“OXI!” and Enlightened Dissent: Greece’s 4th July 2015, Declaration of Independence from TROIKA Control

As my graduate philosophy professor once said, “No one promised that enlightenment about the REAL WORLD would make one happy, but it will surely make one more of what one already is. The question remains, what is one to do with such enlightenment?”

Enlightenment comes from not only seeing beauty in the world but also having the courage to stand up to its ugliness as expressed through seeing and living with the mass misery the powerful 1% leverage over the 99%.

So, I write this on America’s “Independence Day” as a Greek-American political science professor who has seen so much beauty and so much misery. I wish to add my voice with you and I beg your indulgence and wish to share with you some of my research in comparing these to tragedies, one in Greece, the other in America, both counties I love and both casualties of the Great Recession as a consequence of the catastrophic failure of global capitalism which we’re all suffering under except, of course, for the 1%. It’s time for a real declaration of independence globally from this crazy neoliberal system.

In politics, revolutions and rebellions happen when people get fed up. The historical record is clear on this: The American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and Developing World’s struggles against northern colonialism and imperialism. In each case, Democracy’s struggle to be realized through dissenting voices calling for self-determination has set the context, the goal throughout history. So, I share this declaration with you all as a reminder. Please read it very, very closely:

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

http://www.law.indiana.edu/usl…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?…

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. [Sunday’s referendum to remain in a democratic Europe or leave it and go it alone.]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, [Tsipras takes the issue to the Greeks to decide their fate]

–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. [SYRIZA’s January mandate to end austerity]

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. [SYRIZA’s dissent with the TROIKA governing powers]

—Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. [Eurzone “Debt colonies” of Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and other working class Europeans as debt slaves]

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public

good. …[TROIKA elites have refused to assent to laws and principles of democracy and enforced their financial powers in order to overthrow the Greek government that challenges the TROIKA’s authority.]

…………..

For me, Jefferson’s call for Revolution has echoed throughout history from Ho Chi Minh’s fight for Vietnamese national independence from French colonial rule when he actually sent a letter in the spirit of the Declaration, the Atlantic and San Francisco Charters [U.N. predecessor] to President Truman, which Truman kept secret from the American people to Che Guevara’s fight for Latin American independence from
colonial domination [including the later Latin American debt crises]—the cry for independence still rings true in Syntagma where young Greeks raise Che’s banner in the spirit of Jefferson’s plee and shout “NO!” = “OXI!”

Their cry of dissent is part of the bedrock of democracy.

http://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/lett…

http://www.archives.gov/histor…

Let’s compare the tragedies in a global context:

In the Greek case, the use of the debt weapon as economic weapon to control Greece’s economy shows the rising of Greece’s democracy-in-action as one answer for another declaration of
independence.

http://www.theguardian.com/bus…

http://www.theguardian.com/bus…

http://america.aljazeera.com/a…

http://www.theguardian.com/wor…

http://www.theguardian.com/com…

Finally, my dear reader, to give you a global picture of the Greek tragedy, it’s not just impacting Greece, the
neoliberal policies are also hitting American workers hard, too. It’s a global phenomenon and American politicians like their Euro-TROIKA counterparts are of the same class and ideology—bailing out the dollar or euro in order to protect bond investors and the 1% is universal. So, I’ve also included overtime the current dismal situation of middle class Americans. America is NOT a democracy in its truest sense if we compare that to Greece but American’s share the same dismal existence in many ways and seek the sense of democracy of “One for All, All for One” in a neoliberal system that only understands “Me, Me, Me!”:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/…

http://www.sonyclassics.com/in…

http://www.rollingstone.com/po…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

http://www.povertyusa.org/

http://www.theguardian.com/bus…

http://www.theguardian.com/com…

http://america.aljazeera.com/t…

http://www.studentsagainsthung…

http://endhomelessness.org/lib…

http://www.epi.org/publication…

http://www.cheatsheet.com/poli…

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/am…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?…

https://youtu.be/zMZbNIAkc5A

http://america.aljazeera.com/o…

http://www.theguardian.com/bus…

http://www.commondreams.org/vi…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?…

http://www.truth-out.org/opini…

http://www.counterpunch.org/20…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?…

Another American leader, like Jefferson, had a “radical” solution, too: An Economic Bill of Rights for All
Americans, but his bill was quickly and quietly shelved after he died; it was deemed “too radical” by some.

Here it is, like the Declaration, read it very, very closely, then ask yourself about “Democracy in America”?

FDR’s “Economic Bill of Rights as a Second Bill of Rights”

On January 11, 1944, in the midst of World War II, President Roosevelt spoke forcefully and eloquently about the greater meaning and higher purpose of American security in a post-war America. The principles and ideas conveyed by FDR’s words matter as much now as they did over sixty years ago, and the Franklin D. Roosevelt American Heritage Center is proud to reprint a selection of FDR’s vision for the security and economic liberty of the American people in war and peace.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

“A Second Economic Bill of Rights”

Excerpt from President Roosevelt’s January 11, 1944 message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union

It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

1. The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or
mines of the nation;

2. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

3. The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will
give him and his family a decent living;

4. The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of
freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

5. The right of every family to a decent home;

6. The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good
health;

7. The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

8. The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. —–

Compare this the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights: http://www.un.org/en/documents…

Now finally, watch and listen to both of the leaders together:

Tsipra’s speech to the Citizens of Athens and FDR’s speech to the Citizens of America:
http://webtv.ert.gr/katigories…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?…

All these declarations for democracy and independence share one thing in common, the universal aspiration of people to share in solidarity a better life on this planet as expressed through dissenting against social injustice. Greece’s aspirations, are no different. Greece’s Tsipas is pleading for nothing less for his people than Jefferson, FDR, Che, Ho Chi Minh and many others.

History does indeed come back to bite us all.

The question remains, how will we use enlighten dissent to achieve a better world for all? Watch the Greeks and just say “OXI!”