What sort of revolution?

The Pope, the Dalai Lama, Christine Lagarde, Thomas Piketty. What do these have in common? All point to the ever-increasing inequality in the World as damaging, even potentially socially destructive and, as such, unacceptable. Yet we have a governing party which seems set upon a strategy to increase the wealth of the haves at the expense of the have-nots. Throughout history such arrogance and unfairness has generally led to a fight-back, with the feeling that only revolution can bring about an equal society. Sometimes this has taken a bloody form, as in France and Russia. Recently the uprising of the dispossessed younger generation of the Arab countries has shown that such a recourse is not a mere tool of history.

Today we are witnessing an attempt at a revolution through the very means civilised leaders would advocate: the ballot box. In Greece, an uprising of discontent caused and fuelled by the arrogant demands of unaccountable oligarchs and bankers outside the country, is being responsibly channelled via election and referendum. If this fails, what further options will be open to the hungry, poor, sick and shamed people of the country which gave birth to democracy? Will they meekly accept decades more austerity at the behest of the undemocratic oligarchs of Europe? Or will they take others steps, with tragic and awful consequences? Alexis Tsipras is being demonized by the Establishments of the world when we should be thankful for his courage in attempting a peaceful revolution. We should look with concern as our own government does more to make this country unequal and its people deprived of entitlements they have earned, for fear that here too the wrong form of revolution is not stoked up. We need our own Tsipras to prevent this. We should empathise with and support the Greek people today of all days.