Liberation – the Multitude Speaks

CJKILQpWIAAmg5ZGreece snatching victory from defeat today in a referendum in which the forces of intimidation and fear were outmatched by real-world experience of economic dogma is, as Martyn Bennett put it: ‘marvelous in our eyes’.

The stunning brave Greek rejection of austerity and financial warfare will catalyse massive change throughout Europe. The threat of a good example has never been clearer.

If true this is a political earthquake in Europe which will have profound implications for Europe, Britain and Scotland. This is a leap from the Eurozone to the Liberation Zone.

Tags:

Comments (23)

Leave a Reply to June Stewart Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

  1. Iain More says:

    The BBC will be as sick as parrots since they claimed the vote would be neck and neck. LIARS!

  2. Lesley Docksey says:

    I am so thrilled to see democracy in action. Thank you Greece! Next stop Podemos in Spanish elections. And to all those who voted today – all I can do is raise my glass and say Yassou!!

  3. Carnyx says:

    Overjoyed

    [quote]When that tide of passionate words ebbed, I took the liberty of asking him about Mrs Thatcher and her likely impact on British politics. I can now reveal that, at least on that night, Mick McGachey’s powers of prophecy were intimidatingly sharp. His answer still rings in my ears: We are fucked. And so are you (meaning Greeks and assorted Europeans). Then he added something that history has not as yet delivered its verdict on – but which I hope (and also trust) may well come true: Democratic politics will recover again. It will take quite a few decades. But its recovery will not come from the metropoles; from London or from Paris or from Rome. When I asked him to pinpoint the loci of the far-off ‘recovery’, he thought about it, entered into an exchange with another unionist (that went totally over my head), and only then turned back to me, looked at me in the eye, and delivered the answer: “From places like mine and yours. From Scotland, from Greece, from Ireland.” The final-orders’ bell then rang ending our conversation. [/quote]

    http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2011/04/23/from-places-like-mine-and-yours/

    Eleftheria i thanatos

  4. June Stewart says:

    Well done Greece !! Hang on guys this is going to be an amazing ride and the repercussions from this result must challange the whole of the Eurozone and beyond.
    Democracy does work especially when fuelled by people power and here in Scotland we can do the same. Join the NationalYESdirectory.scot and help make our revolution happen.

  5. Graeme McCormick says:

    Time for us Scots who can afford our prescriptions to make a donation to a Greek medicine fund.

    Can you set it up through Bella?

    1. Catherine Barton says:

      Great idea – Ill definitely contribute to that.
      I saw something on the news very recently and the pharmacists are really struggling with just providing basic meds. It was really shocking.
      Im going to Greece in two months – have been piling unused meds from everyone I know to take with me and just hand them into a chemist – but this is probably illegal – I would be contravening some beuro-euro law no doubt.
      Would be good to get something real up and running by someone who knows what they’re doing and just take these boxes to my local chemist.

      1. Jane Gray says:

        Take them to the A+E/kids ward of the nearest hospital. Right into the ward and hand them over in clear sight of at least 3 people. Don’t restrict yourself to meds, gloves, dressings, anti-septics, gypsum plasters, hypodermic sets ….. the whole shooting match have been in short supply for the last couple of years. Patients’s family members would go out and buy the stuff needed until their money ran out. Some charity stuff filled gaps. Hospital staff filled gaps. Pharmacies extended credit. Friends help. There is a huge need for very practical support to the crumbling health care system here, a system that even at its best would have scared the shit out of anyone used to the provision of the NHS.

    2. John Craig says:

      People used to pay for prescriptions as a matter of course, with low income/no income families on free prescriptions. The free prescription ideal was an SNP vote catcher which will run it’s course in todays economic climate. It deprived NHS Scotland of a very substantial income which it now desperately needs. As you suggest, many ( probably the vast majority) of people accessing free prescriptions can well afford them, but that money is desperately needed here in Scotland. Try asking your local druggies on seven doses of free Methadone a week if they want to donate the cost to Greece.

      1. Elaine Fraser says:

        Strongly disagree on prescription charges . Don’t consider them ‘free’ as paid for by our taxes. I believe in universality and if I had a penny for every person who has thought the answer to all our woes was to charge the ill and disabled . In my experience its usually people in good health who declare they would happily pay for their medication.

  6. meaghan says:

    Bravo Greece! Incredible result. It shows that we can all stand up to fear, intimidation and austerity. Efxaristo!

