« Change of route » - Mikis Theodorakis' speech in Chania, Crete (21.09.2011)

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Η ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΜΙΚΗ ΘΕΟΔΩΡΑΚΗ ΣΤΑ ΧΑΝΙΑ (21.11.2011) 

ΜΕΤΑΦΡΑΣΜΕΝΗ ΣΤΑ ΑΓΓΛΙΚΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΣΠΙΘΑ ΛΩΖΑΝΝΗΣ

Μετάφραση: 
Γιώργος Βιολάκης
Υποψήφιος διδάκτωρ Πολυτεχνείου Λωζάννης (EPFL) 
Εκπρόσωπος της Σπίθας Λωζάννης

Mikis Theodorakis, founder of "Spitha"*

« CHANGE OF ROUTE »

MIKIS THEODORAKIS' SPEECH IN CHANIA, CRETE, GREECE (21.09.2011)

A serious problem that we people are facing today is that we have not realized we are all together in the same ‘ship’, named Greece. Therefore, we should be directly concerned of the condition of the ship, as well as the voyage conditions. If the engines stop, we also stop and if it sinks, we sink. Left party, right party, rich, poor, indiscriminately all together. And in this ship we aren’t passengers, but co-owners and thus, jointly responsible for its condition, its course and its security. And precisely because most of us have not realized this truth we were suddenly found, we the co-owners and jointly responsible of this ship, stacked in its hold as if we were merchandise, while in the decks foreigners are enjoying the sea breeze along with some of our ‘sharp-witted’ persons and in the position of captain another foreigner is placed as well, along with Greek ministers and officers.

I don’t know how you are feeling, but me, even if I was forced to travel in the past chained in ships’ holds, I feel ashamed. Because, at least then, we had over our heads Wermacht or a dictatorship. We knew then the fight was imbalanced and therefore, although chained, we had a clean conscience. We were not ashamed. We were only in pain, because the ‘ship’ Greece was taken from us by force and the only thing we could do was to last until the end, until we drive off the foreigners from the decks and from the rudder. 

This time though, things are different, because, as I said, most of the people don’t believe the ship is partially theirs and that the only power they hold those who are governing us today is our own passive stance and our ignorance that we are so many and so strong, that when we realize and want, we can throw away in the sea foreigners and locals and we save the ship which goes ‘downhill’. A Titanic as they named it themselves, that they drive it directly towards the iceberg, which is waiting to completely crush us. 

Let’s have a look now at the seas we are navigating. The financial terrorism, following Greece, is now tossing one European nation after the other in a raging sea. It’s threatening even the US themselves, the largest capitalist country. What is happening is truly unheard of. As we all know, capitalism deified money. And as it seems, money gained consciousness of its power, it became intangible (credit in the language of economists), intangible, but so powerful that can subdue even the one that gave birth to it, capitalism. To do what? But, to rule over all nations holding as a weapon the financial terrorism and forcing a new international world order that I will name ‘neo-fetishism’. From the word ‘fetish’ or ‘totem’ that was once worshiped as a God by our primitive ancestors. Now, the place of the ‘fetish’ has been taken by the money, which is sinking us in a new state of primitivism. That is, in this raging sea, where the ship ‘Greece’ is shaken practically rudderless, since the bridge is taken over by ‘Troika’, the obedient instrument of Banks, on which the intangible money bases its strength and from where the financial terrorism and the neo-fetishism is emanated.

And all the rest of us, that is the majority of our people, we are stacked in the hold of the ship and our only reaction is shouting every time a large wave shakes us. One gets fired, another closes his/her shop, high taxation is draining us and poverty is knocking on our door. 

At this point I would like you to think of two primary things: First is to realize the fact that we are all in the same ship which is making rounds in a wild sea and that we are not passengers but co-owners with equal share of responsibility. Second is that the route of this ship is basically wrong and in any way we – the majority – locked as we are in the hold. We are practically neutralized. We are merchandise that is destined for sale or we are lambs that are led towards the inevitable. We have been condemned in this state and for this reason what we have to do is to decide to fight. Responsible civilians, proud, smart, strong and determined, first of all to win back our personal dignity.  So the first thing we have to do is to look each other in the eyes, to shake hands, to join together in one will and for one (common) goal.

Our goal should be to govern ourselves our own ship and our will should be to lead the ship in tranquil waters, away from the ‘dog eat dog’ fight, in this world dominated by the Law of the most powerful, that is the Law of the Jungle. 

For now there is an immediate need to stop the wrong policy of Troika-Government that concerns the financial and social affairs. Since the arrival of Troika in March 2010, up to now all numbers (declared and provisioned) were proven wrong and all (financial) measurements that were taken, failed. With ‘Mnimonio’ (cooperation pact between Troika and Greek government) the country is sunk daily in larger crisis leading to a total collapse with increasing speed.  

