Just a few hours after the resounding referendum victory for the Greece’s “No” to European bailout conditions (61%), some questions still linger. Questions that deal with pressing everyday problems: Should I pay my rent? Or the bills for my credit cards, which are no longer accepted at gas stations or restaurants, let alone for web transactions? My cellphone bill? What if the ATMs have no cash tomorrow? Will I get my salary, or is there going to be a halt in payments in the days to come?
Like most Greeks, I have to rely on an extremely limited cash flow: money kept under the mattress plus the withdrawal of 60 euros per day per person. I have to spend as wisely as I can.
No one knows when the banks will reopen. Greek banks are desperately in need of a lender of last resort to save them. This week will be one of the most crucial in the history of modern Greek state, for the country’s economic but also political future.
The victory of the “No” vote proved that people’s anger, fueled by constant austerity measures, was stronger than the fear that Europe will turn its back on Greece’s leftist/nationalist government coalition. So Sunday night’s result may have boosted their collective ego, but it could also lead to a worse financial situation.
Last Friday, I went to both the “Yes” and “No” rallies, which took place at the same time in the heart of Athens. There seems to be a few socioeconomic differences between the two groups, and a clearly different narrative about what provoked the economic crisis.
The “No” camp consists of young students with no chance of getting a job, unemployed middle-aged people, civil servants who have suffered pay cuts but are still protected by the government, as well as pensioners who fear more cuts to their already slashed incomes. These groups see the European Union as a threat to Greece’s political sovereignty, and blame our European debtors. They reject Europe because they do not have the education or mentality to thrive in a competitive open economy. They are looking to the future with a mind-set of the past; they are Greece’s Balkan side, which loves resistance and nationalism.
I belong to the “Yes” camp, a minority at 39% in Greek society. We tend toward people who have studied abroad, are well-educated and have traveled, who are willing to discuss and seek solutions for what is wrong with the country, and who firmly believe in their European identity. Many of us have lost jobs in the private sector where the unemployment rate is soaring. We would like to see more reforms that would transform our economy and the adoption of policies that would eventually lead to growth. And now, I suspect that some of us (myself included), who do not have faith in the current government’s ability to rectify the situation, are already making a plan to leave the country.
For me, there are deeper questions than what we will or will not accept as bailout conditions. The most important is: Where do I belong as a citizen? And in what sort of society do I want to live?