budget in Europe in per capita terms, and second only to the United States in the alliance."
No austerity needed there, huh?
