Respect

Protest from students, protest from farmers, protest from contract-workers, protest from anarchists, protest from the left-wing, protest from the supporters of football teams, protest, protest, protest…..
And what do they do? Cut off the streets in Athens, national roads, stop traffic, march, break shop windows, throw Molotov bombs, destroy automobiles, destroy university buildings, close banks, delay the operation of educational institutions, student exams are not taken and millions euros of federal funds vanish to thin air.
How many are the ones protesting? 30.000 students, 1.800 farmers, 500 contract workers, 50 anarchists….Total? Indefinable. 50 thousand ? 100 thousand? 200 thousand. How many are the rest? Probably around 10 million. They do not protest. They just recognize.
They recognize their fellow-citizens right to claim what they believe is their right to conquest. They recognize the right of the wronged and endure with prudence the obstacles that they have each time, in order to reach their place of work, in order to pick-up their child from school, in order to find a solution to the problem that the protestors create.
They sign cheques, take loans in order to cope with their obligations, work 14 and 15 hours a day, change the broken shop window, repair their destroyed car,send their children abroad for a degree. And as if all the above is not enough, they face with scepticism the criticism of the protestors. That they do not think, they are alienated… Those that do not protest are not of decreased intelligence, neither wealthy. Some respect of few for the many, surely could improve the everyday routine of all.

John Iliadis