Nothing is the same anymore and everyone is called upon to take part in the reconstruction of the world, of the new world order, putting their strength successfully to the test of new opportunities or succumbing to their weaknesses and to new impasses. The Soviet Union, due to the problems we are all familiar with, has collapsed, and the vibrations caused by the downfall will continue to be felt for years. What had once constituted, for some, a source of reliance or a guarantee and, for others, an imminent threat of destruction has now been swept away. Nations long forgotten in the previous context of bipolarization are violently erupting to fill the gap and are now claiming the right to a new role. Irredentism which seemed part of the past has dramatically re-emerged, and war has once again become a way of settling differences, even on Europe. The collapse of the Soviet Union occurred at a time when movements of an enormous scale for the concentration of capital were fully-fledged world-wide. This effort, with the multinational enterprise serving as its lever, aimed at overcoming the obstacles erected not only by the State (which, as shown in the case of Yugoslavia, can be dislocated), but also by the Nation. The nation therefore had to be defamed, harnessed, debilitated and relegated to a museum-type status so that a new stage in the development of capitalism, the post-industrial era, could be attained. In accordance with this rationale, small nations must be placed under the tutelage of controlled international institutions and organisations, such as the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the CSCE, all of which are institutions of the post-war international order, even though this order no longer exists. The concept of the nation must also be defamed as it leads to wars, while national governments are to be slandered for allegedly being irresponsible, immoral, incapable and disreputable. The theory of limited sovereignty is thus tacitly and methodically cultivated on an international scale with the support of the international mass media. National Independence, a prerequisite for all other values within the national community, now takes on the meaning of National Survival and leads the forces of labour to conclude strategic alliances for survival with the forces of production at a national level. For the national-scale enterprise will also be a proletarian of the post-industrial era, if the plans devised by international capital circles are successful. According to present-day logic, are considered " underprivileged" all those who are unable to cope with the type of post-industrial era which international capital circles are carefully planning. This view is indicative of how widespread alliances within the national community as well as at an international level have become. It reflects the rallying and resistance of the numerous small against the few colossuses. The objective of the policy which is being promoted with consistency in the European Union is not to dissolve but rather to create a Europe of Nations, extending from the Atlantic as far as the Ural mountains. This Europe is to be a Europe of the forces of labour and of production. Should this battle be lost, then the prospects of a truly United Europe belonging to the people will melt away, too. Instead, what will take shape is a Europe of multinational enterprises, of spheres of influence and, inevitably, of wars, as is the case even today. Europe must contribute to world peace and to the progress of the people. At the leadership level of most political parties in our country, there is the prevailing belief that the future has already been decided and that the Maastricht Treaty is not only necessary but also the inevitable price of our entry into the new era, an era in which our role will be limited to that of a distant Brussels' Prefecture. National policies in such an era will be deprived of all meaning. This explains why the leadership of political parties already shows resignation in exchange for such EU financing as the well-known Delores Packages, a situation in which the national forces can, at best, expect to play the role of subcontractor. What are we to tell future generations? That we have sold a piece of our history and our country' s name of, worse yet, that we have made the Greece we inherited smaller in exchange for a couple of indices, an airport and two metros, and all this partly at our own expense? Does our generation, which has taken on the heavy task of managing the fate of the nation at a time when the world is experiencing such an unprecedented crisis, deserve this? Unreliability, lack of dignity and hypocrisy currently undermine the quality of political life in our country. The Greek people are totally disregarded and are relentlessly told that their impoverishment is the one-way street that will pave the way to the development of both the country and society. This can be explained by the fact that, apart from what has already been said, conservative forces have taken over the entire spectrum of political power. Keeping their distance form the existing political parties, citizens try to react, but to no avail, since they have no genuine, well organised and progressive form of political expression. It is therefore our duty to fill this political gap in a reliable manner and struggle with consistency, sincerity and clarity. By founding the Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI) today, we call out to the Greek people to join forces with us in this battle. Our movement is an unconditional NO to compromise, to the belief that all efforts for change are in vain and that the deprivations we are being subjected to constitute the only route to development. We refuse to believe in an "end of historyö, in an "end of the Nation" or in an "end of ideologiesö. With our own traditional values and with the international values of freedom, equality and social liberation, we are launching a battle against the belittling of civilisation and of the human being in general, which the world reign of capital is promoting. The battle for our values, our principles and our self-respect is the ultimate political battle and the first to be won. People without values, principles and a sense of national purpose have no future, not even in the field of the economy. For even in this field, their role will be limited to what is left unclaimed by the world distribution of labour and which will be determined by others. The modernisation which our country so drastically needs must be based on two solid and closely connected foundations: national self-confidence and national consensus. National self-confidence presupposes a reconnection with our history and a sense of national purpose in a region where Hellenism has historically shined, from the Balkan peninsula to the Middle East and the Black Sea. It also presupposes a revaluation of traditional and accepted values (such as patriotism, solidarity within the national community, and orthodoxy - to mention just a few) capable of resisting the undesired effects of cosmopolitanism. What is also needed is a national appeal to migrant Hellenism, with a message that we are planning a comeback and that we are rightfully claiming a new role. We must also remind our people that we are first in the region in terms of development and that we can, on our own initiative, contribute substantially to progress, co-operation, friendship and, most importantly, to peace in the region. National consensus, on the other hand, presupposes that all Greeks must rest assured that the democratic State and the society which we are advocating will, in addition to offering a place and role to all, also embrace every citizen, especially the elderly and the needy. This consensus guarantees the future of each and every individual, especially of the younger generation and provides a decent quality of life in a protected cultural, town planned and natural environment. The democratically organised state must guarantee the above through institutions which consolidate the participation of the people and ensure political, economic and social democracy, while the establishment of an independent justice system will protect isonomy and civil