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Greeks are more distrustful than ever of their political class and its ability to lead them out of the crippling financial crisis. Polls show growing contempt for all parties and the discredited political system. Unemployment is at a record high of 16% – far higher for young people. Those lucky enough to still have a job have suffered dramatic salary cuts and tax increases. Doctors and nurses recently staged walkouts over hospital cuts. Taxi drivers have hobbled Greece with strikes in the past two weeks, protesting at government plans to open up the industry. Their tactics included blocking ports and opening the Acropolis ticket office to let tourists in free. Crucially, Greece's long-running "civil disobedience" movement, where ordinary citizens refuse to pay for anything from road tolls and bus tickets to extra doctors' charges, has not fizzled out in the summer holidays. The "We Won't Pay" offensive is championed as the purest form of "people's power". Organisers warn it could gain renewed force in September as the government launches a new round of financial restraint. On the main Athens-Thessaloniki road, as drivers file back into Thessaloniki from a Sunday at the beach, a crowd of civilians in fluorescent orange safety bibs stand guard at the barriers to the main road toll into Greece's second city. Their jackets are emblazoned with "Total Disobedience". They push aside the red-and-white barriers and wave drivers through without paying the €2.80 toll. Banners read: "We won't pay", and "We won't give money to foreign bankers". Drivers gratefully drive through, some giving the thumbs up.