Nevertheless, our government insists on continuing the same failed policy. What was the sin of the previous governments that led the inflation of the Greek debt? The continuous loans. What does our current government do? Keeps on the same sinful track with new loans! Why then, didn’t it keep lending since the very beginning of October 2009 when it was elected government? What was the reason to resort to IMF and the European Banks? It is clear now that it wasn’t Papandreou (prime minister) that resorted to Troika, but it was Troika and our lenders that forced him to put Greece under their custody, because, as it was proved, these new loans that continue our over-lending, were issued not for us but for them. In other words they lend us, they charge us with interest rates and then the loans we are given are going directly back to them. This is the reason why even if we have acquired many billions of Euros after the arrival of Troika, the Greek economy is dry of liquidity, there are no development projects funded, people become poorer, while the government resorts to taxation and increase of VAT to collect money in order to pay the state officials and its other expenses. Basically, they are stripping off the weak, the middle to lower class, the workers and the pensioners, increasing the unemployment to maintain the public sector, while the loans come and go without the slightest trace of benefit for us, with only consequence the inflation of the public debt. Which skyrocketed in only one and a half year from 132% of GDP to 152%. And as everyone knows 150% is the red line beyond which there is no way even for a rich country to get rid of the debt with the interest rate and the amortization even after hundreds of years. In other words this government led us in one and a half year to total financial destruction.

Such a miserable, vulgar and clearly antinational jobbery such as this one that happened against our People, I don’t think has been applied to any Nation in world before. It is a national crime that must immediately stop, firstly because it is literally tearing apart our Country in the long term and secondly because only scamps deserve such a mockery.

I’m going now to the problem of the substantial rather than formal constitutional legitimacy of this government. A basic principle of our democratic constitution is that the majority rules and the minority supervise. In truth today, this principle has been inverted, taking into account that it is not the majority but the minority that rules and the majority oversees. Especially we, the independent and outside of political parties that are the main victims of the government minority policy have been reduced to passive observers of the radical deconstruction of the Greek society and our homeland.

Because it’s not only the simple citizens that are affected by the exhausting measures of the government but the country as well, our homeland that has been reduced to a toy to the lust of our so called allies, the Europe of the Banks. Today’s government has degraded us like no other to obedient servant of foreign interests. Without having the right of planning an independent national, defensive and financial policy.  In other words we have been converted into a protectorate, going as far as to impose on us a German Super-prime minister. While they arrange the sale of the public wealth of the country to the foreign lenders. Of course, any elected government has the right to govern for 4 years, even if it loses part of its initial strength on the track. Let’s say a 10% to 15%. However, we have now an undeniable devastation of the electoral power of this government by 50% or more.

In this case the Constitution of 1975 gave the power to the President of Democracy to break up the parliament and declare elections. The change that Andreas Papandreou did in 1985 in the Constitutional revision, which was denounced that alters the nature of our political system, led us exactly to what is happening today. If there was elementary sensitivity, the prime minister should ask for elections so that the people judge for themselves if he (the PM) has the fundamental right to take decisions that unfound the basis of Greek society and bond the country for many decades.  In fact, what else is this if not a prolonged coup? And the Parliament? Why are they silent towards this abuse of the nature of our democracy?

This is a constitutional dead end, a deformation of democracy that with absolute contempt for the Greek people, heavens, distorts and harms the useful governance of the country leading to a substantial abuse of power and transforms the Parliament in an alibi for what is practically a dictatorial imposition of a minority over a majority. In other words it leads to the violation of Democracy as a system that ensures equal rights for all citizens.

In the meantime and while the political power solves its problems, we, the massive majority of independent citizens have a moral, national and democratic pact to think the decisions of this minority, especially in a time that it has given the fortune of our country to foreigners, as morally, nationally and democratically illegal, by opposing the weapon of DISOBEDIENCE on its morally, nationally, democratically and historically illegal decisions. 

Personal and collective disobedience to all anti-popular  measures that are taken according to the commandment of our foreign supervisors affecting, apart from the interests of the People and the Country our personal, popular and national dignity.

In the   history of democracies political disobedience has been the means of non violent and transparent resistance of the conscious citizen against the decisions of Governments that violate the fundamental rules of social symbiosis. Political disobedience is not an abstract term. It is a whole theory of political sciences and constitutional law and an acquit of our political and constitutional civilization. Its roots date back to the beginnings of constitutionalism, the Magna Carta and the famous right of resistance. It indicates the citizen's right not to comply with his/her obligations towards the ruling power, when the later has not adhered to the terms of the "social contract". Let's not forget the final provision of our Constitution: "The observance of the Constitution is left to the patriotism of the Greeks."

