Protesting raising prices,

Protesting raising prices,, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

I took this picture at a demo in which people were protesting rising cost of living. As is the case with many places in the world oil and food prices have gone up dramatically in the last few years.

However, the situation in Greece has become desperate as the cartels and monopolies that control so much of the economy have used the current international climate to hike up prices at a far greater rate than in other European countries.

On the other hand wages have remained more or less static for the best part of decade.

Robbed blind

, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

In scene redolent of the 60s a group of 20 demonstrators entered a supermarket in the Exarxeia neighbourhood of Athens, Greece filled up shopping trolleys and left without paying. Afterwards the food was distributed in a street market nearby. The group also handed out leaflet protesting rising food prices.

The protests come at a time of growing dissatisfaction with the
government of Kostas Karamanlis whose administration has been involved with a number of sexual and financial scandals since its re-election in 2007. In addition rising food and petrol prices have caused hardship amongst those on low incomes and a general climate of discontent.

Many accuse the government of negligence over its inability to curb the spiralling cost of living which has seen price hikes in the cost of basic goods five times greater than in other European countries .

NowPublic.com

Easter is almost upon us

The holidays have eventually started for me and I've finished with the last of my lessons. It's Good Friday here in Greece as the Orthodox church's Easter is a little later this year. Half of the country is on the move it seems as the cities empty out and people make their way to the countryside to visit family and friends in the villages and small towns.

However, despite the festive spirit there are lots of complaints about rising food and petrol prices. According to consumer organisations the cost of the traditional Easter meal is going to be 20% higher than last year. though saying that the cost of fresh produce such as tomatoes and other veg has doubled. Rather predictably the government says that prices have only gone up by 6.5 %. I'm not saying that I'm distrustful of their figures but if they came out with an official announcement that grass is green and the sky blue, I'd take a quick look out of the window to check that nothing had changed.

It's getting harder and harder for many people to make ends meet in such a climate as wages have remained static for a long time and the cost of basic goods have outstripped our meagre gains. I'm seriously thinking about quitting the school where I work as the wages have remained so low that there is no way you can survive on them anymore.