A 77 year old Greek pensioner took his own life outside the Greek parliament building on Wednesday morning. Retired pharmacist Dimitris Christoulas shot himself in the head with a handgun. In a suicide note, Christoulas linked his tragic act to the country’s economic crisis. In the note found by his daughter he wrote, ‘I have no other way to react apart from finding a dignified end before I start sifting through garbage for food,’

The act immediately sparked widespread sympathy and anger. An impromptu anti-austerity rally was launched on the same day and there were clashes with police. Police clashed with around a thousand protesters for a second day on Thursday. Some were blaming politicians and EU leaders for the death. The protestors chanted, ‘Killlers!, Killers!’.

Christoulas is thought to have attended anti-cut protests the previous year and has been described as politically active. Sympathisers called his actions, ‘A clear political act … he was giving his life to change the situation’.

Suicides in Greece have doubled since 2009 having previously been the lowest in Europe. Greece is struggling to cope with the heavy austerity measures which have been forced upon in by the bigger European economies in exchange for bailout funds.

Already the recent bailout is looking like a distant memory. As I mentioned in an earlier article  it was extremely disappointing that EU leaders did not attempt to solve the problem once and for all. Already we are getting suggestions that a third bailout will needed. The Greek growth predictions are extremely optimistic given the levels of austerity it will need to bear. Yields on the new Greek PSI bonds (the bonds investors were forced to swap their existing holdings for) have soared to over 21% in the last couple of days.

As the actions of Christoulas show, the EU leaders and economists, have underestimated the Greek people. There is only so much the Greek people will take. The real crunch point is likely to come in June when cuts worth about 7% of GDP are expected to be announced. How much more will the Greek people take?

My guess is that we are close to the breaking point. Christoulas’s tragic act may be the symbolic trigger which sets everything off. One of the major issues Greece faces (which people often forget) is that Greek banks, pension funds and other Greeks hold most of the Greek government debt. This is why some in Greece are so reluctant to leave the Euro. Nevertheless something will have to give.