Editor’s Note: This article and its proposals are a direct
response to the recent video produced by former SYRIZA candidate for the A’
Section of Athens Ifikratis Amyras in the May 6 elections. In his video, the
former candidate laid out his plan for Revolutionary War.
The Right of Revolution is a concept that was once touched
upon by John Locke, the Father of Classical Liberalism. In his 1689, Two Treatises of Government, Locke
argues that any government that does not have the consent of the governed can,
therefore, be legitimately overthrown. Today in Political theory, a
government’s legitimacy to use state power is directly derived from the people
over whom such political power is exercised. This principle is something which
is also agreed upon in Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
which states “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
government” [1]. Therefore, an argument can be made that one’s
obligation to obey any government simply depends on whether said government
ought to be obeyed.
As such the case before the Greek people than is whether or
not the government in Athens should still be obeyed. Does it still serve the
interests of its citizens? Does it still maintain political legitimacy? If an
argument can be found, that the government in Athens no longer serves the
interests of its citizens it, therefore, becomes the right of the Greek people
to overthrow the government and replace it with one that will. To determine if
such a case exists, we must first put together a check list to evaluate the
current government. Such a hypothetical
list should be made up of the following: 1st Police Power, in order
words, the capacity of the state to maintain and enforce order within its
territory; 2nd Moral legitimacy, in order words, the belief that government
officials’ use their power in an appropriate manner.; 3rd, Legal
legitimacy, in order words, the government’s actions are within the legality of
the constitution, and ultimately does the government hold the consent of the
governed.
Let us begin, with whether the government in Athens is able
to maintain and enforce order within its territory. If one takes a quick look over the past 2
years, and specifically the last few months the answer to this question is
without a doubt no. The government in Athens is unable to maintain and enforce
order within its territory. From the now famous Kandaris murder [4]
to the rape of a 15 year old girl in front of her father in Arta [11],
the lack of police power is everywhere. When gangs with Kalashnikovs can
terrorize entire regions, [6]and illegal immigrants can set up
unsanitary and illegal slaughter houses [9], and plunder the
nation's electrical infrastructure [10], there is no way the
government in Athens can legitimately claim to maintain and enforce order
within its territory.
However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. As the
economic crisis worsens, Greece has seen a steady rise in violent crime, thus
resulting in an increase of private security companies [2] and
ordinary citizens turning to extremist groups like Golden Dawn [3]
rather than the police for protection. In Athens alone, homicides and robberies
doubled between 2009 and 2010 [3], a fact that led to the Mayor of
Athens Giorgos Kaminis to say “I’m losing my city” and “It’s starting to look
like Beirut in the 1970s” [5]. Besides the state’s inability to
protect its own citizens, it has even failed to protect its own borders from a
growing illegal immigrate invasion [7] that has resulted in 90% of
illegal border crossing into the EU occurring on the Greek-Turkish Border [8].
With this said, let us now take a look at the government in
Athens moral legitimacy. Do its government officials and employees use their
power in an appropriate manner? The answer, unfortunately, is a resounding no.
When over 500 Politicians and State employees are under investigation for
financial crimes, [12] and a former defense minister is found to
have 850 million dollars in a Swiss bank account [13] while under investigation
on corruption charges [14], it is impossible for the government in
Athens to claim moral legitimacy. The fact is that the various scandals that
have rocked Greek society over the past few years such as the Siemens scandal [15]
have proven without a doubt “corruption pervades in every corner of life” [16].
The next two categories found on our hypothetical list,
legal legitimacy and consent of the governed are in many ways intertwined. This
is due to the fact, that the previous government that was legitimately elected
was the Papandreou Government in 2009. Therefore, the following two questions
before us; has the government’s actions been within the legality of the
constitution, and does it hold the consent of the governed, must be grouped
together. The answer to both these questions should at this point be no
surprise to the reader.
At this moment, Greece lacks an elected government as the
May 6th elections resulted in an inability to create one, thus forcing a
caretaker government to take control until new elections could be organized for
June 17th. This alone proves that those in power in Athens at the moment lack
the consent of the governed, however, let us go back further. The previous
government was that of technocrat Lucas Papademos, who was illegally and
unconstitutionally appointed Prime Minister in 2011 [17]. This shows
that the previous government also lacked the consent of the governed and legal
legitimacy. However, let us not stop there. The last legitimately elected
government that did hold the consent of the governed was the Papandreou
Government. However, this government also lacked legal legitimacy the moment it
signed the unconstitutional loan agreements [18] that ushered in the
age of austerity under which Greeks now live.
It is, therefore, obvious that the Greek Government in
Athens no longer holds any legitimacy. It has forfeited its right to govern
over the Greek people due to its inability to safeguard its citizens and
borders, to maintain moral and legal legitimacy, and furthermore maintain the
basic necessities of life for its citizens such as medicine, water, and power.
We can, therefore, come to the conclusion that, yes, Greece does, in fact, have
the right to revolution. However, the revolution Greece must follow is not one
based on Class War and outdated ideological rhetoric. If the Greek people are to exercise their
right to revolution, it should and must be a nonviolent, nonpartisan,
revolution that will lead as an example for all mankind. Below is an initial
roadmap for just such a revolution.
1st The Greek people must begin to organize
themselves within Greek territory into self-sustaining communities; able to function
without aid from the Central Government in Athens. These communities should be
run by direct democracy via Peoples Assemblies that would operate parallel to
local government.
2nd Greeks from within Greek territory, as well
as throughout the Diaspora should utilize e-democracy to hold elections to
establish a legitimate Government-in-Exile made up of local Assembly candidates
and Diaspora Leaders.
3rd The Government-in-Exile should launch a
campaign for international recognition, as well as organize ‘Occupy’ events
throughout Greece in specific locations such as – Parliament, Government
Ministry Buildings, Banks, and any buildings currently being occupied by TROIKA
officials.
4th The Government-in-Exile should establish an
international commission to audit the Greek debt and create independent courts
for the trial of individuals suspected of treason via corruption and tax
evasion.
5th The Government-in-Exile should call on
Hacktivists, such as the infamous Anonymous, to focus their efforts on
revealing the bank accounts of Greek politicians known to have plundered the
wealth of Greece rather than organizing attacks to take down Athenian
Governmental Web Sites that has no real effect on the crisis inside Greece.
Sources:
[4]
& [5] Crime casts long shadow over Athens
[18]
Giavris, Vasilis. Greece in Crisis: The IMF and Eurozone Loans in Perspective.Where to from Here?
