Time passes at a different pace in Weimar. Every week here is like two or three “real” weeks in the outside world. The days are full with experiences concentrated and their impacts magnified.
Looking back, lately I have the same impression for Greece. One year ago we were talking about the impacts of the first memorandum, the new economic adjustment programme, the budget and salary cuts, the new taxes… and we hoped. That there is a solution, that things are getting better, that we’ll make it. Then we got angry, we gathered as “indignant” citizens in squares to peacefully (or not so peacefully) demonstrate our opposition and declare that we are not mere “couch observers” (although many of us – maybe too many – actually were). And we still hoped that our voice can be heard, that our actions can provoke change, that we are too many to be ignored. Then we watched in outrage as a referendum proposal shook the whole Europe, and the country spent some days in political default (more like a headless chicken running around) effectively without government. And even then we hoped that this is happening for the better, that things are changing. We watched numbed as a coalition government was formed under the lead of a technocrat prime minister unknown to the wide masses. And even then, we hoped. We hoped not only because someone seemingly untouched by the greek political corruption was in charge but also because he couldn’t prove himself more incompetent from his predecessors. That little was enough to keep us hoping, that it can’t get worse. But it could, and it did. We just didn’t know at the time that in Greece, year 2012, people would be left without electricity supply because they wouldn’t have money to pay the – additional – real estate tax attached to their bills, that they would have to pay a “solidarity contribution”, pay for their medication and medical tests (although they have been paying their insurance fees), would face 19,2% unemployment, with 27,7% of the population living in poverty (numbers rapidly rising). And this is just the tip of the iceberg, numbers unable to describe every day of anxiety, fear and insecurity in greek society while people observe helplessly the disassembling of their lives.
Today, one year after, I don’t know if we can afford hope anymore. But if we can’t, then what is left? Beware, because desperate times call for desperate measures?
Today, one year after, I don’t know if we can afford hope anymore. But if we can’t, then what is left? Beware, because desperate times call for desperate measures?
When 2012, we thought that it would be another leap year, we do good in leap years, 2004 was amazing, one success after the next, 2008 was nice, normal, yet another year.... 2012 was a year of hope, we were expecting things to once more change, this time for the better, as no one could ever imagine that we could hit a lower low. We did, and we do. All that we had in the beginning of the year was loans, unpaid bills, announcements for taxes weekly, and yes hope. Now that hope is indeed gone, guess what we are left with. I can only feel lucky, that I do not live in Greece anymore. The truth is, i CAN NOT live in Greece, even if I wanted to, I could barely survive.
ReplyDeleteI was an optimist, I became a realist, I think pessimism comes next, as I face the new reality.
Change is painful and chaotic. We economists like to believe that we can regulate and control it but in the end of the day there is no magical way of getting from A to C without passing through B. Our previous prosperity was based on a lie and as the lie collapses so does our society. The measures that our creditors force upon us are brutal and unjust (they are after all designed to serve their interests) but does this mean that there is a better way? By taking a look at the political regime in Greece I became convinced that there isn’t.
ReplyDeleteOur left wing political parties are so deeply corrupted that they have forgotten what it was they stood for (let us not forget that it was Nea Dimokratia and PASOK that supersized the public sector and crippled the economy) and the right wing parties still support ideas that have been thoroughly proven to be problematic (long live Stalin!). If our politicians were more competent (or if we as a people were mature enough to vote for more competent politicians) we could exit the Euro and forge our own destiny but this is not the case.
I am afraid that dark days are coming but the truth is that our nation has always thrived in times of despair. That is the only fact that gives me hope and makes me believe that our generation still has a (small) chance. After all the night is always darkest just before dawn…
Εγώ νομίζω ότι είμαστε στον Τιτανικό, επιβαίνοντες, το πλοίο βούλιαζε από αμέλεια αλλά και δόλο, και δεν έρχεται κανείς να μας σώσει. Μένει μόνο η τύπισσα στο τέλος για να περιγράψει όσα είδε. Στην προκειμένη δε ξέρω ποιος θα μείνει. Από τη μία, θέλω να φύγω, από την άλλη νιώθω ότι θα αφήσω πίσω μου κόσμο που αγαπώ στο έλεος των καταστάσεων, αβοήθητους. Ισως το καλύτερο είναι να πάρουμε όσους πιο πολλούς μπορούμε μαζί μας.. Η τεχνολογία να ναι καλά για την ελαχιστοποίηση των-συναισθηματικών- αποστάσεων! Ελπίδα παντα πρέπει να υπάρχει, πάντα, ξεκινώντας από τα παιδιά.. και από το γενονός ότι οι δικοί μας τουλάχιστον είναι καλά και οφειλουμε να δίνουμε στους γύρω μας αισιοδοξία και χαμόγελο! Η αλήθεια βρίσκεται στις ανθρώπινες σχέσεις, σε μία βόλτα, στη μουσική ... Ούτως ή άλλως δεν εξαρτώνται και πολλά από μας.(πολιτικά θέματα εννοώ). Τα πράγματα θα οδηγηθούν εκεί που μας οδηγούν. Το θέμα είναι τι κάνουμε εμείς σε κάθε δεδομένη κατάσταση και τι -short term- προγραμματισμό μπορούμε να κάνουμε!
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