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I will give Hans' post more consideration and reply later, I hope. It certainly merits that. I am inclined though to agree with him and to disagree with Richard Seymour on the scale of the defeat. It might be very dangerous to think this but the people demonstrated their courage and solidarity and that has not changed. In response to Theo's blog let me quote a line from Yeats - "I have never complained of the people". And no one else on this list has either, as far as I can see. It is true that most of us do not speak Greek. But all of us wish the Greek people well, and we have all displayed international solidarity. There have also been many posts which had their origin from within Greece. In this the list has acted in the best traditions of socialist solidarity, IMHO. Solidarity, of course, can be unwanted at times. Many of us are angry and bitterly disappointed at the victory of the Right. Would Theo want us to feel otherwise? I am sure not. Let me repeat again. We are not complaining about the Greek people. My admiration for them is unbounded. *Tsirpas the Sell-out* is something else. I will be complaining about him for as many years as remain to me. Now, he reminds me of the character in *Pelle the Conqueror* who rebels and is about to strike the cruel boss down with his scythe and then is struck in the back of the head by some kind of apparatus that I cannot recall. One's immediate reaction is that he has died bravely and one mourns that he did not get a blow in. Then, later in the film, we see him again. He is sat in the corner of the kitchen alive but brain damaged and drooling. 'Why was he not thrown off the farm?' we wonder at first. After all he was going to kill the boss. Then the answer is bitterly clear. He has become a trophy. Ostensibly he shows the boss's charitable side. In reality, he serves to remind people of the fate of rebellion. Unless I am very mistaken, the new Alexis will be a jewel in the crowns of the Thugs of Brussels. Should events prove me wrong and should Syriza somehow learn from the people, then I will be the first to apologize. But I am not holding my breath comradely Gary _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
