Greece's Societal Crisis Hits Its 'Red Line'

The term "Red Line" has been on people's minds lately, mostly as it relates to how bad the situation in Syria can get before the world is forced to intervene.

But what about when a depressed economy turns into total societal collapse?

Writing in Greek newspaper Ekathimerini, Nikos Xydakis argues that Greece has hit its "Red Line," as a young activist/rapper by the name of Pavlos Fyssas was murdered allegedly at the hands of a member of Greece's Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party.

September 18, 2013, must be seen as a wake-up call for Greek democracy, the country's institutions and its citizens.

The murder of 34-year-old musician Pavlos Fyssas in Keratsini by extremists is the culmination in a wave of violent activities over the past few days which began with attacks on Greek Communist Party members in Perama carried out by alleged supporters of Golden Dawn.

This is not about the display of power and leadership on the streets of symbolically working class neighborhoods; this is not a war between hooligans. This is a case of destabilizing the rule of law, a practical denial of democracy, a logical extension of the political practices of those who deny the Holocaust and that people were killed at the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the junta in 1973.

While Greece's economy is ostensibly in a state of improvement, the situation is so horrendous that changes at the margins or "green shoots" can't come nearly fast enough. Polls still show the Golden Dawn polling in the teens, making it the third largest political party in the country.

Despite Greece's improvement and actual heroic efforts at improving its governments finances, the rest of Europe continues to dither about supporting it insisting on more painful "medicine" that ultimately is destroying the country.