http://indy.gr/analysis/the-revenge-of-life
The revenge of life
Some thoughts on the events that are reshaping Greece these days
It's been a week since Alexandros was murdered. 7 days, which i spent
mostly at
home, because of a bad case of flu. Besides cursing my bad luck, i spent
these
days stuck in the internet and the telephone, reading and watching what was
happening and what was being said, talking with friends that were on the
streets. So, this is the view of an observer and i hope that such a view is
useful as well.
Starting from a strictly political perspective: These days, the days of
Alexandros, mark the fiercest social explosion this country has experienced
since 1990-91, when the great pupil-student movement and the assassination
of
teacher Temponeras shook Greece. It's a revolt of the youth, and especially
the
pupil youth, that right now is writing its own history. Depending on how
the
situation evolves, a whole generation has the possibility to emancipate
itself,
to define its own starting point, to add another link to the historic
chain: the
1-1-4 movement in the '60s, the Polytechnic uprising in 1973, the 1990-91
movement, the generation of Alexandros. Without underestimating the other
big
youth events of the past (the student movements of the late '70s, the
recent
movement against privatisation of university level education, the pupil
movement of '98, the exploding moments of the "wild youth" like the '95
Polytechnic riots), it seems that this uprising has the amplitude, the
symbolisms and the intensity to constitute a real catalyst for important
social
shifts. In a few words, it can change things.
And then a more sentimental reading of the events: Theses days donated
generously to everyone, even to TV-viewers, unbelievable moments of beauty.
Sometimes "classic" beauty, like thousands of 16 year old boys and girls in
the
streets, shouting, throwing stones, locking the cops in their police
stations
and then offering them flowers, crying and laughing. It opens your heart.
Dwellers of cafes in Korai square, freeing "our children" from the riot
police,
residents in Nea Smirni, and in many other neighbourhoods and cities doing
the
same. There were also moments of "surreal" beauty, with the huge Christmas
tree
burning in front of the parliament being the most characteristic of those.
And
finally, so many moments of "wild" beauty - even if lots of people cannot
appreciate them - hundreds of stones in the air, molotov cocktails lighting
up
the streets, and yes - banks and corporate stores burning. It doesn't
really
matter who started the fire, if people could do it with their minds there
would
be no bank standing in Greece right now. Such was the intensity of the
collective craving in the streets.
The media, greek as well as international, reflecting i think the general
feeling of "orderly" people worldwide, are under a state of shock.
Especially
the greek media change their "line" daily, sometimes even within a few
minutes,
trying to come up with a familiar, reassuring discourse, that would provide
a
feeling of safety in the face of events that they cannot understand and
scare
them to death. They try to fit what's happening in schemes they know (or
think
they know) and feel that they can control. But still, the "society of the
orderly" was shocked last Monday when they saw thousands of organized
pupils
attacking police stations all over Greece. Where can one catalogue these
images?
Comrade Halvatzis (an MP of the Greek Communist Party), last Thursday in a
Parliament Session, declared with absolute certainty: "Pupils do not smash
banks. Pupils, youth, students do not smash, do not destroy things". So
then
who does? The middle-aged, the public servants or the pensioners? See
nothing,
hear nothing, know nothing. In the face of the unexpected, a part of
society
(at the top as well as at its base) resorts to pure denial. They expel the
cause of the events to the realm of the supernatural, discovering again the
mythical and exotic creature of the "hoodbearer". They don't care why these
people wear hoods in the demonstrations (a wild guess: because they don't
want
to be identified by the cameras and later receive a not so polite visit by
the
police). It doesn't matter one bit who is under the hood, what's his or her
story. Anyways, the hoodbearer (the source of evil) is not entitled to any
social or human attributes. Neither young, nor old. Neither a pupil, nor a
student, a worker or simply unemployed. It's neither a boy, nor a girl.
