#and 5.5% for the leftist populists

[dead-salmon]

i'm gonna either leave the continent or kill myself what the actual fuck

[nickcircelli]

Golden Dawn Profile

Golden Dawn supporters stage an anti-government protest in Athens in 2018. Photograph: NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesWhen looking back on the early to mid-2000s most countries across the world think of growth, or the dawn of a new age, welcoming in the 21st century with prospering economies and growing technology. It was an exciting time for most, even in Greece, where from 2002 until 2009 and especially after the Olympics of 2004, the country had enjoyed a period of steady economic growth with a GDP annual growth rate of 2.5% to 5.5%. But this prosperity and growth wouldn’t last for long when in late 2008 early 2009 the economic collapse of a lifetime occurred. The fiscal recession was felt around the world but was hit especially hard in Greece. After a sovereign debt-bailout deal with the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), included: the further liberalization and 'flexibility' of the labor market; severe cuts in public spending, government employment, and wages; tax increases (property, income, products, services, energy, etc.) as well as pension cuts. This deal put Greece into a deep recession causing an uproar within its people, pleading for answers to how this could have happened.

Here laid a nation in despair, the people looking for answers, and in came to the extreme far-right radical group called Golden Dawn. This far right-wing party whose motto is “Greece belongs to Greeks,” has gained popularity at a time when the nation has been struggling with high unemployment as a result of the financial crisis and strict austerity measures imposed by the government. This party could be argued as authoritarian politics as well because they depict politics as a struggle between ‘the people’ and some combination of malevolent, racialized and/or unfairly advantaged ‘Others’, at home or abroad or both. The leader of this radical populist party is Nikos Michaloliakos, a holocaust denier who is filled with hate and anger every time he speaks blaming the hardships of his country on other groups of people, a true right-wing populist, like the Vox Party of Spain with tough stances on immigration and feminism, but multiplied by 100 in this case.  As popularity started to gain after the financial crisis, the year 2015 finally came around. This was the year of the new elections of the Prime Minister and the majority of the Greek parliament. Golden Dawn, one of Europe’s most violent far-right parties, has emerged as one of the biggest winners of the general election in Greece, consolidating its presence in parliament and power on the streets. The neo-fascist group came in third with 7% of the vote, behind the triumphant leftwing Syriza and conservative New Democracy. This was seen as a huge victory for Golden Dawn now hold 18 seats in the 300 people Greek parliament. As time went on in parliament their reputation as a violent radical group was held. About a year after the Golden Dawns big win, 69 defendants took the stand in Athens, among them Michaloliakos some facing up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of orchestrating a string of attacks against immigrants, leftist and gay people. Along with this, the Golden Dawn was accused of killing an anti-fascist rapper in 2013, destroying immigrant storefronts and homes and many more terrible acts.

This group based its ideals on the hatred of others, blaming them for the hardships Greece had been facing. Golden Dawn members say immigrants are subhuman and that Greece should be cleaned of them.  Throughout Greece, we do see a rise in right-wing populism, but what I’ve seen not to this extreme. In an article titled “Greece cracks down on violent Golden Dawn Party” by Joanna Kakissis, she talks about an Egyptian fisherman Abu Hamed Dahi who has been afraid of Greeks since a gang of men broke into his home last year and nearly beat one of his housemates to death. He states “ Now if anyone passes me and stares, the truth is I am afraid”, he says. “When a car full of people slow down behind me, I am afraid.” These types of fears are what radical far-right populist groups like these leads too. Their idea of the “corrupt “is everyone who isn’t of Greek descent. With their main goal being Greece becoming a complete ethnostate only consisting of Greeks and nobody else.

Golden Dawn supporters stage an anti-government protest in Athens in 2018. Photograph: NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Golden Dawn does not just gain popularity from is radical ideals and rallies, but also through the mainstream media in Greece. In 2012 an article was published titled “Why are Golden Dawn members the darlings of popular Greek TV shows?” This article published in 2012, right around the time Golden Dawn was starting to gain real traction amongst the people of Greece, it talked about how the media frames this radical group. The Article states “ Hardly a day goes by without the appearance of an article in a leading newspaper that presents Golden Dawn as some kind of “Golden Opportunity” for Greek society.” It goes show an example of a headline that reads “Those of us believing in democracy owe a big ‘thank you’ to Golden Dawn” wrote a columnist in Kathimerini daily. To me, it seemed like this time the media was backing Golden Dawn, most likely due to the radical change needed throughout the country in the eyes of the people. Another massive media campaign Golden Dawn conducted was on YouTube. Many people concerned Golden Dawn’s activism in underdeveloped and congested neighborhoods of Athens, characterized by high unemployment and populated by the lower working classes with relatively large concentrations of mostly Muslim immigrants, principally with Albanian, Pakistani and African origins. Among these videos, there were those which depicted older Greek nationals asking Golden Dawn members for protection from immigrants. This was just one of the ways Golden Dawn caught the attention of many young Greeks, using propaganda like this to rationalize their violence.

