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Subscribe to RSSHundreds of anti-austerity protesters in Greece have been remembering one of their own. In front of the parliament in Athens a 77-year-old retired pharmacist killed himself. In a note he said government cuts wiped out his pension and robbed him of his dignity. ITV's Martin Geissler reports.
ATHENS -- An elderly Greek's suicide outside parliament has quickly become a symbol of the pain of austerity and has been seized upon by opponents of the budget cuts imposed by Greece's international lenders.
Dimitris Christoulas, 77, shot himself in the head on Wednesday after declaring that financial troubles pushed him over the edge. A suicide note said the retired pharmacist preferred to die than scavenge for food.
The highly public -- and symbolic -- nature of the suicide prompted an outpouring of sympathy from ordinary Greeks, who held a protest march and set up an impromptu shrine with notes condemning the crisis at the spot where he killed himself.
The BBC reported that violence flared at the demonstration on Wednesday night, with some protesters hurling Molotov cocktails at police. They responded by firing tear gas.
"As you walk around the streets of Athens and beyond you can see the social fabric tearing," the BBC's Mark Lowen said.
The conservative newspaper Eleftheros Typos called the victim a "martyr for Greece" and said his act was filled with "profound political symbolism" that could "shock Greek society and the political world and awaken their conscience" in the weeks before a parliamentary election that will determine Greece's future.
'Family man'
Anger was directed as much at politicians as it was at the austerity medicine prescribed by foreign lenders in return for aid to lift the country out of its worst economic crisis since the Second World War.
"It's horrible. We shouldn't have reached this point. The politicians in parliament who brought us here should be punished for this," said Anastassia Karanika, a 60-year-old retiree.
The head of the Attica Pharmacists' Union, Constantinos Lourantos reportedly told Skai radio that Christoulas was "a calm, family man."
John Kolesidis / Reuters
A mourner cries on Thursday at the spot where 77-year-old Dimitris Christoulas took his own life in Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece.
With the tragedy occurring barely a month before elections are expected in Greece, smaller parties opposed to harsh spending cuts included in the country's second bailout were quick to point the finger at bigger parties backing the rescue.
"Those who should have committed suicide -- who should have committed suicide a long time ago -- are the politicians who knowingly decided to bring this country and its people to this state of affairs," said Panos Kammenos, a conservative lawmaker who recently set up the Independent Greeks anti-austerity party.
Smaller parties like the Independent Greeks have been riding high in opinion polls at the expense of the two main co-ruling parties, the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK, backing the bailout.
The two big parties are together expected to take less than 40 percent of the vote. Losing more voters to the smaller parties could put them at risk of not having enough seats in parliament to forge a pro-bailout coalition again.
That in turn would have profound implications for Greece's finances, given continued aid from European partners and the International Montary Fund is contingent on Greece's new government pushing through reforms demanded as part of the bailout.
Yorgos Karahalis / Reuters
A protester throws a stone at police officers during rioting in Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece, on Wednesday night.
Greek police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters taking part in a rally commemorating the death of Dimitris Christoulas.
Sorrow
New Democracy and PASOK, which have ruled Greece for decades, expressed their sorrow for the tragedy. Political opponents attacked them for joining in the mourning.
"Shame on them. The accomplices responsible for the suffering and despair of the Greek people ... should at least keep quiet in the face of the hideous results of the capitalist crisis and their policies, instead of pretending to be saviors and sensitive," the KKE Communist party said.
Resentment is growing in Greece over repeated rounds of wage and pension cuts that have compounded the pain from a slump which has seen the economy shrink by a fifth since 2008.
Unemployment has surged to a record 21 percent -- twice the eurozone average -- with one out of two young people without a job. The number of suicides has surged and many Greeks feel ordinary people like the retired pharmacist are being forced to pay for a crisis that was not of their making.
Economy-related suicides hit Italy
Meanwhile, an Italian man shot himself dead on Wednesday because his company was going bust, following a wave of economy-related suicides in the country which one opposition politician blamed on Prime Minister Mario Monti's reforms.
The 59-year-old Rome-based construction firm owner left a note apologizing to family members and explaining that his business had failed, police said.
A day earlier, a 78-year-old woman in Sicily jumped to her death because her monthly pension payments had been reduced. On Monday, a picture-frame maker hanged himself because of economic difficulties.
And last week, two men set themselves on fire in northern Italy due to financial woes. Both survived, one with severe burns.
