Thread: 80 Percent of Greeks Oppose More Austerity; Tens of Thousand

Saturday, May 21, 2011 3:41 PM

80 Percent of Greeks Oppose More Austerity; Tens of Thousands Defy Spain's Protest Ban; Greece, ECB Deny the Obvious; IMF in Denial Regarding Portugal

The words for today are the same as the words for last week and last month: defy and denial. Let's consider a few examples.

Campers in Spain Defy Protest Ban

The New York Times reports Tens of Thousands in Spain Defy Protest Ban

Tens of thousands of demonstrators across Spain continued sit-ins and other protests against the established political parties on Saturday. They did so in defiance of a ban against such protests and ahead of regional and municipal elections on Sunday.



About 28,000 people, most of them young, spent Friday night in Puerta del Sol, a main square in downtown Madrid, the police said. They stayed even as the protest ban went into effect at midnight under rules that bring an official end to campaigning before the election in 13 of Spain’s 17 regions and in more than 8,000 municipalities.

Fueling the demonstrators’ anger is the perceived failure by politicians to alleviate the hardships imposed on a struggling population. The unemployment rate in Spain is 21 percent.

Beyond economic complaints, the protesters’ demands include improving the judiciary, ending political corruption and overhauling Spain’s electoral structure, notably by ending the system in which candidates are selected internally by the parties before an election rather than chosen directly by voters.

As the campaign ban came into force at midnight, many of the Madrid protesters stuck tape across their mouths to signal that they would continue the demonstration, even if ordered to be silent. “The voice of the people can never be illegal,â€

The party that wins the next Greek election just may be the party that rejects more austerity measures. Regardless, it is not mathematically possible for Greece to grow its way out of this problem soon if ever, by more austerity measures.

I'll never be dumb enough to try to win that lottery.