Luckily, Golden Dawn never got elected into power. The farthest they got were those 18 seats in parliament. This was never a political populist movement but more of an opposition populist front. Golden Dawn is easily one of the most radical right-wing populist groups in Europe and we must learn from the terrible acts and beliefs they had about different groups of people.

[nickcircelli]

Golden Dawn Profile

Golden Dawn appears to be as politically isolated as it was when its leading cadre were arrested and charged in the 2013 murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas [File: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images]

When looking back on the early to mid-2000s most countries across the world think of growth, or the dawn of a new age, welcoming in the 21st century with prospering economies and growing technology. It was an exciting time for most, even in Greece, where from 2002 until 2009 and especially after the Olympics of 2004, the country had enjoyed a period of steady economic growth with a GDP annual growth rate of 2.5% to 5.5%. But this prosperity and growth wouldn’t last for long when in late 2008 early 2009 the economic collapse of a lifetime occurred. The fiscal recession was felt around the world but was hit especially hard in Greece. After a sovereign debt-bailout deal with the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), included: the further liberalization and 'flexibility' of the labor market; severe cuts in public spending, government employment, and wages; tax increases (property, income, products, services, energy, etc.) as well as pension cuts. This deal put Greece into a deep recession causing an uproar within its people, pleading for answers to how this could have happened.

Here laid a nation in despair, the people looking for answers, and in came to the extreme far-right radical group called Golden Dawn. This far right-wing party whose motto is “Greece belongs to Greeks,” has gained popularity at a time when the nation has been struggling with high unemployment as a result of the financial crisis and strict austerity measures imposed by the government. The leader of this radical populist party is Nikos Michaloliakos, a holocaust denier who is filled with hate and anger every time he speaks blaming the hardships of his country on other groups of people, a true right-wing populist, but multiplied by 100 in this case. As popularity started to gain after the financial crisis, the year 2015 finally came around. This was the year of the new elections of the Prime Minister and the majority of the Greek parliament. Golden Dawn, one of Europe’s most violent far-right parties, has emerged as one of the biggest winners of the general election in Greece, consolidating its presence in parliament and power on the streets. The neo-fascist group came in third with 7% of the vote, behind the triumphant leftwing Syriza and conservative New Democracy. This was seen as a huge victory for Golden Dawn now hold 18 seats in the 300 people Greek parliament. As time went on in parliament their reputation as a violent radical group was held. About a year after the Golden Dawns big win, 69 defendants took the stand in Athens, among them Michaloliakos some facing up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of orchestrating a string of attacks against immigrants, leftist and gay people. Along with this, the Golden Dawn was accused of killing an anti-fascist rapper in 2013, destroying immigrant storefronts and homes and many more terrible acts.

https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/europe/2018/04/future-greece-neo-fascist-golden-dawn-180412125831240.html

This group, based its ideals on the hatred of others, blaming them for the hardships Greece had been facing. Golden Dawn members say immigrants are subhuman and that Greece should be cleaned of them.  Throughout Greece, we do see a rise in right-wing populism, but what I’ve seen not to this extreme. In an article titled “Greece cracks down on violent Golden Dawn Party” by Joanna Kakissis, she talks about an Egyptian fisherman Abu Hamed Dahi who has been afraid of Greeks since a gang of men broke into his home last year and nearly beat one of his housemates to death. He states “ Now if anyone passes me and stares, the truth is I am afraid”, he says. “When a car full of people slow down behind me, I am afraid.” These types of fears are what radical far-right populist groups like these leads too. Their idea of the “corrupt “is everyone who isn’t of Greek descent. With their main goal being Greece becoming a complete ethnostate only consisting of Greeks and nobody else.

The Golden Dawn does not just gain popularity from is radical ideals and rallies, but also through the mainstream media in Greece. In 2012 an article was published titled “Why are Golden Dawn members the darlings of popular Greek TV shows?” This article published in 2012, right around the time Golden Dawn was starting to gain real traction amongst the people of Greece, it talked about how the media frames this radical group. The Article states “ Hardly a day goes by without the appearance of an article in a leading newspaper that presents Golden Dawn as some kind of “Golden Opportunity” for Greek society.” It goes show an example of a headline that reads “Those of us believing in democracy owe a big ‘thank you’ to Golden Dawn” wrote a columnist in Kathimerini daily. To me, it seemed like this time the media was backing Golden Dawn, most likely due to the radical change needed throughout the country in the eyes of the people. Another massive media campaign Golden Dawn conducted was on YouTube. Many people concerned Golden Dawn’s activism in underdeveloped and congested neighborhoods of Athens, characterized by high unemployment and populated by the lower working classes with relatively large concentrations of mostly Muslim immigrants, principally with Albanian, Pakistani and African origins. Among these videos, there were those which depicted older Greek nationals asking Golden Dawn members for protection from immigrants. This was just one of the ways Golden Dawn caught the attention of many young Greeks, using propaganda like this to rationalize their violence.

Luckily, Golden Dawn never got elected into power. The farthest they got were those 18 seats in parliament. This was never a political populist movement but more of an opposition populist front. Golden Dawn is easily one of the most radical right-wing populist groups in Europe and we must learn from the terrible acts and beliefs they had about different groups of people.