Opposition politician Antonio Di Pietro, leader of the Italy of Values (IDV) party, criticized the government's reform agenda in parliament, and said Monti had the suicides of people who can't make it to the end of the month "on his conscience".
At a news conference on Wednesday, Monti refused to reply to the comments from Di Pietro, a fiery former anti-corruption magistrate, who was one of the harshest critics of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Italy is struggling with a recession, rising unemployment and increasingly severe austerity measures.
Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.
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Your country and it's government is owned lock,stock and barrel by cooporate america and a few super rich and it is YOUR FAULT! Gimme,Gimme,Gimme. God isn't going to help those with no brain.
changethechangenow...WHY? It is obvious to me you understood it. Are you a teacher, if so, my appology. If you disagree with my RANTS, you have a poor way of questioning it. Since you are critical of my spelling and a brilliant person then you could show it by telling me exactly where I am wrong.
Change the Change: This is not grade school. You want to teach? Go get a job as a school teacher. You got the idea of what was said, that should be enough. And you should start you sentence's off with a Capital Letter.
Tarzen7..Thank you.
One of the basic tenents of communication, in this country, is the written word. Poor education has dumbed down the ability of a growing number of people to execute sentences and spelling properly.
Hence Bobl.
Keep dreaming ..You are the ones owned lock stock and barrel. Look what you are doing to greece so you can live above the rest. The dominoe effect will end up at your door step. resourses resources. Your enemies in the EU is your appetite for self narcissicism where you think you are above the rest. You will drown in your self rightousness.
Why do people contine to vote AGAINST their best interests. You know the rich don't give a dam about you, so why vote for their shills? Are you completely nuts? Tax free religion...give me a break. Money for trillionare oil companies, STUPID! They laugh at your stupidity. Starting wars so the military CONTRACTERS CAN RAKE IN THE DOUGH. Have you lost your marbles?
Changethechange....You are saying absolutely nothing. No one wants a BIG government except government itself.
Sorry ,but not our fault when we have no voice in the matter! It,s easy to say it,s all our fault when you don,t live here.All countries have their fair share of problems with the wealthy always pushing their agenda.The general masses are pushing back at the very thought that we should even concider any more cuts to our SO CALLED entitlements.
I CARE..You have had a voice since you were a child. Entitlments do not include Social Security or you must apply the same thing to your 401-K, both paid by employee and employer. But those are not the problem. The problem is cooporate greed and corrupt politicans. Almost all presidents have contributed to the mess we are now in both Repub and Demo's. ALL presidents have been put in place with money, so they owe. The system doesn't work.
Shame on 'Logical Voice' -- what an ignorant, self-righteous twit. Americans are stronger... sure. Americans just take AK47s and slaughter their schoolmates, colleagues, or family when they get stressed. Just wait until the bottom drops out in the U.S. -- suicides and murders will become the norm.
Killing yourself over debt is stupid - and yet there have been stories in the news in the USA of people doing this - sometimes killing their whole families because of debt. And yet no one in the USA riots over this.
You are not your debt. You are not your credit score. There is life after bankruptcy.
Killing yourself over debt is idiotic. And the idea that you will have to "root though the garbage" for food is ridiculous.
But one unhinged guy kills himself, and people use it as a pretext to riot.
It is not ridiculous in some parts of the world to have to root through trash to feed yourself if you have no money. Maybe you are idiotic to be so naive.
The paranoid EU has developed the Euro so they can control these other countries ,BUT Greece is the example , the example of what went wrong with your thinking ehh ! Next is Italy and spain and who will pay ? The USA ? The bubble is gone you are on your own. No jobs is what you get if you come here to collect. You think that push pull economics will work forever sooner or later it will burn out.
The fake unemployment numbers are just that. Economists know that the job numbers do not add up once you do the real math.
ajgorm, libs never let facts get in their way. The end justifies the means.
amen...i for 1 and tired of this lying BS
It's an election year, and they will do thing's with the Unemployment number's that would make a Card Shark blush with shame.
Let me see if I have this right...an elderly , professional man commits suicide, in Athens Greece, and it's our Presidents fault...others mention that this man was weak...and a lot of you think Americans are stronger...LOL...you're all clueless...but stick around...our drama is going to get better...and the lot of you will be crying like babies. You're crying now and it really hasn't gotten that bad ...... YET.
I was on ebay and saw that I could put a bid in for the country of Greece.........it's up to $19.50.......what do you think should I bid twenty bucks.............naw too much.
