Showing posts with label soup kitchens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soup kitchens. Show all posts

Sunday 5 February 2012

SOUP KITCHENS NOT ALLOWED.


         While the Greek political class prostrate themselves in front of the financial Mafia, trying to get a deal that will not cost the financial moguls too much, what is happening to the Greek people? In freezing conditions, yes it is very cold in Athens at the moment, the homeless of the city, approximately 20,000 in Athens alone, were being helped out by various political groups setting up soup kitchens. However the caring compassionate government has issued a decree, which, claiming public health issues, closes these soup kitchens. Secretary of Public Health, Dimopoulos, obviously thinks that getting free food is more dangerous than going hungry in a freezing city. His decree states that only formal agencies can publicly offer free food, churches, municipalities and NGOs. Others wishing to offer help to the hungry have to get official approval from the authorities.

        It was not just the homeless that were turning up at these soup kitchens, even those who still have a roof over their head can't afford to eat. Spontaneous self help and mutual aid, are terms that are an anathema to the authority worshipping political class. In another recent show of compassionate government, in Athens, while it was snowing and the temperature plummeting 24 or so of the 20,000 homeless in Athens squatted an empty municipal coffee house. The Mayor of Athens, Kaminis, order action to be taken against them and the riot police arrived and arrested 15 of the squatters. The Mayor, for whatever reason withdrew his complaint but the General Attorney of Athens charged the 15 with criminal damage and theft (of electricity). The arrestees were detained at Exarcheia Police Station where 100 or so people gathered outside in protest. The detainees were then transferred to Police HQ, where as far as is known, they are still there.

        What we can take from these type of political actions is that the state apparatus is more concerned with the protection of property and maintenance of authority, than it is in the well being of the people. To them it is acceptable to have empty property and people sleeping on the streets in freezing temperatures, rather than free up that property. It is acceptable to have people go hungry in cold winter conditions rather than have unauthorised concerned groups offer them warm food. These are the standard procedures of this profit drive system of corporate financial fascism that we the ordinary people suffer under. This system cannot be modified to take care of all our people, there is no such beast as caring, compassionate capitalism and the call for “moral markets” is a call for the fox to walk with the chicken.

The information in this post was taken from OCCUPIED LONDON.


ann arky's home.