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Germany, on a recent BBC poll, was declared the “most likeable country” in the world, yet only 21% of Greeks thought positively of them. Depictions of German chancellor Angela Merkel with Hitler’s infamous moustache have consistently been paraded across Athens. After all, the youth have energy. And when unemployed, they need to occupy themselves with something.
Apart from strong anti-German and anti-EU protests, the Athenian youth, no longer expounding their inner philosopher, are destroying their brains with the effects of “Sisa”, the “cocaine of the poor”. This new drug, at two euros a hit, is all they can afford.
Video courtesy http://www.vice.com: (viewer discretion advised - drug content)
With widespread poverty and despair, many have been forced into homelessness. Sisa is their drug of preference, and came into prominence after a recent film by Vice Media. A variant of Crystal meth, Sisa has been described by both users and officials as something with potential to send consumers into a state of “mindless violence.”
"It is a killer but it also makes you want to kill," Konstantinos, a user, told Vice. "You can kill without understanding that you have done it … And it is spreading faster than death. A lot of users have died."
Apart from being readily available, it is easy to make. And, when mixed with battery acid, engine oil, and shampoo, it truly is a recipe for disaster.
Video courtesy http://www.vice.com: (viewer discretion advised - drug content)
Charalampos Poulopoulos, the head of Kethea, Greece's distinguished anti-drug centre, spoke to the Guardian about how Sisa symbolized Greece’s downfall from the crisis. "The crisis has given dealers the possibility to promote a new, cheap drug, a cocaine for the poor," said Poulopoulos at a centre run for addicts in the anarchist stronghold in Athens. "Sisa can be sniffed or injected and it can be made in home laboratories – you don't need any specialised knowledge. It is extremely dangerous.”
All over Greece, the effects of the six-year recession have plagued the social fabric. Along with drug and alcohol abuse, depression, crime, and casual disregard for the law has risen sharply. Moreover, due to the strict austerity measures in place, the income of ordinary Greeks has been cut on average by more than 40 per cent. When individuals are in a grave struggle for financial gain, they are often driven to extreme and desperate solutions. Prostitution- a 'simple solution' to sustain drug addiction- has also rapidly increased.
Sisa, which generates a strong sexual drive, upholds this problem. And when unprotected sex pays more, there’s no stopping another fatal epidemic: HIV. Evident in the rising suicide rates, the Greek youth are self-destructing as they occupy themselves in unproductive ways, and blame outsiders for their problems.
At 64 per cent, Greece has the highest youth unemployment rate in the EU. And be they Greek or from anywhere else in the world, people never like to look internally to scrutinize their own issues. So the Greeks have decided to blame the successful German model and European immigrants. However, the anti-immigrant rhetoric has become a rising trend all across Europe.
The recent riots in Sweden, and the increasing popularity of their right wing democrats (SD), means that their open stance towards immigration may not be long lasting. Sweden would then join Greece, Denmark, Spain and the UK in shifting their policies to appease the far-right.
It is a widely held belief that the Great Depression in 1929 created the conditions for the rise of Nazism in Germany. Hitler offered a simple solution to their problems: expel Jewish people. Similarly, in today’s crisis, right-wing parties find it easy to appeal to these unemployed, poverty stricken, and desperate youth. And when all the energy is spent on politics of hate, it has grave implications for the future of Europe- and specially the ones suffering the most: Spain and Greece.
The Greek neo-fascist party, Golden Dawn, has benefited strongly from their country's economic woes. German newspaper Spiegel reported that as the financial crisis and the budget cuts by European creditors get harsher, the terror on the streets increases. Anarchists, socialists, and left-leaning groups have been attacked by men in black masks waving flags with Swastika like symbols printed on them. Often the anarchist and fascist groups exchange skirmishes of violence reminiscent of Europe’s 1930s interwar struggle.
Furthermore, foreigners and homosexuals have been chased and assaulted. Some even beaten to death. Certain areas in Athens are so stricken with fear that minorities and refugees do not feel safe going outside alone, and “streets are echoingly empty”. Foreign traders have had to shut down business, while journalists and politicians that are critical of right-wing groups have faced numerous threats.
The right “extremists” hold around 12 per cent in the polls, and many victims of the violence no longer even feel safe going to the police. At polling areas specifically designated for the police, Golden Dawn received over 23 per cent of the vote, and many suspect they sympathize with extremist groups.
In a place stricken with poverty and youth unemployment, the will of individuals to continuously pit their hopes on a radical ideology, drug, or armed group will only serve to heighten the polarisation of society. Blaming immigrants and Germans is a gross oversimplification of the problems. Solutions can only be sought by looking inward and only hard-work can rebuild a falling nation.
Pakistan faces similar problems with a “youth bulge”, an economy in crisis, a polarised political climate, a rising tide of heroin addiction, and growing religious extremism. And, in both cases, the long-term effects of youth unemployment and the “generation gap” may even be much graver than the violent reality we witness on ground today.
The writer is a History and Economics student at McGill University.
