Suicide in Syntagma Square: A Message to all of Greece's Politicians

 Syntagma Square, Athens, Greece

In the photo, people leave flowers and messages at the tree in Syntagma Square the site where last week, sadly, a 77 year old pensioner committed suicide under this tree facing the Greek Parliament.

This act, by virtue of Dimitri Chrystoula's suicide note, was not just a desperate act by a person who reached the end of his tether, it was mainly a political statement in protest at the unfair austerity measures being imposed on the Greek people, especially on the lower income earners and those less able to fend for themselves... austerity measures imposed because the powers that be cannot, or will not, impose measures to stamp out the endemic public sector corruption which has bled the Greek economy dry.

Whatever our reaction and whatever we may think of this, it is tragic that anyone, let alone a 77 year old person who has been active and strong all his life, should decide to end it like this.

All Greece's politicians, actual and wannabes would do well to pay heed to the messages society is giving them, via yoghurts, heckling, flouring and tragically, the increasing rates of suicide, and clean up their act, showing true solidarity with their people, people who are being called upon to pay for years of corruption and abuse, public expenditure excesses and blindingly obvious social injustice. 

The people of Greece have mostly shown that they are ready to make changes, why aren't the politicians making them?

Why aren't they leading by example?