A MESSAGE FOR ALL NON-GREEKS

by Ros Grypari

Although I am not Greek, I love Greece dearly and it has been my second home for nearly 40 years. Over the last two years I have watched a lot of finger pointing and accusations being aimed at this unequaled, beautiful cradle of democracy and I have one question for you:

How would your country's people have coped, if your nation's history had followed the same path that Greek history has followed?

Ironically, the Greeks, the creators of democracy, have only been a FREE, "democratic" nation for a mere 38 years, since their infamous junta fell in 1974! Think about it! For over 600 years the Greeks have not had any leaders that they could trust! They were under a violent and barbaric Turkish rule for 400 years! The only way to survive was by bribery and corruption! 

Vastly outnumbered, they fought with unparalleled bravery from 1821 to 1829 to overthrow the Turks and they eventually won - but then - in 1831, the three great powers of Europe (Great Britain, France and Russia) decided that the newly independent Greeks should have a monarchy, so they sent them a 17 year old Bavarian/German prince to be their king, accompanied by 3 very austere Bavarian/German advisors! (Sound familiar?)

From 1863, thereon, the Greek monarchy came from Denmark. The foreign imposed monarchy was finally overthrown, after 153 years, by the military junta in 1967, after which the Greeks suffered a further 7 years of terror at the hands of the generals! The monarchy's permanent removal was, unsurprisingly, decided in a referendum by the Greek people in 1974. 

Apart from the Turkish rule, the foreign imposed monarchies and a dictatorship, the Greeks also suffered terribly during the German and Italian occupation during WWII, which left them deeply in debt, devastated and destroyed, in spite of their courageous resistance. Once again, the Greeks had an immense struggle, being forced to use whatever means it took, just to survive! Is it a wonder that they are sick of foreigners interfering with their affairs? What other nation in the developed world has been so oppressed, by so many other nations AND a military junta (which was ALSO imposed by a foreign power!) for the last 600 years? 

Years of foreign imposed rulers, occupation and tyranny does NOT foster trust . . .

Understandably, ever since 1974, when "democracy" was finally restored, the Greek people have nurtured a deep mistrust of all their politicians and leaders. Greek citizens rarely get the advantage of tax breaks and rewards for being honest that one expects in a civilized, democratic society. 

Greek politicians, having been tarred with the same corrupt brush as their tyrannical predecessors, have always stolen from their people and used bribery and blackmail to get them to vote for them! Avoiding paying taxes has, largely, been an unspoken agreement between the RICH Greeks and the politicians, who had a mutual, unspoken agreement to turn a blind eye! 

But the rich and the politicians are NOT the ones who are paying the punishment for the mess that they have got Greece into! It is the poor, the pensioners and the middle classes who are being forced to pay - and they are on their knees! The last nail in the coffin for Greece appears to have been George Papandreou, the most recently elected Greek Prime Minister (whose mother is an American!)

More foreign leaders imposed on Greeks . . . 

Mr. Papandreou was born and raised in the United States, not even coming to Greece until 1974! Following his removal, last year, the Greeks have had yet another leader imposed on them by foreign powers! A BANKER "technocrat", of all people! (There's no need to say whose side HE is on!) This is a watershed moment for Greece. 

The Greek people are desperately fighting for change and for survival, yet again - but it is a bloody battle and this time they are up against the EU, the IMF, the ECB AND all the world banks! After all, Ancient Athens wasn't built in a day and modern Athens and Greece will, somehow, have to be re-built out of the ashes, with a new model of honesty, transparency and fairness. 

The Greeks have a very long and hard road ahead. From where will they find the strength do this on their own, when they have been so defeated and bled so dry? They really can't take any more pain and unless other countries do something to HELP the Greek people, sooner or later, your own country will be the next victim in the bankers' sights, in this sinister war of finance! (NB: The majority of the loans that you hear about, that are supposedly going to "help" Greece, are NOT going to the Greek people - they are going to the world's banks to pay the VAST amounts of interest that have been incurred on the relatively small amount of debt that is owed by Greece!)

The Greek people need help and support . . .

It is a country of only 11 million people, so they need a lot of help and support! Capitalism appears to be imploding, worldwide, and it is the Greek people who are paying for it dearly, suffering more than anyone outside of Greece can imagine. 

