When the enclaves of financial totalitarianism mortgage the lives of the proletarian grassroots to fill the coffers of the temples of capitalist barbarism, we have a duty to intervene. It is a matter of social conscience and sensitivity, class solidarity and revolutionary obligation that we too should not treat our lives as mere numbers in the bloodthirsty hands of the bosses. That is why we will remind the enemy that in this war, as long as there is injustice there will always be revolutionary retaliation.
The case of 52-year-old Konstantia Eleftheropoulou, which has seen the light of day in recent days, is unfortunately not the only one, however provocative it may be. She herself was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2017. Since then, she has been fighting for her life through non-stop treatments, reaching the point of stabilizing her condition. This year, however, after a relapse in her health, Konstantia needed to undergo intravenous brachytherapy, a specialized treatment that is not administered in a public hospital but only in a private clinic. Unemployed and uninsured like most of us, she was faced with the impossibility of accessing the treatment as the cost of the operation, including hospitalisation, exceeds €15,000 (perhaps the equivalent of a ministerial dinner). But Konstantia was not alone in facing her inability. Her public appeal for support and help found hundreds of people in solidarity at her side, who gave everything they could to help, so that one of us could survive collectively against the homicidal state mechanism that has made health a commodity, a class privilege and a luxury.
The case of Konstantia could be a small beacon of hope against the growing dystopia that statism wants to impose against the interests of the exploited. A small class victory of life in the face of generalised proletarian death. Because for us every life of our ally counts. But there are no words to describe the despicable turn in the state management of the case by the exploitative mechanisms. The tax office blocked Konstantia’s account, freezing solidarity contributions due to a previous unpaid balance, postponing indefinitely the start of her treatment. Those who have deliberately degenerated the public health system to line the pockets of every megalomaniac, who have made a profession of economic repression through administrative fines in every aspect of daily life, are deploying every weapon to neutralize the social base in the face of their profits. This will not go away. Filled with hatred and anger for the state’s negligence and the authoritarianism of the voracious state totalitarianism, we take responsibility for the arson attack with low-powered devices on the premises of the Fifth Tax Office in eastern Thessaloniki, in the early hours of 17 September. Konstantia and every Konstantia is not alone in the struggle for life and dignity. And this struggle is not a struggle of begging for crumbs but a relentless fight for the obvious. For we have no one but ourselves.
This is not the first time that social and class solidarity has been suppressed, as every step of support from below is always met with the deliberate bureaucratic negligence of a mechanism that prioritises profits over our lives. Let us recall the case of the 3-year-old Panagiotis Vassileli from Mytilene in 2001. Little Panayiotis was suffering from a rare form of leukaemia, which required his immediate transfer to New York to undergo surgery and treatment at a cost of over 130,000,000 drachmas. And while the amount had been raised through a huge effort of social and class mobilization, the National Bank blocked the account, citing a 1931 law that freezes the money unless a fund-raising committee is first established. The result of this development was the death of little Panagiotis who recoiled in the face of the bureaucratic apathy of the dictatorship of financial totalitarianism. Our attack on the Fifth Tax Office is a first warning in every direction: open Konstantia’s account immediately, before you gather your ashes in the face of yet another state murder. If Konstantia’s health suffers a new relapse, the sole responsibility this time will be the incurable disease of state totalitarianism. We have no illusions about the inflated promises of the political staff and the tearful statements of support from the media circles that wash away the image of state crime when a complaint sees the light of day. With faith and commitment to the forces of our own class, we are fighting this unequal struggle against all forms of exploitation and power. And if we die, we die with our heads held high and full of dignity. We send a special message of practical solidarity to Konstantia Zafeiropoulou: this battle is ours too, until the end, until victory.
Immediate unblocking of Konstantia Zafeiropoulou’s account
Exemplary punishment of those responsible for the power games on her life
Free access to health care must be a non-negotiable social good
Front of Class Solidarity – Anarchist Action Organization
