Solidarity with Fire: The Insurrection to Come

11Dec
by Maximilian C. Forte

“solidarity with the fires in Greece, the insurrection to come”

Today is the sixth continuous day of protest riots in Greece, with some of the biggest developments being the international spread of the protests and the magnitude of the damage done to private business in Greece. This is just a roundup from mainstream news sources including The Guardian (UK), The Telegraph (UK), Associated Press, and Reuters.

Coming to a city near you:

  1. Mardid
  2. Barcelona
  3. Paris
  4. Bordeaux (Greek consulate)
  5. Moscow
  6. Rome (Greek embassy)
  7. Copenhagen
  8. London
  9. Bristol (using catapults against a police station!)
  10. Berlin
  11. Frankfurt
  12. The Hague
  13. Istanbul
  14. Cyprus
  15. New York

Count it up:

  • “In bond markets, the spread between Greek debt and German benchmark bonds — a measure of perceived risk — reached its widest point this decade, nearly 2 percentage points”
  • “The Greek Commerce Confederation said the riot damage to businesses in Athens alone was about 200 million euros, with 565 shops wrecked.

Death toll of those murdered by anarchists? ZERO.

Memorable admissions and concessions:

  • “Authorities…acknowledge concern that the Greek riots…could be a trigger for anti-globalization groups and others outraged by economic turmoil and a lack of job opportunities.”
  • Michel Corfias, Greek consul in Paris: “The events in Greece are a trigger.”
  • the conservative daily newspaper Kathimerini said in an editorial: “This is a country with a state that is in a shambles, a police force in disarray, mediocre universities that serve as hotbeds of rage instead of knowledge and a shattered health care system. It is also on the brink of financial ruin.” (emphasis added, with “lol” implied)

The Greek “model” and the anarchist cosmopolis:

Guardian editorial, Weds., Dec. 1o, 2008:

The more general lesson of these troubles is that unless governments are more attuned to the difficulties faced by their citizens, and particularly their younger citizens, they may well face similar but much worse times in the future, as the recession begins to bite. Greece’s difficulties are not a product of the recession, the major impact of which is yet to come in that country. But that does not mean they are not a sort of model of what might happen elsewhere if governments go into the recession without a new emphasis on equality. Prosperity reduces the political effects of inequality. High expectations and wide opportunities produce one kind of politics, low expectations and limited opportunities another. Solidarity is the key policy in navigating the dangerous waters ahead.

Updates for today from a live blogger and protester:

  1. 21:41 ATHENS, PATRAS, THESSALONIKI, KOMOTINI: Fascists and cops get the response they deserve
  2. 18:52, THESSALONIKI: Cops provoke 2,000-strong demo; students besieged in the Northern town of Komotini
  3. 14:18: 25 police stations besieged by students. The murderer cop was member of a nazi group (?)
  4. Homo Sacer Quartet
  5. 7.58: It is all up to the school students now
  6. Murderer on Alexandros: “He had exhibited deviant behaviour”

We are all Greek today

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4 thoughts on “Solidarity with Fire: The Insurrection to Come”

  1. Pingback: We are all Greek today! « One Day for the Watchman

  3. Coyote

    It’s not *totally* true that anarchists haven’t murdered anybody. In recent decades, we as a movement have had an admirable respect for living beings, but back in the day (say, the 20’s and before) there were some highly publicized murders/assassinations, some involving innocent people getting blown up.

    Fucked up shit. I hope attitudes have really changed. I mean, any significantly large group of people will have fucked up shit going on. No matter what, we kill less people than the state, at least.

    1. Maximilian Forte

      I am glad you posted, in part because it helped me to discover your great site:

      http://crimethinc.com/

      Of course you’re right. In Greece however, and in comparison to what we have seen since in Iran and Honduras, the protests almost seemed to be — and I really do not mean to diminish or trivialize them — very theatrical productions, on both sides, that is both the police and the protesters. I am certain they were all deadly serious, but in hindsight it was as if both sides had implicitly, subconsciously agreed to certain rules of engagement. Compared to their Iranian and Honduran counterparts, the Greek police, notorious for their thuggery, come off as more humane nonetheless. I find it very strange to even be typing these words, it’s an unexpected realization, and I may regret this spontaneous interpretation.

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