Hardly
a person at all. It's simple the hoodbearer, who lives in another planet
(the
planet of the Enemies of Democracy) far away from us, and lands every now
and
then in the centre of Athens to destroy things. Or else, total absurdity is
sometimes preferable to the fear of the unknown.
Another part of the society, fortunately much larger, understands that the
events carry great importance, that they constitute an expression of social
feelings that have grown to explosive dimensions. They are trying to locate
the
"why" of this uprising, to create linear relationships between cause and
effect,
in an effort to give meaning to the unexpected. The global media also fall
in
this category, attributing the uprising to the economic crisis, the
unemployment and the government scandals. This logic is telling us that the
youth are revolting because they fear that in the future they won't be able
to
find work, they won't be able to support a family, they won't be able to
afford
a house and a car. They rise up because they feel that they are denied the
chance to live like the "grownups" live now. Which is to say: See
everything,
hear nothing and explain the "other" with your own values.
But if you really want to understand what other people are telling you, you
just
have to hear them. Clear your mind for a moment, open some space for new
thoughts. The youth is revolting because they want to live. With every last
one
of the meanings of the word "life". They want to live freely, they want
space to
create, to emancipate themselves, to play. They don't want to spend their
adolescence in 12 hour days of school and extra courses, their first adult
years in the pointless chase of a university degree, the passport to a
glorious
800 euro - 48 hours a week job in a boring office. They don't want to be
dependent on their families in order to start a family of their own. And
honestly, they don't even care about starting a family. Bored of "having
fun"
in video games cafes, clubs, stadiums, shopping malls and commercial
concerts.
They are not jealous of "normality" and do not seek it. On the contrary,
they
see this "promise" of normality getting even worse: the school even more
exhausting, the hideous job getting even more hideous, the university
starting
to resemble the school. And marriage looking like a sentence to prison.
This is not a "no future" generation, it's simply a generation that does
not
accept the present as its future, that simply can't stand the idea that
this
present will freeze and reproduce forever. At 32, still "unsettled" in
every
sense of the word, this is how i feel part of this youth. We do not share
the
cynicism, the dysthymia of a society that keeps on repeating "what can you
do,
that's the way things will always be". We crave to construct our own,
autonomous future. And there are a lot of things standing in our way.
That's
the point of unity between pupils, students, young working /unemployed
/precarious adults. When you really want to live, a spark is enough to make
you
instinctively attack anything that you think stands in your way. In these
moments the youth feels that police stations, riot police squads and banks
are
blocking their way, so they're just trying to push them aside. If they
won't
budge, you just have to burn them down (which of course doesn't work that
way,
but that's the drive to do it). And in personal life, the obstacles are
being
realized as your family, your bosses, your "responsibilities".
Still, the intensity of this particular uprising also comes from its own
starting point. When one feels that his or her life is in danger, even in
the
strict biological sense, reacting is also a matter of pure survival.
Alexandros
was just 16 years old, and if you hear what the pupils are saying, it's
clear
that they have totally identified with him. No obstacle, no fear can stand
in
the way of the instinct to survive. They can hit me, arrest me, expel me
from
school, but if i don't do something i could be next. The cop's bullet has
awakened life's deepest reflexes in greek kids, and now...good luck to the
orderly trying to get them back to the herd.
These days life is getting its revenge, with all its force. Only the
evolution
of events can tell us if this explosion of the desire to live will open
creative paths, smaller or larger, or if it will be contained. I fear only
for
one outcome: that the dynamics of violence, which the mechanisms of power
know
excellently how to use, will draw the limits of this uprising. Anger and
rage
are initially propulsive feelings, but when they freeze they usually lead
to
depression. Besides personal psychology, this seems to be the case for
social
psychology as well. The best case scenario would be a solid "victory" for
this
movement, like the resignation of the government or at least of the whole
police administration. The youth feels emancipated right now, and it needs
a
symbolic affirmation. One should not underestimate symbolism, it yields
tremendous power. Alexandros himself is the best proof for that...
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