Today everything shows that the situation will heavily worsen. Unemployment has exceeded 18% and has reached 40% for the younger ages. In a while poverty will be observed to the extent that some families will not be able to afford even bread. Huge taxes and mass firings will create armies of desperate people. Towards this storm we should think how we should respond. We propose as first measures DEFENSE, DISOBEDIENCE, as well as social solidarity. Defense and disobedience must be focused in the cases where private and public fortune is threatened to be sold for pennies. For instance these days a judicial clerk went to Nea Philadelfia to seize the home of a worker. Then the neighbors spontaneously gathered and tore apart the official papers that commanded the seizure and were guarding the house. You see after all what is happening with the Elliniko, where they want to build a casino.

Because already the day after tomorrow such cases may appear in your neighborhood with families being unable to afford food, we must –starting from now- create solidarity funds, coming from ourselves, our neighbors, the people themselves. National Solidarity should become from now on our main effort so that we won’t leave a single fellow unhelped. This must be our National Defense towards the tsunami that is preparing to drown us.

Parallel to the defense we propose Offense. In case they (the government) are forced to call for elections, what is going to happen? Are we going to vote for the same parties? Will we place a blank vote? Won’t we attend the elections at all? None of these. We must take part. However, there is one condition: We must build together the great National Democratic Party that will dominate.

We will find what is uniting the great majority of our People that remains outside the system to date.

We must get rid of the Debt. Troika must leave. There must be a constitutional Assembly. New personalities must rise up that have our absolute trust. We must start a new plan of financial and social growth. We, the  Movement of Independent Citizens, have our own proposals and are ready to discuss them with every independent citizen.

Let’s start having common comities that foresee the unity of the people.  Starting from the workplaces. The neighborhoods. Then, a little higher, to the cities, to the prefectures until we reach to a unified party with its own proposals, goals, working methodology and vision for the future that is based on the free will of its members. A party in which morality, values and strictly democratic values are dominating. A free union of free people with three main characteristics: Love for the Homeland, the progress and the Democracy.   

However, let’s have a look at what’s happening today at our place. As I said before the deification of money has gone to the stage where, using the financial  terrorism as a weapon, has imposed Neo-Fetishism in Europe and US trying to  manipulate with the full control of the financial system, the global banking system and  highlight it to a strong pillar of new globalised type of government.  It transforms the governments into its docile bodies in order to use them as means of deconstruction of the characteristics that constitute the identity of each nation and of each society. With the policy of ‘Shock and Fear’ that is based in terrorizing, the insecurity and the pauperization of the masses, apparently clears the ground so that on the ruins it creates, it will build its own model of globalized citizen – nation. From where it passed so far, mainly Latin America and some countries of Africa and Asia, after it sunk the people to an indescribable misery, it then left them behind frightened, altered and – having lost their national identity – they try stunned to realize what has happened to them.

To our great misfortune it decided to step into Europe starting from our country. With elements that are gradually surfacing, we see now that they had targeted us a long time ago. They started immediately after the dictatorship of the 70’s with the systematic demolition of the neo-Hellenic culture imposing in its place the subculture, while in parallel they were loading on our backs huge debts with the method of defensive expenses and public loans. In their work it is definite they had Greek collaborators, from state servants and technocrats to ministers and prime ministers. Their goal was to load us with debts and interest rates so high so that our Country would owe them forever.

Greece could after the Dictatorship to get over the pre-dictatorship era political differences (that were reflecting an international conflict that no longer exists that that led us even to a civil conflict) by forming a Government of National Unity with main goal the total growth of the country, as well as the establishment of peaceful relations with the neighbors that would relief us from the defense expenses and loans, supplying financial adequacy and rise the educational and cultural level of our people. 

Now that it is obvious how unwilling and irresponsible were those that systematically divided the people by imposing  ‘party-cracy’ and leading the country to parasitism and  corruption instead of social growth and progress. 

Of course, I can’t know how many and which of those had become since then instruments of foreigners knowing that their final goal was to lead us to today’s dead end.

Unfortunately I can’t say the same for today’s prime minister and his close collaborators, because, as I said, the foreigners (IMF and Europe of Banks) are those that chose him to faithfully apply their plan as we already described.

Money, the neo-Fetishism, the Banks, all this attack is a deadly virus for all the people of the planet, against whom many people fought back and –some of them -  successfully, we could say. So why can’t we?

I’m afraid our case is rather serious. At the current state of affairs, as it was led here by the current government we couldn’t get rid of their debts and their interest rates in this lifetime or in another.

