Greek farmers protesting pension reform plans clash with riot police

[rooster59]

Greek farmers protesting pension reform plans clash with riot police

By Keith Walker



Violent clashes erupted in Greece as protesting farmers attempted to occupy the agriculture ministry in Athens on Friday (February 12).

Riot police guarding the ministry used tear gas to disperse the farmers who have planned to stay in the capital until Saturday.

It is the latest demonstration against controversial pension reform plans.

Bailout lenders are demanding farmers pay higher social security contributions and more tax.

Farming associations have been staging highway blockades for more than two weeks against the planned reform of the Greece’s troubled pension system.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras said he was willing to hold talks with the farmers on possibly amending the pension reform bill, but they rejected his offer.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-01-13

[thaibeachlovers]

The farmers had nothing to do with the policies that brought Greece down ( other than voting for the clowns ), but they are going to suffer because of them, while the people that did the dirty will get away scot free. It's such a crappy world we live in.

[ezzra]

I say, if those Greeks would have put as much efforts and tenacity in working and building their

country as much as they put into endless marches, protests, strikes and civil mayhem,

they would have a problem less, rich country, but no, it's always easier to take than to give....

[sirineou]

I say, if those Greeks would have put as much efforts and tenacity in working and building their

country as much as they put into endless marches, protests, strikes and civil mayhem,

they would have a problem less, rich country, but no, it's always easier to take than to give....

I guess you do say that., if it's true or not it's an other story.

[shirtless]

Its really quite simple you need to pay taxes to receive benefits , unfortunately this concept is lost on Greeks.

[wabothai]

Tell them they are wrong.

Time for Brussels to close their offices.

[Ulic]

The farmers had nothing to do with the policies that brought Greece down ( other than voting for the clowns ), but they are going to suffer because of them, while the people that did the dirty will get away scot free. It's such a crappy world we live in.

You miss your own point entirely. The precise reason the farmers and the Greek population

are responsible is because they voted in successive governments that promised them

the world. Lots of government jobs (twice per capita as the rest of Europe) fat pensions

which were not funded, early retirement, lots of infrastructure projects of which were

unnecessary (bridges and roads to nowhere). Taxes were not collected, and tax collectors

were bribed to report all was in order when someone was audited. This has all caught

up with the voters that put these governments into power. There is no free lunch. The

Greeks have eaten and now they refuse to pay the bill and that is after a 50% discount

has been applied.

[sirineou]

Knowing what you all know what you all say makes sense, what we all need to remember is that often what we know is not all that is necessary to have an informed opinion

and one needs to be a little more sympathetic toward a people who like many of as are being screwed by their government and by the international governing bodies, much in the same way many of you are being screwed by your government and by the EU

I consider my self an American since I have grown up in the US ,since I was toddler, and love the country and it's people that have being very good to me ,and is the only real country I have known.

But I was born in Greece and have some inside knowledge of the history and conditions that brought Greece where it is now . And I will tell you though the Greek pensioners had a small art to play , and are not PROPORTIONALLY paying for their participation on this tragedy.

Greece was destroyed by WWII, and did not get out of it until the Seventies, one third of it's population was killed

after the surrender of Germany , the cold war between the US and USSR, kept Greece perpetually involved in civil wars, military juntas. and externally dominated governments.

Which brings me on the how I became American.

Family members of mine worked in King Constantine's palace, A Monarchy that was .installed in Greece by Germany and the European powers, King Constantine was not a Greek. Any way while my father was out of the country, (like most Greeks he worked on the merchant marine industry) a military Junta took over the country, my father , many of my family members were arrested and my father had to seek political asylum in the US,. my family and I was spirited away . in the middle of the night with only the clothes on our back and next day I woke up in the US. All I can remember about the event was, A few weeks later I was in an american school , not understanding a word, and all I remember was , crying all day, and wetting the bed for years after that..

Enough about me , I could write a book, and perhaps one day I will.

Back to Greece.. The Junta was externally controlled and was more concerned with the spread of communism, than the well being of Greece until it's fall on 1974 , after that Greece was controlled by two political families , Papandreou, and Karamanlis . all bought and payed by American and European powers.

Anyone who thinks the pensioners had had a lot of input in the Plutocracy that preexisted and followed, is mistaken.

Greece had a couple of decades of relative stability, but then again entered in the disaster we call the EU. Again external powers dictated policies not conducive to Greek prosperity.

Were Pensions in Greece, ONLY for that short period of time, Generous? Perhaps, when one talks about percentage of GDP, one needs to consider GDP and it;s growth or decline, and one needs to consider demographics. Greece has an Aging population.

This a very cursory analysis, but if one thinks the current Greek economic situation is in large part the fault of the Greek pensioners one needs to reexamine the source of their information.

one needs to consider the following term , Odious debt. remember this term does not aply only to the Greeks it also applies to you,. If we are going to get angry about it , let;s direct our anger toward the right people.

The average Greek pension is i believe 700 euros. I dont live in Europe, so I dont know,Can you live in Europe for 700 euros a month?

The Greek pensioners are paying for this, and those who caused it are living on Park Av, in NYC

[englishoak]

Greece is getting what it deserves.

They voted for these clowns to decide their fate, they got it.

Edited February 13, 2016 by englishoak

[sirineou]

Greece is getting what it deserves.

They voted for these clowns to decide their fate, they got it.

well there is a man we will never hear complaining about anything,. after all you voted for the clowns and you deserve everything you get.

[Johpa]

Greece is getting what it deserves.

They voted for these clowns to decide their fate, they got it.

The only people who decided their fate were the European bankers, mostly German, who made ridiculous loans to Greece and other countries who had no ability to make monetary adjustments to their economies once they adopted the Euro. And then to further muck things up, the bankers insisted upon the ridiculous and failed austerity programs whose results were to further contract the Greek economy. The bankers then forced the Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to resign. The Greek farmers have every right to protest. Greece needs to detach itself from the Euro and simply default on the loans. The German bankers need to realize that Greece will never be able to repay the loans and that austerity programs only exacerbate the problems. The irony is that Germany itself owes much of its modern economic growth to debt relief programs after WWII.

[englishoak]

Greece is getting what it deserves.

They voted for these clowns to decide their fate, they got it.

well there is a man we will never hear complaining about anything,. after all you voted for the clowns and you deserve everything you get.

Well lets see, they voted over and over and over again for the repeatedly irresponsible govs they have had, fudged the books to get in the EU. Despite this over and over the bailouts came in and over and over they chose not to tighten the belt..Still wanted to skip responsibilities again last time, yet still wanted more support.

And they voted for another party who made them all the same BS promises again didnt they ?

Greece should have exited when they had the option and bitten the bullet then.

Dont blame Germany, Greece has economists and bankers too, why didnt Greece and its economic experts see it coming and say no thanks ?

Bottom line ? either Greece and its own academics/professionals and politicians are too stupid or too corrupt to care about its long term ability to pay its bills. I suspect its the latter.