Greek lavish lifestyles on hold in Athens 'Yes' neighbourhood

[Surya Gayatri]

The streets of Kifissia, in northern Athens, are lined with trees and designer shops. Valentino stilettos, diamond rings and yachting equipment beckon. People here have money to spend but they are not spending it at the moment.

Panagiotis Fotiou, 60, is having an espresso while he summons the energy to join the back of a queue to withdraw today's instalment.

He voted 'Yes' in the referendum because, like many here, he believes the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras intends to leave the euro behind.


Panagiotis Fotiou, 60, voted "Yes" in the referendum

"I believe that the government wants to take Greece out of Europe and soon we will have the drachma again," he says.

"I think they are doing it slowly, without saying anything, because they don't want people to see what they are doing."

The Greeks in Kifissia are waiting. For now, their lives are on hold - their futures in the hands of others.

____________________

This is what rigid ideological "purity" does, whether on the right or the left. The leaders posture and strut and play to the grandstand - meanwhile real people are really suffering.

[delrem]

1. This guy voted 'yes' because he'd suffer less than other Greeks,

with the imposition of "austerity" on social programs, on forced privatizations, and so on. But his is just one voice, and perhaps he's wrong. Perhaps Greece will benefit from demanding a more equitable restructuring than the vultures demand.

[Surya Gayatri]

2. He's NOT wrong about an overwhelming majority of Greeks wanting to remain IN the euro-zone...

Poll: 66.5% of Greeks Prefer the Euro Over Drachma

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141137547#post34

Unfortunately, the 'NO' camp had no idea what they were really voting for or what kind of incompetent buffoons were going to the negotiating table in their name.

Tsipras lied though his ever-present grin, promising that Greece would have a new and fairer deal within 48 hours, and more importantly, that HE WOULD NEVER TAKE THEM OUT OF THE EURO.

If the forked-tongue fulminator doesn't come up with something serious and substantial by tomorrow, THEY ARE OUT.

[delrem]

4. Well, you certainly do have a bias.

You have quite some mastery of the language.

[Surya Gayatri]

5. My 'bias', as you call it, is the fact that I, like Mr. Fotiou,

am a retired European, on a modest working-class, fixed-income pension, paid in and pegged to the euro.

And, the same as for Mr. Fotiou and millions of other working-class Europeans, my meager purchasing power will tank, if and when the euro goes into a fatal nose dive.

It's not just some ideological abstraction when you pay your euro-pegged rent and buy your euro-economy food in that rapidly sinking currency.

[Surya Gayatri]

3. Also, this guy is just a middle class Greek, like millions of others,

who worked hard as a mechanical engineer and is now retired and on a pension. Hardly one of the 1%.