‘The squares are waiting for us… to inprove our lives’

Pressenza.- Could you please briefly remind us which were the causes which lead the Greek population to take the streets?

Yordos.- Life in Greece has been very hard the last months and the situation is getting even worse as time goes by. New measures are announced almost every week. It´s very shocking for Greek people to have their lives changed in such short period of time and in such a cruel way.

P.- How do you see the present moment from a political and social perspective?

Y.- Decisions are not taken from Greek government anymore but from EU and I.M.F. so elections or consensus of political parties can´t help the situation change in a better way. The future is on the hands of the people and how they will react. This doesn´t mean that it´s going to be a change soon. But this crisis is an important reason for people to see the reality of their lives, if they are satisfied with their way of living and what should they do from now on.

P.- How do the people live the crisis in the “everyday”? How does the crisis affect the day by day from the point of view of health, education, etc.?

Y.- Cuts are announced all the time in all sectors. So this affects in a very strong way Greek people’s lives because the quality of the services is not good at all. There is a lack of personnel in the hospitals and in general health care is very expensive. The education is one of the sectors that is also affected. School classes started but there were no books and pupils were given CDs and copies to read. Also in the sector of education there is a great lack of teachers. Health and education are just two examples but every part of Greek society is being affected and it is getting worse day by day.

P.- Which are the characteristics of the “indignant movement” in Greece?

Y.- Since the 25th May the movement was getting bigger until the first days of July. There were big numbers of people participating. The numbers were enormous on Sundays and on the strikes. No organization neither political party is part of the movement. All decisions are taken in a horizontal way without leadership. Leadership is something that is being avoided by the movement in general in all countries where it exists. People see in the media violence taking place in Greece. I want to be clear. Those people don´t have any relation with the movement. We are non-violent from the beginning and we will continue to be.

P.- Which are the consequences of the linking with the other countries’ Indignant Movement? Is there a before and an after of the link with other countries? Is it possible to make an analysis of that process, if changes have occurred because of being part of such global movement?

Y.- We learn from each other. We are in different countries but some of the problems are the same. Technology helps us to communicate easier and faster. We know very quickly what is happening in another country because of the Internet. We can read, see images or watch videos from what is happening there. Of course there is communication with emails among members whenever needed. All this communication in a global way helps people not to make the same mistakes and to learn new ideas or solutions to the problems they have.

P.- Which is the future you foresee for Greece?

Y.- Unfortunately the situation in Greece is getting worse day by day. The new measures are harder and harder. The result of this is more and more strikes being announced every day. It is very difficult to predict how the majority of people will react. There are two things of which I can be sure. The government’s policy will continue in this way and the economical situation of Greece will be worse in the next year. Many measures have been already taken but they had not positive results on Greece’s debt or Greek people life. This clearly shows that if they continue in this path the situation is going to be unpredictable not only for Greece but for the rest of the world as well.

P.- What would you like to say to the people in Greece and in other countries?

Y.- The movement didn´t ever stated that has the solution for all the problems. But the movement can do other better things. It can make all people to participate in how to change their lives. It can get people into interchanging ideas and into finding solutions all together for their problems. We don’t have to wait for others to decide for our lives and how those should be. The squares are waiting for us and I am sure that we people, through debate and dialogue, can find the ways to improve our lives.