Posts Tagged ‘austerity’

Athens On Fire

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Hundreds of thousands of protesters are taking to the streets in Greece’s capital to voice their opposition to the austerity measures going through parliament.

While some of the protesters have been peaceful, many frustrations have boiled over into violence, with angry Greeks trashing property, lighting stuff on fire, and attacking security forces.

Frankly, I don’t blame them for being upset. Their government is about to take on another bailout from the global loan-sharks known as the IMF, complete with many deep-reaching strings attached, in response to a crisis many say was caused by bankers and politicians.

But throwing petrol bombs at police officers won’t help anything. This just tarnishes the image of the demonstrators while making it harder for peaceful activists to get their voice heard.