JAY: When we talked, I don't know, a couple of months ago, the support for the left-of-center party, left-wing party SYRIZA seemed to be gaining. It was a question of whether this current government could sustain itself. And there was real talk about a possible SYRIZA government. Where's that at?
LAPAVITSAS: Well, that's taken a back seat, to a certain extent, because once the new raft of measures were introduced, the new, fresh austerity measures were introduced, the government then took a very strong authoritarian turn. And a certain despondency and disappointment has set in among the population. People increasingly feel that this is some kind of major disaster. It looks like a natural disaster, against which they can do not very much. Also, the labor market is extremely soft, with nearly 30 percent unemployment, and the ability and willingness of people to strike has obviously become much less. So the combination of these factors has actually led to a certain retreat of struggle, a certain—the movement in a sense has taken a few steps back. But I stress this has gone together with a deepening of social discontent, of social crisis, of a sense of society falling apart, and of a sense of national humiliation. This is extremely dangerous politically, extremely dangerous politically, because this is the type of climate in which the extreme right can also thrive, as you can imagine.Perhaps I can put it differently. Greece is caught in a trap, similar to many other countries across the world, but a trap made much worse because of membership of the Monetary Union. The powers that be are slashing wages, are imposing austerity, and they think that by doing that they are rejuvenating the economy, they are creating a lean and mean economy, and at the end of this, Greece is going to surge ahead.Nothing like that's going to happen. Society is being trapped. And as that happens, we're seeing phenomena of the 1930s emerging, phenomena of social disruption, anger, and despondency, and extreme willingness to resolve to violence.This is where we are, and the situation is hanging in the balance.
via therealnews.com
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