Greek riot TV coverage last night

[DJC]

Did anybody seen the news with the Greek rioting last? The poor sod on the scooter/bike who took a direct hit with a petrol bomb...that wasnt fun to watch. Ive been to Greece, I like the place and though amenities at times can be a bit behind UK times, by and large Ive thought of the place of relatively modern and forward looking.

To see running battles between police and rioters with "students" throwing home made petrol bombs at coppers from point blank range is something that frankly scares the crap out of me that our own "protestors" might now start thinking this was acceptable.

Its a lil bit of a scary world out there at the moment folks.

[Chilli]

Yeah I saw that, and was shouting at the tely. He did well to get his helmet off sharpish, but was still in flames a while after. His mates didn't seem to be too helpful. Hope he's not too seriously burnt.

[Digga]

My sister and her (Greek) husband and family live in Crete, so I have a very good inside track on events in Greece.

It has a very toxic mix of corruption, cronysim and outright inefficiency (and bureaucracy) within the public sector which galvanises two very entrenched mindsets within much of those 'outside' of the system:

1. They see the waste and corruption, so they have become disenfranchised and, as a result, the black market is rife.
2. They, perhaps justifyably feel, they are 'owed' more than they get from the state.

Couple the above, long-term attitudes to the current austerity measures and economic situation and you have a real powder keg.

Edited by Digga on Thursday 24th February 08:41

[Frankeh]

fking hell.

[DonkeyApple]

Poor sod.

Spent an enourmous amount of time in Athens on business over the last 10 years.

Greece has more in common with the Middle East than Europe. It is a recently ex military dictatorship and the people in charge are old and extremely wealthy, while the people have not really benefitted at all from the EU economic boom.

The ruling generation is totally discontected from the youth and I do mean totally disconnected. They have no understanding and have treated them as sub humans almost.

On top of this, the Greeks have always protested and rioted. I've never been on a business trip when there wasn't a rally going on somewhere. I've spent several occassions stuck in a hotel when they've rallied in Syntagma Sq and missed several flights etc.

The southern EU states, which were all recent dictatorships have come a long way but all have similar problems that could lead to contagion from the ME.

2011 will be a defining year.

[Spiritual_Beggar]

Frankeh said:

fking hell.

I did not realise Ghost Rider was Greek!

[fido]

Digga said:

# They, perhaps justifyably feel, they are 'owed' more than they get from the state.

They are stux in 2004.

[Digga]

fido said:

Digga said:

# They, perhaps justifyably feel, they are 'owed' more than they get from the state.

They are stux in 2004.

Not all.

There are some who want more than their fair share, but most just want things to work properly, to not have to queue up in government offices to get this and that stamped by chainsmoking jobsworths who clock in after 9, have take tea breaks and lunch breaks ad nauseum, despite (or to spite) the lines of people queuing out of the building for a permit they don't really 'need'.

They want to see money spent on services, not on cronyism, nepotism and corruption in the public sector. The extent to which all of this is rife is unbeleivable to use in the UK; planning consents, mayoral elections, public sector jobs, public sector contracts - everything is up and brown envelopes and persaon favours are the norm.

Education is being severely cut in Greece and, although the healthcare is pretty good, you can see the cracks appearing there too.

[fido]

Digga said:

There are some who want more than their fair share, but most just want things to work properly, to not have to queue up in government offices to get this and that stamped by chainsmoking jobsworths who clock in after 9, have take tea breaks and lunch breaks ad nauseum, despite (or to spite) the lines of people queuing out of the building for a permit they don't really 'need'.

Agree, i know quite a few Greeks - many relocated to London last year - most if not all of the young people are well educated (post-graduates seem to be the norm) hard-working and want to make their way in life. They want out of the system that they did not create or indeed benefit from .. well except for their expensive 4 years plus in university abroad.

[DonkeyApple]

Digga said:

fido said:

Digga said:

# They, perhaps justifyably feel, they are 'owed' more than they get from the state.

They are stux in 2004.

Not all.

There are some who want more than their fair share, but most just want things to work properly, to not have to queue up in government offices to get this and that stamped by chainsmoking jobsworths who clock in after 9, have take tea breaks and lunch breaks ad nauseum, despite (or to spite) the lines of people queuing out of the building for a permit they don't really 'need'.

They want to see money spent on services, not on cronyism, nepotism and corruption in the public sector. The extent to which all of this is rife is unbeleivable to use in the UK; planning consents, mayoral elections, public sector jobs, public sector contracts - everything is up and brown envelopes and persaon favours are the norm.

Education is being severely cut in Greece and, although the healthcare is pretty good, you can see the cracks appearing there too.

The problem that most Athens graduates face is that if your parents are not in the system then you will struggle to get a job. It is fully corrupt and on top of that nepotism has gone far too far.

At the same time the state has bought off the protesters over the last decade with payoffs of shorter working hours, large pensions, earlier retirement and now Germany is struggling to meet these commitments.

[Digga]

DonkeyApple said:

At the same time the state has bought off the protesters over the last decade with payoffs of shorter working hours, large pensions, earlier retirement and now Germany is struggling to meet these commitments.

They set monthly state wage limits, so someone somewhere was paying certain PS workers for 13 months evey year. You couldn't make it up.

[ZOLLAR]

Spiritual_Beggar said:

Frankeh said:

fking hell.

I did not realise Ghost Rider was Greek!

I shouldn't but