This Global Economy or as our Politicians call it "FREE TRADE" has crippled once prosperous countries. China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, India, etc. etc. etc. has gotten so many of our job's with UNFAIR trade practices that Our's and other countries are too Weak Kneed to do anything about. And as if these problems and job loss'es are not enough, Obama is talking about even More "FREE TRADE" with even more countries. There seem's to be a plan, in my opinion, by our politicians to bring the U.S. to it's Knee's and make us a third world country.
The "poor" in the USA often sport iPhones.
We're being brought to our knees because of free trade? LOL. You're nuts.
duh ya think so! tell me something we all don,t know
What has and still is happening all across Europe right now is pure greed from a handful of IMF backed failing Euro banking scum.
Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the UK, are all being euthanized like a horse with a broken leg.
These un-elected scumbags have hijacked these countries by forcing them into this failing system which only piles on debt to every country that is part of it.
If these countries were not part of that failing system each would have been able to at least find there own way of dealing with there own debt instead of combined debt due to a failing system.
All this BS about bailing out each country then taking out there leaders then putting there own scumbags in power is no more then a hostile bank sucking take over.
I don't know how they were able to pull it off for all these years in the first place.
I mean really who the f---k are these handful of Euro scum?
They know the system is a complete failure.
They know they can't continue to bailout anymore countries.
They know they will never recoup the debt by using this austerity BS.
They were never voted into office by anyone accept themselves.
Yet here they are stripping the hell out of these countries one after the other as if they were like looting a candy store.
They shamefully do it as if they were buying and selling a car instead of a whole country.
I mean they hardly had enough of that BS IMF Euro crap to do what they have thus far.
I just can't see how they plan to continue doing any future bailouts, especially for a country like Italy for one.
They can't afford it.
This whole bloody Euro system is falling apart, yet they still continue to force these countries into further debt by using it.
What part of fail don't they understand?
The system is going into a huge Euro trash can of debt that will never be paid back.
It is a vicious cycle that will only continue to make each one of these countries more insolvent.
You don't bail a country out by dismantling its government then destroying its only infrastructure of being able to function well enough to pay back such compounded, and combined overall debt.
They need to get rid of this system before the whole bloody thing comes crashing down in one pile of dung.
All these countries should walk away from this insane Euro BS system before they are completely bought, and sold like some washed up whore.
I cannot see this system moving forward without some kind of total collapse.
The money will be gone.
The debt never paid.
These countries will become slum nations.
Then what happens when it all comes apart?
All I can see is a global depression, followed by revolutions and wars.
All for the sake of a few greedy basta-rds that wish to line there pockets then walk away into the IMF sunset.
Scum!
That is all these pukes are, is down right low dirty no good scum.
I say grow some balls and kick these un-elected, unwanted, greedy f---kers out of your country then stick there Euro sh-it right up there rear ends.
This makes me sick............later.
The Greeks are blaming previously elected politicians for their mess? Treason? Really? Who elected them?
The Greeks were voting for candidates that promised economic prosperity with no cost, no work, no effort. As the old saying goes "there is no such thing as a free lunch." Now it's time to pay back those generous socialist programs....WITH INTEREST. It hurts and will continue to hurt. But please citizens of Greece, look in the mirror when assigning blame to your pitiful situation.
By the way, to all Americans, are you watching?
WavesofGrain: You are spot on! It all starts with the business person who takes a risk, starts a business, pays taxes which is used to fund governments, employees, corrupt politicans/presidents etc... The more the gov't employees burn through while simultaneously hiring more cronies, the more dire our financial situation as a country. Unless, the "new wave" is "borrow upon debts and more debts," but that leads to a deflationary money system, built on nothing really, FIAT currency, which history shows NEVER works. We are headed right behind Greece! No question about it...Entitlements and ruining the small business owner which made the USA, America, is going to be the destruction of this country and others too! I hope I'm wrong...
Actually, history has shown that using a gold standard for currency NEVER works.... It could be why there isn't a country on the face of the planet that uses such a model.
Paleoconservatives/libertarians who believe in a gold standard do have a great option.... BUY FREAKING GOLD with your fiat money.
"Ruining the small business owner" is also up for interpretation. Most small business owners ruin themselves.... the ones who become successful are no longer "small business owners" and then join the ranks of the evil doers.
I don't mind government officials "hiring cronies" if those "cronies" qualify for the job.... (who would hire people they don't trust and know well?)... I do mind the government doling out money to cronies via corporate welfare and grants. Sadly, this has always happened and is realistically never going to change.
