{"id":9188,"date":"2015-01-26T16:04:02","date_gmt":"2015-01-26T21:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.starshipnivan.com\/blog\/?p=9188"},"modified":"2015-01-27T04:03:32","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T09:03:32","slug":"alexis-tsipras-who-believes-human-beings-matter-more-than-banks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starshipnivan.com\/blog\/?p=9188","title":{"rendered":"Al\u00e9xis Ts\u00edpras, Who Believes Human Beings Matter More Than Banks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Something amazing happened yesterday. Greece elected Syriza, a left-of-center party, making its leader, Al\u00e9xis Ts\u00edpras, the youngest prime minister in Europe at forty.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Ts\u00edpras won by giving my people hope of regaining their dignity<\/a> without falling into the clutches of xenophobia. We know he will most likely fail at implementing the social changes he wants, and he may even fail at renegotiating the debt: too many forces and interests are aligned against him within and without, too many will try to make an example of him in case more in the EU follow his path. But hope is something for people who have been trampled as much as can be short of outright occupation in the last seven years \u2013 with the result of 30% unemployment and 40% below poverty.<\/p>\n

Al\u00e9xi: may you be as successful in navigating the shoals and poisonous thorns as your Komnen\u00f3s namesake, who managed the Crusaders eyeing Byzantium like ripe fruit. So that we don\u2019t end up as waiters and souvenir sellers to those who love to repeat the comfortable, comforting tale of \u201clazy southern darkies\u201d and who have tried to make neo-feudal libertarian capitalism synonymous with democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when they danced in the plaza,
\nthe ceilings trembled inside the houses
\nand the glasses rang on the shelves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yi\u00e1nnis R\u00edtsos, Dh\u00e9ndro to Dh\u00e9ndro from Romiossyni<\/em>
\n(music, M\u00edkis Theodhor\u00e1kis; singer, Ghrigh\u00f3ris Bithik\u00f3tsis)<\/p>\n