I know that Constantinos Karamanlis gave Andreas Papandreou a debt that was 32% of the GDP, and the later increased it in seven years to 112% of the GDP, that is 70 units higher, a never before seen increase. We then kneeled because new loans were contracted with interest rates higher than 80%. In October 2009 Georgios Papandreou (current PM) obtained the debt at a level of 132% of the GDP to make it 152% in one and a half year. That is, the red line that condemns us to life commitment towards out lenders.  Unless we decide to impeach the anti-constitutional lending contracts and refuse to pay the illegal loans which can be classified as onerous.

In other words, the ‘famous’ loan installments, which we are literally begging for and for which the governing officials are   celebrating, did nothing more but indebt us so much that we are tied up from our lenders with derisions and threats in order to rip us off. 

We started with the Finnish and who knows what kind of guaranties they were offered by mr. Venizelos (current Financial minister). This fact ‘appetized’ the rest of our allies and saviors with vice president of the German governing party heading, who started making unreal demands.

This reminded me of a personal experience during the German occupation (WWII). As I was running so that I don’t get killed, I was suddenly surrounded by tens of wild stray dogs ready to attack me. I see us surrounded like this by the noble European nations, who try by every means to get their money back – something that is not possible to happen – since we are constantly burdened with new debts, which the Government and the media are presenting as salvation!

And the question is: What are we doing amidst these stray dogs? I, however, (due to the personal experience I described earlier) I see them surrounding us like rabid dogs with their tongue out with their saliva running and their sharp teeth, ready to tear us apart. And they will tear us apart if we sit silent and watch them while we should already be out and face them.

I simply say that it is time to start seriously thinking of change of route. Because with the current route, Troika and the Government are offering us as food to carnivores and the result will be death. It is a matter of life or death for our Country.

Think about it. 

And here comes another issue. The offensive! Since the best defense as they say, is the offense.

We, the Movement of Independent Citizens believe that the only one that can attack with a chance of success is the Greek people. And in this goal we are devoted. We know the System of Ruling Power, Greek and foreign alike, is strong. But our historical experience teaches us that there has been no bigger power than the people united.

As you can see the System is not doing well. That’s why the conservative parties of Europe put pressure to Samaras (president of the opposition party) to cooperate with PASOK (governing party). I’m sure no matter how much resistance there is, in the end he will back down. And the first step has already taken place in the field of Education. That is in a field that is fertile for such meetings without serious ‘friction’.  

We should not underestimate the RulingPower. It is so experienced and  resourceful that I foresee that in case of elections there will be a kind of ‘Troikan clustering’, a ‘Troikan front’ of PASOK-ND (social – governing party and opposition party) –right wing party, etc. In this case part of the 3 million of voters that left the ‘ruling’ parties, might vote back for them.

And this will probably happen during the intermediate of two big hits against the people and the country. Because they hope that at the 18% of PASOK they will add the percentages of the two aforementioned parties, so the current government will not be left alone to do the ‘dirty’ job.

In other words although up to now the unity of the independent voters with the ‘anti-Mnimoniaks’ (those opposing the pact between Greece and Troika) of PASOK and the with the voters of left parties was obligatory, today it becomes vital, necessary and important, as the conditions are getting worse for those of us that fight for the salvation of this country.

It is necessary to start immediately the discussion for the creation of the ‘Anti-Troikan’ front with the establishment of an INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATIC UNION that must initially start from the very foundation of the Society. All the citizens, no matter what they voted or still vote, can and must agree to the establishment of a powerful national social front that starts from a common goal: the conquest of ruling power and the immediate convocation of a Constitutional Assembly. We start from the Constitution itself, the new Constitution that will give as many rights as possible to the citizen.

After this point we can agree on a series of common foals that will help us create the representative of all groups teams that will plan the tactics and the strategy of the fight for the conquest of ruling power. 

Our motto is:

NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE

POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY

NATIONAL REBIRTH

Chania, Crete, 21.09.2011

Mikis Theodorakis

Photo taken during Mikis Theodorakis' speech in Chania

* In December 1, 2010, Mikis Theodorakis founded «Spitha» (Spark) - Citizens' Independent Movement  to put up direct resistance to the pressure from the US, IMF and EU. The composer feels “we’re ceding national sovereignty to foreign powers” and envisages “a movement to help Greeks express their concerns and work up ideas on how to face the crisis”.

More info in english: website Theodorakis  and Theodorakisfriends' blog

"Αλλαγή πορείας" - η ομιλία του Μ. Θεοδωράκη στα Χανιά, στην επίσημη ιστοσελίδα της Σπίθας.