Have you got what it takes to be part of the new Greek/EU middle class?

Tired of being part of the herd? Want to stand out in a crowd? Take our new Austerity Superstar Challenge and see if you have the Right Stuff to make it in today's European Union. Tick if the following applies to you.

1-It's the end of the month and you still have money in your wallet.

2-You paid all your bills on time.

3-Turning on the heating doesn't bring you out in a cold sweat.

4-When you go to the supermarket you use a shopping trolley and not a basket.

5-You have paid holidays.

6-You go away on holiday.

7-You still use the phrase, "fill it up" at petrol stations.

8-Many of your friends are employed, some are even getting paid.

9-You shopped for something that cannot be eaten.

10-You haven't locked away all your credit cards.

The new Greek economy captured in one image

The new Greek economy captured in one image, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

It's not a great photograph but its sole virtue is that its tells a story, and so illustrates so much of what is happening in Greece today and for that reason I posted it.

In it are all the elements of a new emerging economy that has been foisted upon Greece in the name of financial salvation. In the foreground is the child begger, no more than 11, I'd venture, his Fagin like "handler" (How Dickens serves us in times of need) just off frame at the entrance of the Ble patisserie.

Ble, which serves high end baked goods at the kind of prices that even new Yorkers/Parisians might balk at is, itself a perfect example of how the economy is going. Inside the employees haven't been paid for months and yet remain working, as they know giving up a job there means certain unemployment, a fact the supervisor hovering in the background is no doubt aware of.

300 euro per month wages, total absence of labour protection laws and rampant poverty are the fate that awaits other southern European economies adopting the kind of austerity measures that Greece has implemented in the last three years.

Where they make a desert, they call it salvation

Where they make a desert, they call it salvation, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

Tacitus updated for modern economic realities.

As Greece slides further into an economic downturn that matches the very worst period of the Great Depression, the country's creditors and and the domestic political elite talk of salvation, prosperity and growth.

Waiting for the Greek Götterdämmerung

Greek protesters form human chain to guard against police attack - Thessaloniki, Greece, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

Prime minister Lukas Papademos last night warned his fellow Greeks that failure to reach agreement on the latest austerity measures in parliament today would bring disaster to the indebted nation. Such dramatic talk in perhaps hardly surprising in the country that gave the world the word, apocalypse and reflects the fear those in power feel about the possibility that the legislation will not pass, or even worse will produce a wave of protest so intense that it will stall its implementation.

For the last three days there have been a series of strikes and marches against the latest cuts and job losses, but they are just a warm up for the big event which will take place later today at 5pm Athens times when people will start to gather for a series of nationwide rallies.

For over two years Greek voters have been told that austerity will save the country and yet all people have seen is a huge drop in living standards as the economy has collapsed and prices have soared. Caught between these two pincers many have despaired that will be able to survive financially as bills pill up and incomes from pensions and wages keep on falling.




The situation has not been helped by a political system that is widely despised as being both inept and deeply corrupt. This has been reflected not only in the falling poll figures for those parties in power but also the seemingly endless clashes between riot police and protesters that occur whenever government members are spotted in public.

Those who call upon Greeks to make more sacrifices are exactly those most unwilling to give up the priviledges they have accrued whilst in power, a fact that few outside parliament have failed to notice.

The reality is that Greece has ceased to be a sovereign nation in anything but name, it's economic policy, spending decision and hence the vast majority of decision usually made in the name of the nation state are being dictated by the country's creditors who have demanded a heavy tribute in return for their intervention.



The fiscal policies being imposed have slashed GDP, pushed up unemployment and all but destroyed any real chance of the economy recovering for the forseeable future. In such a situation using talk of bankruptcy to scare people into supporting yet more of the same is simply not going to succeed as so many have, to all intents and purposes already been bankrupted.

What is left for the government and its supporters in the the media, (which to a large extent is controlled by domestic oligarchs heavily invested in the banking sector) are a series of crude threats warning of massive shortages in food and other basic goods should the country renege on its debt agreements.

Tonight in Athens's Syntagma Square we will see if the riot police can contain the groundswell of popular anger now building up. It will be a scene repeated in towns and cities across the country as people gather once more to say no to a future which holds nothing but poverty and decline for the next decade.

Welcome to the jungle. Greek retirees protesting cuts in pensions -Thessaloniki, Greece

Welcome to the jungle. Greek retirees protesting cuts in pensions - Thessaloniki, Greece, a photo by Teacher Dude's BBQ on Flickr.

Unemployment crisis in Thessaloniki

Unemployment crisis in Thessaloniki, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

According to a study recently carried out by the Workers Centre in Thessaloniki (Greece's second largest city and home to over a million inhabitants) one in four is unemployed, however in some trades such as construction that figure is nearly 70%.

In terms of everyday life this means that the city is being torn apart by the sudden loss in income suffered by many families with some estimates putting the drop as high as 40%. This means that even those who have a job and an income are loathed to spend money on anything other than the basics in the fear that they too may lose their job in the near future. As you can imagine the sudden shrinkage in economic activity has proved to be disasterous with For Sale and To Let signs sprouting up even in the city's most exclusive shopping areas. In less favoured districts the number of emply or closing businesses is enormous, in some cases outnumbering those who struggle on.

Not that much of this story makes it onto the nation's news bulletins, instead the state run channels and the pro - government sections of the press are more interested in presenting the official line that such changes are an inevitable in order to bring growth and development to Greece. This is in stark contrast to the message in the media abroad which is more and more convinced that the current austerity measures are doomed to failure as government income projections time and time again turn out to be unrealistic.

The current policy seems less like a rescue package than scorched earth economics which leave in their wake nothing but ruin and poverty.