Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's new political party, the Greek Left Alliance, has released the second part of a documentary series chronicling its formation.
The episode, titled 'The Hope of Overthrow', was created by a volunteer team and focuses on a recent event in central Athens called 'Now We Speak', which gave a platform to the younger generation.
Youth frustrations
The video features young Greeks discussing their concerns about the country's current trajectory and their expectations for the future.
One participant said their generation had grown up during the financial crisis, lived through the coronavirus pandemic, and was now facing inflation and war, making it impossible to live decently. The speaker said it was considered normal to work while still relying on financial help from parents to get through the month, adding that young people generally felt they were not being heard.
Another young person described a public health system that relied entirely on its exhausted workforce, with nothing else supporting it.
A third participant said young people felt anger and violence, citing the frustration of telling children they could not pursue higher education because the family could not afford private tutoring. The speaker said free education in Greece existed only as a label.
Reclaiming public goods
Regarding the political direction of the movement, one participant said a modern Left needed to be confrontational and reclaim public goods, including universities, hospitals, and energy. They added that the movement should be antimilitarist and deeply grounded in political ecology.
Another speaker said young people would no longer tolerate a lack of meritocracy and nepotism, describing professional establishment as an elusive dream. They said the anxiety young people faced created a fear of the future, adding that politics was not just about ministries and parties, but about everyday issues at home, at work, and at school.
Tsipras response
Tsipras, who previously led the left wing Syriza party, appeared towards the end of the video to address the young participants.
He said it was difficult for his generation to understand the youth, noting that while he was not a baby boomer, he had been born in the analog era and transitioned to the digital one. He said the current generation had been born into the digital age, a condition that completely altered how people consumed news, entertained themselves, communicated, and fell in love.
Tsipras said the least older politicians could do in the digital era was to stop claiming they had all the solutions, adding that his movement had come to listen to young people rather than to guide them.