You want things to get better? Demand that Government stop the big oil giveaway tax breaks.Make ALL corporations pay their FAIR share of taxes.Ummm by the way , that doesn,t mean they have a lower tax rate than the average joe citizen!Put a danm cap on gas and oil prices for gods sake.The Government can do that,siteing that it is in the National interest of this country.Big oil will threaten to pull out ,but they wont because we are the biggest consumers in the world.Gas should not be more than $2.50 gal anyways.Pure glutteny and speculation is why our prices are so high and the government does nothing to regulate it,at the expence of it,s people If no controls are put into place for gas and oil prices then who cares if we get cars that get 50 miles per gal.The gas companies will just boost the price per gal of gas to compansate and once again we will be no futher ahead!The citizens should get together and push for legislation that would cause the federal government to subsidize the cost per gal of gas if it goes above $2.50 a gal.That means THEY have to pay the gas companies the differance between the pump price and the $2.50 per gal price set by law.Lets see how fast things get handled when they have to pay.By the way,also have to make sure they can,t cut funding to other programs to make up the differance.Only able to have higher tax rate for goods comming into this country and get trad deficits under control to get nesscessary funding.
You are an incredibly unintelligent person if you can't understand the problems with your demands.
"The citizens should get together and push for legislation that would cause the federal government to subsidize the cost per gal of gas if it goes above $2.50 a gal.That means THEY have to pay the gas companies the differance between the pump price and the $2.50 per gal price set by law."
If the government has to pay the gas companies for gasoline that is over $2.50/gallon, then the gas companies could raise gas prices to $10/gallon and get $7.50 of taxpayer money per gallon.
Taxes would have to go up accordingly, the price of everything would go up, and everyone would be paying while the gas companies would be raking in the money.
Your idea is asinine.
I am so glad that we have the power to vote unwanted destructive leaders like Obama out of office here in the U.S.! God Bless America!
poolman1 wake up and smell the roses.You think Obama is gonna be replaced by our savior! They are all on the take and beholding to the people that put the there.What do the people behind the superpacs get for all the millions they spend?A heartfelt thanks.Ummm they are expecting a BIG payback!Why the hell do you think they spend so much money? It,s to further their agenda,which by the way will do nothing for you or I. Of that i,m sure.Dems,repubs,indipendants are all the same.No one up there is really working for us any more!
Doesn't matter who's in power, the results are the same.
You can have anything you want if you can keep it.
Remember, you first heard of the NEW WORLD ORDER from George Bush Sr. Wasn't he a Republican? Wasn't he best friends with the King of Saudi Arabia? Didn't his son let his Saudi friends fly off, when the shy was closed to everyone else on 9-11?
When you lose sight of your past you lose your chance to improve the future. There is little difference between Bush and Obama. They both got their campaign money from the very rich and the next President will not be any better.
Romney has a clear bend in solvin problme. In business you have to make it work. It isnot we did right things.
Romney will never miss the centrality that our health care problem is about cost. Obama doe nto udnerstand cost.
Isn't Romney the guy whose fortune is based on big business? No matter, he will sell you out and, if the US survives until the next elections, we will hear how he ripped this country apart.
I've never understood the distaste for business, as seen on these various posts. Capitalism built this nation to the world's leading power. However, after forty years of burgeoning social programs, we are in decline. Maobama expedites that at every opportunity.
I think the man that shot himself was not someone who counted on entitlements as some of you are suggesting. It said he was a pharmacist, so he did have an education and a job and then when his pension is destroyed, he has nothing to live off of. He can't get another job due to age and there is no safety net for him. Could he have saved money? Yes. However nobody really knows what else went on in his life, just that he was facing having to scavenge in the streets. Not a fun prospect by any means. Man, a lot of you people on here are soulless bastards who would rather see their fellow man starve than give him a nickle. How about some compassion to someone who saw nowhere to go but death or starvation. I hope it never happens to you idiots.
he was a pharmacist in a socialist country, meaning he was a gov't employee, meaning he was counting on a crazy gov't pension to fund his retirement, my guess he bought a nice house, a nice vacation house and all the toys he ever wanted, then found out his pension was being cut. so he killed himself, dont give me this "saw nowhere to go but death or starvation" i will never feel bad for anyone who commits suicide, im not some christian wingnut, i just think that is a coward move for people who don't want to make changes in their lives that might not be easy.