rights. We must, however, always bear in mind that modernisation is not an end in itself, so as not to be lured into the trap of economic index idolatry and not to forget that, under the indices, lie human beings. The stabilisation of the economy will be pursued through development combined with social protection, and not by reducing the citizen's standard of living. The purpose of modernisation is to achieve development, a much broader and deeper concept which coincides with the values of a society and its quality of life. Some of the nonnegotiable values of the society we envision are compassion, mutual respect and social justice. For us, unemployment is the greatest social injustice. And if we all chip in and build modernisation together and ensure that this modernisation belongs to all of us, we can rest assured that it will evolve at rates which our economy, our society and our democracy can endure. Everyone will have a part in this national effort and nobody will be rejected or excluded. On the contrary, national survival in our tumultuous modern times calls for national understanding between the forces of labour and the forces of production, in a context of decentralised democratic planning and institutionalised participation of all the people. Such an understanding is facilitated by the size of the Greek enterprise, which is mostly small-or medium-sized by European standards. Mass movements, on the other hand, as genuine forms of democratic organisation and expression of the people's participation, are essential to the process of development: indicative of the public feeling, they help steer away from errors, mobilise forces and safeguard popular conquests. As far as the European Union is concerned, we are struggling to make sure that the targets of convergence of real levels of development and of prosperity are not sacrificed to the inhuman and questionable convergence of nominal economic indices. We strongly support regional development and give priority to the revitalisation of all the frontier regions for national, economic as well as social reasons. The perception of Greece as a mere Athens-centred state must, at last, be revised, for Greece is not only Athens. Development has an ideological content and is, par excellence, a political concept. The minimum guarantees that characterise progressive development and allow to distinguish it from conservative development are summarised in the following positions: a) The first nonnegotiable position of progressive development is that social solidarity and its institutional consolidation are both a task and a duty for the State, called Social Policy. b) The second nonnegotiable position of progressive development is that the future of the Nation and of the people - a definite responsibility of the organised State - must not be entrusted to private initiative. Strategic sectors of the economy and society must therefore not be privatised. c) The third nonnegotiable position of progressive development is its claim to political, economic and social democracy, expressed through the participation of the people and through democratic planning. d) The fourth nonnegotiable position of progressive development is that the environment, whether natural, cultural, architectural or other, is not a marketable commodity. It is a legacy to all mankind and to our nation in particular, and must be preserved at all costs for generations to come. Natural resources may be exploited, but not plundered. Trade unionism, after gaining its freedom from political parties and other forms of dependence, is now summoned to assume a role as a genuine vanguard. It must map out a strategy as an autonomous, structural element of the democratic state, and not as a mere accessory or excrescence of party mechanisms. Furthermore, the enterprise must realise that its social contribution will only be measured in terms of investments and job creation. Only the satisfaction of these two criteria will determine whether the enterprise is deemed worthy, in the public eye, of State protection in its battle against the giants. The State sees to the best possible functioning of infrastructure by channelling investments, particularly toward the sectors of telecommunications, energy, transports, education, health, social security and agriculture. At the same time, public administration constitutes a lever of development which, in addition to profoundly decentralising services and decision-making processes, strives to support the individual citizen and all efforts toward development. We pay special attention to the broader agricultural sector which is the basis of Greece' s economy and society. Our aim is to modernise and develop it, while ensuring a decent standard of living for farmers. The promotion of agricultural co-operative organisation is expected to make a noteworthy contribution in this direction. Education, finally, must stop functioning mainly as a producer of useless certificates and degrees, in other words of passports to unemployment. On the contrary, education should produce competent executives capable of promoting development efforts, especially in areas where the toughest battles remain to be fought. A major educational reform, firmly in favour of the public nature of higher education, is thus warranted. Knowledge and scientific production can and must make up the driving force of a dynamic national policy aimed at ensuring development and multidimensional protection in an international environment. The State must institutionally ensure every youngster' s right to an unobstructed education, especially for those without basic financial means. We support the further development of the public national Health System. Health protection is a State duty and must be provided without discrimination to all. Above all and irrespective of the various programs, we promote an honest, unbiased and compassionate State that will be subject to social control and will be perceived by every citizen as his own. We promote and ensure, both institutionally and in practice, the full equality of both genders, at economic, social and political levels. Our movement will be based upon the contemporary principles and values of Socialism with Democracy. Its organisation will ensure: a) A genuine and decentralised democratic dialogue both within the party and with society, b) True decentralisation of power within the party, and c) The establishment of a system of values ensuring meritocracy We send out a message of friendship, co-operation and good faith to our foreign friends and associates, and stress that we claim nothing less than what they themselves would consider rightfully due in their own countries. We, too, have national interests which we are determined to stand up for and which we will never sacrifice in the name of some common foreign policy. This self-evident presupposition, self-evident for any nation with a history and self-respect, is also the guarantee for peace in the region. We support and will contribute to all movements for peace at an international level. Finally, a special call goes out to our youth. Dignity, self-respect, self-confidence and meritocracy (value which any respectable and affectionate fatherland guarantees its citizens) are motives worth fighting for. By recovering our values we will find the true and only meaning of life. The Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI) is a political movement, open, without exception, to all Greeks irrespective of their political beliefs. Everyone will be needed in the fights to come. The stigmatisation and distinctions once made on the basis of people's political convictions now belong to the past. The relics from that period are still fighting a rearguard action. Let us leave them to their solitude. Our movement will only draw its strength form the inexhaustible popular forces. We will guard against financial and other forms of dependence capable of distorting the movement and generating hazards for the nation, the economy and our people. We account solely to the sovereign people of Greece. A new age is dawning. We call out to all Greeks, women and men alike, with faith to their country and its future, to join us in building our common tomorrow. DECEMBER 20, 1995