So, to those of you who, mistakenly, think that the Greeks have brought this crisis upon themselves - please think again! The Greek people are NOT to blame! The combination of hundreds of years of foreign interference/imposition AND the corrupt and greedy bankers, worldwide, are the ones to blame! They have taken advantage of the corrupt government in Greece and have chosen the Greeks as the weakest and easiest victims to prey on for their first meal, using them as an experiment and picking the Greek bones dry in the process! However, there appears to be a tsunami of support building for the Greeks, which is beginning to spread across the world. It could be the last ray of hope for Greece!  (by Ros Grypari)

Why Harper had to win a majority in Canada, rules or no rules.

There's a global chess game unfolding right now and it's going to pit the Western Alliance of North American countries, Eurozone and Australia against the Eastern and emerging alliance made up of the BRIC countries.

Back in June 2008 China called for a world currency; China snubs U.S. dollar! Calls for new world currency,  maybe even the Euro to replace the dollar.

"In November, concerns about some EU member states' debts start to grow following the Dubai sovereign debt crisis. In December, Greece admits that its debts have reached 300bn euros - the highest in modern history." (exerpt from Timeline: The unfolding eurozone crisis )
Coincidence?

The Euro will not replace the dollar and Erozone countries start on a downward spiral economically. Governments are voted and/or undemocratically  replaced by - Conservative governments.
Coincidence?

France, UK, and other like minded leaders take control. In 2011 Canadian elections tactics were employed to make sure there is no alternative than a majority Conservative Harper government.
Coincidence?

Obama will lose the 2012 US elections.


BRIC expands . . . 

Meanwhile Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) strengthen by admitting South Africa and are now working to have their own World Bank/IMF model.

Leaders from the world's five largest developing economies — the so-called BRICS — are moving toward the formation of a shared development bank.
Coincidence?

The world is reshaping in geopolitical ways. China and India continue to buy Iranian oil Obama embargo or not. China is opening up new trading routes and markets with resource rich Russia and trade between the BRIC countries reaches record levels.In a move to insulate themselves from the Euro-Zone debt crisis and to boost trade amid slow growth in the West, the Heads of State signed several agreements aimed at facilitating trade.

The group also slammed the West for their lax in monetary policy and for causing instability in global financial markets, statements that drew flak from several influential commentators. The participants of the summit also proposed setting up a Brics-specific bank modeled along the lines of the World Bank and of the International Monetary Fund.


What about our children? . . .

Our kids will grow up in a world very different than the one we knew. Do you think a new arms race will be far off? The Western alliance conservatives do not want to play with anyone else but like minded people so isolation and confrontation is preferred over co-operation. We the people are mere pawns and pawns are expandable.

Greek people need our support - YouTube

I'm so sick of the Greek people being put down for the economic mess in the Eurozone.

The countries of the Eurozone were not created equal, and anyone should have seen that there were going to be hurdles to overcome and even that inequality in economy, is just a fact of life.The Greeks are getting hammered now for being 'lazy' and other derogatory remarks are thrown out without a hint of what the Greeks have contributed to our world and society.

Ancient Greek society placed considerable emphasis upon literature. Many authors consider the western literary tradition to have begun with the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey, which remain giants in the literary canon for their skillful and vivid depictions of war and peace, honor and disgrace, love and hatred. Notable among later Greek poets was Sappho, who defined, in many ways, lyric poetry as a genre.

A playwright named Aeschylus changed Western literature forever when he introduced the ideas of dialogue and interacting characters to playwriting. In doing so, he essentially invented "drama": his Oresteia trilogy of plays is seen as his crowning achievement. Other refiners of playwriting were Sophocles and Euripides. Sophocles is credited with skillfully developing irony as a literary technique, most famously in his play Oedipus the King. Euripedes, conversely, used plays to challenge societal norms and mores—a hallmark of much of Western literature for the next 2,300 years and beyond—and his works such as Medea, The Bacchae and The Trojan Women are still notable for their ability to challenge our perceptions of propriety, gender, and war. Aristophanes, a comic playwright, defines and shapes the idea of comedy almost as Aeschylus had shaped tragedy as an art form—Aristophanes' most famous plays include the Lysistrata and The Frogs.

Music was present almost universally in Greek society, from marriages and funerals to religious ceremonies, theatre, folk music and the ballad-like reciting of epic poetry. There are significant fragments of actual Greek musical notation as well as many literary references to ancient Greek music. Greek art depicts musical instruments and dance. The word music derives from the name of the Muses, the daughters of Zeus who were patron goddesses of the arts.

Ancient Greek mathematics contributed many important developments to the field of mathematics, including the basic rules of geometry, the idea of formal mathematical proof, and discoveries in number theory, mathematical analysis, applied mathematics, and approached close to establishing integral calculus. The discoveries of several Greek mathematicians, including Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes, are still used in mathematical teaching today.