The victory won by Syriza (the "Coalition of the Radical Left") in last Sunday's elections in Greece, is a bitter pill to swallow for British politicians - and not just for Cameron, Osborne and their aspiring twin Farage, but also Miliband and Balls.
Greek voters had been faced with a barrage of threats from the media since the beginning of the election campaign. With the backing of all European governments and the International Monetary Fund, Greek mainstream parties were blackmailing them: if you vote against austerity by supporting Syriza, it will be total chaos, because Greece will be kicked out of Europe.
But, to their credit, the Greek voters stood up to this blackmail. Syriza won 149 of the parliament's 300 seats with 36.3% of the vote. And, on Sunday evening, floods of enthusiastic supporters came out into the streets to celebrate what they considered as their victory, against those who have been slashing jobs and cutting wages, pensions and services for the past five years.
No wonder in Britain - and across Europe - mainstream politicians suddenly look alarmed: what if voters kicked them and their austerity policies out as well?
The only "chaos" is the capitalist crisis
Of course, Greek voters had every reason not to be intimidated by the threat of chaos made by the powers-that-be in their own country and across the world: the country was already in chaos, anyway, and a permanent hell for its population.
The financial bailout of the country by the EU and International Monetary Fund, in 2009, had never been designed to bail out its population - but only the big international banks which had lent funds to the Greek economy. However, in return, the Greek population, especially, the Greek working class, was meant to foot the bill through a vicious austerity programme.
The result was a brutal reduction in the country's economic activity, with shops and businesses going to the wall and a 3-fold increase in joblessness. At the same time, there was a drastic cut in the standard of living of the working class. Large numbers were forced into extreme poverty. Late payment of wages was common, while vital institutions such as the health service were all but dismantled.
To all intents and purposes, the bailout and the austerity policies imposed by the Greek mainstream parties on the working class have reduced the country to a state which is not all that different to what can be found in many Third World countries.
So, no, Greek voters definitely had nothing to lose by electing a Syriza government. And at least they have the satisfaction of having spoken their minds with their ballot papers - rather than, as is normally the case, allowing one or another of the mainstream parties to claim their support for pro-business policies.
A question of balance of forces
The question, now, is whether this vote will bring any real change for the Greek working class.
Syriza made all sorts of promises - in particular to negotiate a reduction of the public debt burden, once and for all. It may gain some concessions in this respect, because the big European powers know that, by bleeding the country dry, they won't get any money back anyway!
Syriza also promised to win the reinstatement of redundant workers, to reverse many of the past austerity measures and even to force the shipping industry and the Orthodox church to pay taxes.
But Syriza won't reverse the damage caused by the crisis by using capitalist methods. If the social catastrophe experienced by the Greek working class is to be reversed, the entire capitalist class must be made to pay out of its accumulated and current profits - something which Syriza has never proposed to do.
Austerity policies do not come out of the sky. They constitute the only response that the capitalist class is able to come up with, when its system is shaken by one of its chronic crises. Opposing these policies cannot be done without attacking the cause - the profiteering of the capitalist class and its control over the economy. In this respect, the policies of a party like Syriza cannot deliver the goods, even if its leaders want to go that far.
The Greek working class has made its voice heard loud and clear, by backing Syriza - and that's what elections can be used for. But the real issue now will be to reverse a balance of forces which has been tilted in favour of the capitalists for too long. And for this, the Greek working class can only rely on its own fighting record, which is beyond question, and its collective strength.