Greece Lurches to Left Amid Radical Austerity
Der Spiegel »

A radical austerity drive has triggered the biggest political upheaval in Athens since the end of the military dictatorship in 1974. So far, it is leftist parties who have benefitted the most from the debt crisis. The deeply divided left, however, would likely be unable to form a stable coalition.

Alexis Tsipras walks up to the lectern like Elvis strutting onstage. But when he begins to speak, all traces of youthfulness and ease vanish from his face. The “foreign loan sharks” have one thing on their minds, he barks into the microphone: “the impoverishment of the Greek people and the sellout of our country!” He slams his fist down and continues his speech, his voice booming. The Europeans, he says, are pursuing only one goal: to bring about the end of the sovereign Greek nation. “We must prevent Greece from becoming a German protectorate once again,” Tsipras says, practically shouting by now. “We are not a German colony.”

A Country in Flux

There are many uncertainties in Greece today: whether the country can remain in the euro zone, whether the €130 billion ($171.8 billion) second bailout package will sufficiently reduce the insolvent country’s staggering debt load, and whether the Greeks will ever implement the reforms their international creditors are demanding of them. At the moment, only one thing seems predictable: that nothing will remain the same. “Everything is changing, and everything is frightening,”… >continue<

Πάντα ῥεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει

- Heraclitus

photo - AFP