The shooting dead of a 15 year old boy Alexandros Grigoropolos has sparked off nationwide riots in Greece. There has been widespread violence and the riot police do not seem to be able to control it. Large groups of young people and specifically students are the main perpetrators many of them calling for the overthrow of the government. The 45,000 police officers are unable to contain the violence, however the military is not being called in. During the mid 70s Greece was run by a totalitarian military junta, since then civil disobedience is almost seen as justified in Greece. Any form of government force against civilians has since been seen as totalitarian behaviour.
Bearing in mind these riots are not rooted in this shooting alone. The deepening economic recession and dire social problems that have existed for decades as well as the hatred for a government that is seen as by many as inept and corrupt have all been factors.
The question is what should the government do? Should they step down? Should they hold another election? Should they reform or should they call in the army to deal with the situation?
Here is a link to bbc news with a video showing just how serious it is:
But the liberal minority party(ies) are pushing hard to get reelections, and eventually they will get them. And they will get control. And they might just run the country back into the ground. And then students will set fire to the country again. And cause millions (billions?) of euros of damage again. And hurt the economy further and push their country further into economic hardship. Do you get my point? The same goal can be acheived with non-violence and with a lot less damage.
Not to mention if the students took time to think instead of react this would be a cultural movement and not a student one. Most responsible adults aren't going to set fire to their neighbor's car and business, but the will protest outside of Parliment's steps for a positive change.
yes i do get your point but it isnt as simple as that . Foor oen it is a cultural thing. Assuming you are american like most users on the site it would seem odd for such widespread violence to engulf a country like this but we Greeks have a habit of revolting when we are not happhy with things. In addition what you said was untrue man of the rioters are the proffessors at the universities the students come from, surely the least likely people you would expect to join in the rioting. The government helped get Greece into economic hardship in the first place which is one of the things they are protesting about.