Actually, his pharmacy was worth quite a bit before this whole collapse. A pharmacy license was worth about $250,000 alone. It was usually handed own within the family (very nepotistic society). The pharmacists, who almost made any competition impossible with their protective policies, were being heavily subsidized by the government. I bet you his ex-wife had more to do with his precarious finances than anything else - after all, guys are always bitching about that...
Not A Drone,your an idiot You really think the fed gov would just sit by and let that happen Really!! What an ass.And by the way i don,t think the poor are sporting I phones as they couldn,t pass a credit check you moron.The poor in this country are using pay as you go phones you out of touch $#!@#$$
I'm so happy the future of the world's economy, and more specifically, the U.S. economy isn't really a problem for me....certainly not one that would lead me to end my life. My husband and I smartly chose to not have children, so the problems that will be faced by future generations doesn't concern us at all.
We've secured ours so this is hardly our problem
Jenny, I think people need to put a great deal of thought into if they want children these days. Those children will be paying the burden of government excess that is taking place today.
One of the things that are destroying this country is the selfish nature that has taken oer our citizens. What ever happened to the common good?
Jibaro, common good is providing for the defence of this country.
Defence from who? Once in a while a moron does a terrorist act, but who is behind that? It requires a lot of money to feed, arm and train a supposed terrorist. Who is doing that and who is allowing it? In any case, you can spend all your money mounting an aggressive defence but, what if the real enemy is already in the country?
I will have to seed a report on terrorism in Puerto Rico during the Romero Barcelo Government so that those who bother to read will see that things are not always what they seem.
Defense.
Defense, against forgien and domestic enemies. Once that is taken care of the role of the federal government is over except for running SS & Medicare for the people who were forced to pay into it.
"I listen to the crap the right wing spouts and just can't help wondering where the hell all this crap was when they held the majority in all three houses for 6 straight years and actually had the democrats and independants supporting them with bipartisan votes. They sure as hell didn't care about the economy or social safety nets then"
This is the gist of the problem, you liberals think this is true, problem is that it was your liberal pols that gave you what you wanted with no regard for what was happening, now you want more money, what you need to do is say "hey, I am those Greeks" what the hell were we thinking.
Again with the Bush didiots, get over it, your dear leader owns it all now, and plans to make us go down faster than Grece did.
Romney in 2012
The USA isn't far behind Greece, eventually the government will run out of other taxpayer money to spend..Better learn to speak CHINESE.....NO government can give everyone the life of luxury at taxpayer expense, its called a BUDGET (I know a swear word to hardcore libs), you can't spend $3- $4 to for every dollar you bring in from taxes.
But didn't you know, that its our right to use the government to legally steal from those who have so I can have my 2 cars, a 48" Screen, the latest cell phone, laptop, Burger King food, 9 babies, free educaiton, no tax liability, all the healthcare I want? Come on. I don't understand why you are complaining. After all, its your right to keep me going, so why are you objecting? (For those who think I'm serious, get real. But there are a lot of people who believe like this. After all, didn't you hear the black lady who declared after Obama won in 2008, that she was getting a new car? Obama said he would right everything, and she believed it.
Wrong, the government spend all our tax money for the next God knows years. That's why the nation is deeply in debt, but the money did not go into the pockets of poor free loaders, it went into the pockets of the very rich. The owners of the banks, the oil companies, the weapons factories, they are the ones benefiting from you and we are too stupid to see it.
The US has the wealthiest "poor" people in the world. You want to see poor? Try a humanitarian trip to the Sudan. You'll never look at our "poor" people the same way, again.
Having read some of the comments, most comments are critical of the leaders of their countries; offering no solutions.
Present day global economy is the result of the evolution of life through out the human history in which each one of us have certain contribution; negative or positive; it is not the doing of one person or a leader.
Responsible leaders are those who accept the responsibility to sustain and further develop the ongoing evolution, for better ends.
To run a highly integrated and complex global economy is a real challenge for all of us; leaders are doing their best to sustain it.
We as individuals, we should realize our responsibility to know what is going on in the world and act and comment on the problems constructively to help those leaders trying to sustain and better the on going evolution.
Jesus, Dr. You still trust your leaders. I wonder who you will blame when the country finally falls apart? You see, a leader leads, that's why they are leaders. The masses follow their lead and if the masses are deluded by the bunk they are fed by corrupt politicians, they can be lead down a dark alley and that's what is happening in the world today. The powerful found a new way to acquire slaves and they are very efficient at it.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/07/24/opinion/sunday/24editorial_graph1.html?ref=sunday
CAUTION Link not for people with weak hearts !
US is not far behind Greece.