Merry Crisis

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"Merry Crisis" or "Merry Crisis and a Happy New Fear" is a slogan that appeared as graffiti in Athens during the 2008 Civil Unrest in Greece.[1][2][3] Earlier, a picture of such graffiti appeared on the cover of Vavel Magazines's 2007 Christmas special.[4] The British anarchist publication Occupied London states that it was "one of the main slogans of the 2008 revolt."[4]

Background

On 6 December 2008, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a fifteen-year-old boy, was killed by policemen in Exarcheia, a neighborhood of Athens.[5][6] Within a few hours, protesters were in Athens marching, setting buildings on fire and building barricades. They targeted symbols of capitalism including banks, police stations, and the Christmas tree in Syntagma Square.[5]

Graffiti

During the 2008 riots, an unknown person spray-painted the phrase "Merry crisis and a happy new fear" outside the Bank of Greece in Athens.[7]

Legacy

Commentators of the riots describe the phrase as the motto of the riots.[8]

Other uses

A painting of a man in a Hawaiian shirt saying "Merry Crisis"
"Merry Crisis" has been used in other contexts, such as this painting. Scott Morrison is depicted saying the slogan, referring to the vacation he took to Hawaii during the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season.

In 2015, Christine Sydelko posted on Vine of her going around to people saying "Merry crisis" and "merry Chrysler" to people walking around a park. Christine's Vine became a quote used almost every Christmas season.

During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, an artist created a mural in a Sydney suburb depicting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison making a toast. A speech bubble states, "Merry Crisis". Prints and t-shirts of the mural were sold to raise money for the Rural Fire Service.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Violent protests flare again in central Athens - International Herald Tribune". Archived from the original on 19 December 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  2. ^ "Happy New Fear". 15 January 2009.
  3. TheGuardian.com
    . 22 February 2009.
  4. ^ a b "On the Greek Riots › Merry Crisis and a Happy New Fear". www.occupiedlondon.org. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. ^ a b Iliopoulos, Christos (2009). "'We wish you a merry crisis and a happy new fear': a postscript from the December riots in Athens". Anarchist Studies. 17 (1) – via Gale.
  6. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  7. doi:10.3898/NEWF.69.08.2010
    – via Gale.
  8. S2CID 220064083
    . Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  9. ^ Hauser, Kitty (April 2020). "'The nation's symbolic landscapes were scrambled, as though in a nightmare or a bad trip': Kitty Hauser in Sydney". Apollo. 191 (685). Apollo Magazine Ltd. – via Gale.


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