  7. Angie Tibbs says:

    To the people of Greece: thank you and bless you for having the courage to do what is right for you. Congratulations and all the very best as you go forward!!!

  8. Barbara Reid says:

    Thank you the brave people of Greece for bringing us, the people of Scotland, one step closer to our independence. The hard work begins for you guys now but I believe it will lead to a far better future, one where you can put the masses before the privileged. Good Luck

  9. James Dow says:

    We Scots should take a lesson from the courage displayed by the Greeks, apparently they have not lost their warrior blood.
    The whole real World citizens should support them at this time of their greatest need.

  10. Fay Kennedy. says:

    Inspirational. Well done Greece. This could be the beginning of some real democracy for the peoples of the world.

  11. Douglas Robertson says:

    Not sure what this adds, but the song Liberation comes from a Psalm which is brilliantly sung in Gaelic by two sisters (from a School of Scottish Studies recording) and translated into English by the late Michael Marra. Mixing at its best, something the Greeks have also achieved via this historic vote.

  12. john young says:

    Don,t get your “knickers in a twist” about this giving us the yes camp a boost,this country has huge amounts of it,s populace that do not consider themselves Scots,how do we overcome this I haven,t a clue,just look at the celebrations for the English Ladies team and rightly so,they are full of pride and are not slow in bigging their country up compare with us always putting ourselves down.

  13. Jean says:

    I’m so very, very proud of the Greeks……I just wish the Irish government at the time had a pair and did the same thing. It can’t go without saying though that there will be harsh times ahead for the common Greek man and woman in the street, we must remember and support them in any way we can. Podemos next…..the impious of this historic decision could be life changing for the people of Europe and an end to the economic strangle hold that the troika now hold……..never thought I would see this in my lifetime……what a heart lifting moment.

  14. Hilary says:

    I had the same thought this morning about sending medicines or making a joint medicine aid fund to Greece. We can’t just sit back when they will need all the support that we can give them.

    1. Jane Gray says:

      Plaese see my reply to Graeme McCormick earlier.

  15. Anton says:

    “Despite the scaremongering and bullying from those in Brussels, we are waking today with Greece having delivered a resounding No. That comes despite EU bosses saying that it would mean a Greek exit from the Euro, not to mention the heavy economic pressure placed on the Greek people to go along with the wishes of Brussels. It is a crushing defeat…chief bully-boy Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, and other supposed leaders of the European Union did their best to terrify the Greek people into submitting to the wishes of the European Union. But they utterly failed. The fear espoused by the Yes campaign was rejected. Opinion polls that put the Yes side ahead just days before were way out, as thousands upon thousands of Greek citizens lined the streets chanting “Oxi”.”

    A prize for anyone who can identify who said that earlier today.

  16. leavergirl says:

    Yo, please fix your typo. It’s collapsonomics (category). Thank you.

  17. Neil says:

    I must admit I am not sure what the Greeks voted for or against.

    One thing is for sure: if the Greek government stumped up the money for Latvia to have a referendum on giving Latvian money to Greek banks, whilst Latvians have a worse standard of living compared to Greeks, and Latvians have a strong understanding of the concept of socialism (and Germans, including Merkel), I think I can guess what their democratic voice would be.

    It’s not rebuilding Warsaw after WW2 – it is underwriting a country where government employees retire at 55 on e1200 a month.

  18. John Craig says:

    Good comment Neil, here is my reality driven observation on the Greek crisis:-

    A near neighbour of ours is in financial trouble, we feel sorry for him and consider helping. It’s £30k though, of which £4k is community charge arrears. He goes through all the usual rigmarole of insolvency during which he’s bleating ” what do the Banks want with my money ? they’ve got plenty”. His two holidays abroad lifestyle disappears and grim reality sets in with no access to credit. About two years into the proceedings, he gets a neighbour to loan him £1k for a motorbike. He then fails to pay back most of the money, calls his neighbour all the shit of the day and refuses to have any more to do with him.
    Am I some sort of simpleton to draw parallels between this waster and the Greek situation?

Help keep our journalism independent

We don’t take any advertising, we don’t hide behind a pay wall and we don’t keep harassing you for crowd-funding. We’re entirely dependent on our readers to support us.

Subscribe to regular bella in your inbox

Don’t miss a single article. Enter your email address on our subscribe page by clicking the button below. It is completely free and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.