In order to overcome the economic and sociopolitical crisis of 2011 – χριστιανική

Declaration of the 7th Congress of Christian Democracy Athens, 2011 November 22-23
– Freedom, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty ” (Galatians 5:13), “Slavery condemns man, whose nature is free and self-determined, and legislates against God’s law , upsetting His natural law. “(Saint Gregory of Nyssa)
– Equity,”But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: “(Corinthians 2, 8:14)
– Social justice, “Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth” (James 5:4)
– Equality and brotherhood of peoples, the elimination of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender and origin, “3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. “(Galatians, 3:28 )
– Respect for authority to the citizen,”the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister”(Matthew 20:28)
– The requirement to care for the socially excluded, the poor, the sick, immigrants and prisoners, “25:34: Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 25:35: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 25:36: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” (Matthew 25:34-36)
– Human rights in general, as the ideal put forward by the social-idealogical coalitions in strife, are not a fabrication of the Enlightenment and its ideologies. Instead they are the legacy of Christian teaching in world culture. It is for this reason that human rights are left without content when cut off from their Christian roots and efforts made to implement them in a materialistic framework .
This position held by Christin Democracy was proved triumphantly with the collapse of the so-called “real socialism” in Europe. The dictatorships of the communist parties attempted to impose earthly paradise and all they achieved was to maintain class separation, social injustice, state terrorism and violation of individual rights. On the other hand in the West, the so called “liberal” schemes protruded freedom for securing economic freedom as an excuse for a promiscuous operation of the market and the elimination of all forms of protection of labor rights.
The dictatorship of the Communist Party of China managed to survive in the context of the globalized economy by functioning perfectly complementary to the most brutal form of capitalism! By flooding the world with very cheap products, thanks to the inhuman exploitation of workers, the Chinese Communist regime has worked against its own people and is the crucial driver for the dismantling of labor gains and the welfare state in Western Europe. So did the other Communist regimes which after their collapse left devastated economies and workers with hunger wages. Consequently, the position of Christian Democracy formulated decades ago, completely vindicated, that capitalism and communism are actually not opposite but complementary to one another instead.
Most of the staff of public services and the broader public sector were appointed with spoils rather than merit and efficiency for the sake of public interest in mind. Further aggravated by the enormous extravagance and bribes in the benefit of the economo-political kleptocrats, who uncontrolled, imposed choices reaping huge amounts from investments and commissions in defense, health care and all other areas.
The ruling oligarchy managed to redeem the complicity and tolerance of a large portion of society with spoils and benefits to selective groups. The citizen became tolerant to the wrong being done both on himself and his fellow-citizens with the naive expectation that at some point an opportunity might be given for him too to benefit from the general wrongdoing. By this way social injustice and the exploitation of man by man perpetuated, because instead of struggling to overthrow the system, citizens tended to support and sustain the system. Unfortunately large sections of the population joined, more or less, in this morbid and nihilistic attitude. Thus, corruption perpetuated in the dominant political world, since the majority of citizens, instead of voting according to a political program and ethos they seek to benefit personally from illegal services by politicians or the appointment to a permanent position in public services through favoritism as opposed to public interest. We have come to a downstream where involvement with the commons has become a profession rather than our duty. How could corruption not dominate policy when, whoever wants to strive selflessly without concern of any personal gain, is expelled from his social and professional circle as a naive? As a result of this situation, those who manage to “survive” in politics are either incapacitated, unable to excel in any other field of life, either descendents which inherit their family’s political clientele or individuals with self-interest incentives. To this deadlock contributes the dominance of the two-party system where two parties alternate in power, without any real difference in their policy proposals. Add to this the fact that the executive power is uncontrollable and has flexibility systematically and arbitrarily to control the legislature(Parliament) and the judicial power, by appointing its leadership.
Twenty years ago, the Serbian people had living standards similar to ours. But Serbia collapsed financially within days and then suffered heavy defeats in her national issues, both because of the people’s resistance against the New World Order and secondly because the political leadership, at best, didn’t realize the international power relations and got trapped by its own illusions. Today Greece is liable to suffer the same. Due to its political and cultural peculiarities, Greece has always been “a black sheep” and a target for the international establishment. Along with other countries of the European periphery, it has been erected before the firing squad of the dominant forces of the European Union. Today we have to chart a course that combines determination and responsibility, understanding and utilizing the international balance of forces. We must combine the struggle for defending our national sovereignty and dignity with the prudence required, not to pursue irresponsible policies, not to fall into the traps of international imperialism and cause worse destruction. The exodus from the crisis cannot be done without sacrifices. But the burden should be distributed equitably and well spent. The austerity measures imposed, not only are unfair and onerous for our people, but also deepen the recession and deaden the market and the economy in general. It is the duty for all citizens to fight for the overthrow of its foundations of the existing political system responsible for the decline and social crisis, with the emergence of new healthy political forces of values to take over the government. During these critical moments we are living, Christian Democracy addresses a call for the spiritual awakening of every citizen, to the struggle for a new human in a new society, with direct objective the resistance against the attempted dismantling of the welfare state and against the overthrow of the national sovereignty of our country.
Athens, 2011 November 22-23 Προβολές 24