Merry Crisis
{{Short description|Political slogan from the 2008 Civil Unrest in Greece}}
{{Orphan|date=January 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
"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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/19/europe/19greece.php |title=Violent protests flare again in central Athens - International Herald Tribune |access-date=12 March 2009 |archive-date=19 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219124514/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/19/europe/19greece.php |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/europe/2009/01/greece-streets-athens-greeks|title = Happy New Fear|date = 15 January 2009}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/22/civil-unrest-athens|title = Ed Vulliamy and Helena Smith join frontline activists in Athens|website = TheGuardian.com|date = 22 February 2009}}
Earlier, a picture of such graffiti appeared on the cover of Vavel magazine's 2007 Christmas special.{{cite web |url=http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2008/12/25/merry-crisis-and-a-happy-new-fear/ |title=On the Greek Riots › Merry Crisis and a Happy New Fear |website=www.occupiedlondon.org |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228030311/http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2008/12/25/merry-crisis-and-a-happy-new-fear/ |archive-date=28 December 2008 |url-status=dead}} The British anarchist publication Occupied London states that it was "one of the main slogans of the 2008 revolt."
Background
On 6 December 2008, Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a fifteen-year-old boy, was killed by policemen in Exarcheia, a neighborhood of Athens.{{Cite news |date=19 December 2008 |title=French Institute in Athens attacked |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/world/europe/19iht-19greece2.18828796.html |access-date=21 December 2021 |issn=0362-4331}} 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.{{Cite journal |last=Iliopoulos |first=Christos |date=2009 |title='We wish you a merry crisis and a happy new fear': a postscript from the December riots in Athens |journal=Anarchist Studies |volume=17 |issue=1 |via=Gale}}
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.{{Cite journal |last1=Dibley |first1=Ben |last2=Neilson |first2=Brett |date=26 July 2010 |title=Climate Crisis and the Actuarial Imaginary: 'The War on Global Warming' |url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/lwish/nf/2010/00000069/00000069/art00011;jsessionid=332r9pvo1sfcu.x-ic-live-01 |journal=New Formations |volume=69 |issue=69 |pages=144–159 |doi=10.3898/NEWF.69.08.2010 |via=Gale}}
Legacy
Commentators of the riots describe the phrase as the motto of the riots.{{Cite journal |last=Hadjimichalis |first=Costis |date=July 2013 |title=From Streets and Squares to Radical Political Emancipation? Resistance Lessons from Athens during the Crisis |language=en |volume=6 |pages=116–136 |journal=Human Geography |issue=2 |doi=10.1177/194277861300600209 |s2cid=220064083 |doi-access=free }}
Other uses
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.{{Cite journal |last=Hauser |first=Kitty |date=April 2020 |title='The nation's symbolic landscapes were scrambled, as though in a nightmare or a bad trip': Kitty Hauser in Sydney. |journal=Apollo |publisher=Apollo Magazine Ltd. |volume=191 |issue=685 |via=Gale}}