Who let the dogs out?

Nothing is surprising, nothing is shocking. The situation is evolving as expected. 

A man my age got stabbed after being targeted and chased by members of the Golden Dawn. A woman, probably his girlfriend, was holding him as they waited for an ambulance. He didn’t make it, the man who stabbed him knew where to strike. It could have been my boyfriend, it could have been me watching him bleed to death. 

Still, nothing surprising, nothing shocking. 

Contrary to what many people would like to think, this wasn’t a random act of violence. The victim, who was a rapper, was quite vocal about his political affiliations. It wasn’t only a body that was slain, a voice was also silenced.

We all kind of waited for it to happen, now it has, now everyone is condemning the act, “Golden Dawn is a threat to our democratic system” and other such nauseating statements from different party leaders. Our politicians are a threat to our democratic system. Golden Dawn is a threat to our society, to our humanity, to you and to me. 

Now we don’t joke with my friends anymore, that we should keep our voices down, in case a neo-nazi prick hears us and rings his gang of thugs to come and beat us up. We still read all the articles that appear on our facebook page from all the news sites we’re subscribed to. We ‘like’ them, we ‘share’ them. But now when we speak, we keep our voices down. And every now and then, we do look over our shoulders. And I wish this was an exaggeration.

How can this situation be reversed without violence? Without retaliation? When we live in this splendid breeding ground for polarization and hate? When ignorance and basic instincts rule? When it is now socially acceptable to declare yourself a fascist? 

It can’t.