Christoulas became an immediate symbol of the anger and frustration over the austerity measures, especially for pensioners like himself, some of whom have seen their benefits cut to as little as 300 euros a month, while tax evaders owing the country 55 billion euros have largely gone unpunished and politicians charged with massive bribery and corruption are free, one even taking the government to court to increase his pension.
Kristulas je odmah postao simbol gneva i frustracije zbog mera štednje, a posebno za penzionere kao što je i sam bio, od kojih su nekima beneficije smanjene na samo 300 evra mesečno, dok su utajivači poreza koji duguju zemlji 55 milijardi evra uglavnom prošli nekažnjeno, a političari optuženi za primanje ogromnog mita i za korupciju ostali na slobodi, dok jedan od njih čak izvodi vladu na sud tražeći veću penziju.