For many, the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn appeared out of thin air. However, people tend to forget that during the last few years the socialist party PASOK, the neoliberal party New Democracy and the ultra-right party LAOS adopted an anti-immigrant agenda seeking to gain more votes in the national elections of 2012. Unaware of the consequences of their actions, Golden Dawn gained 8 % percent of the votes articulating the most extreme positions on the anti-immigrant agenda. Now that Golden Dawn has seats in the parliament their policy is not restricted to the anti-immigrant agenda but have revealed their true face, that of attacking immigrants, leftists, anarchists, gays, women and displaying hatred and violence towards all the democratic, progressive and radical forces of the Greek society. By advocating the “theory of the two extremes” against the left-wing parties and especially SYRIZA, New Democracy has essentially supported the neo-Nazis. We should keep in mind that the right-wing and ultra-right wing forces in Greece and in other countries have functioned and continue to function as communicating vessels. Ardent supporters of the “theory of the two extremes” are two ministers of the Greek government Makis Voridis and Adonis Georgiadis and two close and longtime advisers to the Prime Minister, Failos Kranidiotis and Chrysanthos Lazaridis. It comes as no surprise that all of them support that the Greek society should have a more patriotic approach to social issues. The strategy that the Greek government and the party of New Democracy are pursuing is clear: to impede at all costs the leftists, the communists, the anarchists, the populists, and the “nationally irresponsible” of coming to power. And this can be achieved, only by allowing the growth of a powerful neo-Nazi or an ultra-right party. Many bourgeois politicians are discussing the options of a coalition between New Democracy and Golden Dawn or the transformation of the neo-Nazi gang into a more serious political force. Taking the above into consideration, I believe that the option of rendering the neonazi party illegal is dim. Straight after the apprehension of the murderer of Pavlos Fyssas, the government claimed that it would examine if Golden Dawn was a criminal gang and attacked SYRIZA for being the “other” proponent of violence in Greek society. The Left seems reluctant to support a campaign to outlaw the neonazis in fear of making them more popular. Personally, I support the idea of rendering illegal the neo-Nazi party on the basis that they have committed crimes collectively not on what they support or say. Last but not least we must abandon the idealistic view about ideas and ideology. Ideas and ideology are not phantoms as many people tend to believe but a potential material force. People struggle to materialize ideology so as to become part of the real world. Therefore, if people and collectives support a world of concentration camps the realization of their ideology in the long run will be just that.
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 22:03:26 +0000