This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Some Greek History and Politics for Dummies-The Rage of Achilles
From www.thetrader.se
Greece has been the talk of the town during the past weeks. After avoiding going bust last week, the country needs to restart the Economy, once again. The question is if the Balkan mentality is the main Enemy for getting Greece back on track? People have a huge disbelief in politics and the government, irrespective of who is running the country. This mentality is hard to explain, especially to the Troica people trying to work out a quick fix. The pride of the Balkan people, might yet again prove to be the biggest problem in trying to restore the country. We have seen similar behavior in former Yugoslavia and other countries. Be prepared for more protests, riots and ultimately a full blown civil unrest situation, when people decide enough is enough. Happy Liberty Day, to our American readers. Greece’s Achilles heel by Kathimerini;
As Greece teetered on the brink of bankruptcy last week, the protagonists of our public life appeared oblivious to the danger, sticking to the risky behavior that became the norm over the past few decades. Extreme confrontation has become automatic: Now that things are very dangerous and we need to make a great effort to achieve consensus and show flexibility, we remain trapped in the rituals of absolute conflict. It is no coincidence that “The Iliad,” the mold from that which we now call Hellenism was shaped, focuses on the personal quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles which jeopardizes their 10-year expedition against Troy. Our politicians in Parliament, the masked stone-throwers and the heavily armored riot police repeatedly relive this ritual, each seeing himself as a hero.
The danger of this obsession is great: We don’t see the essence of problems (and so we cannot solve them), we don’t cooperate with each other, we lose any moral high ground that we may have and we flirt endlessly with catastrophe. When the causes of conflict are trivial, the damage may be limited. When our future is at stake, blind submission to this tradition could be fatal. Yet we persist with our mistakes.
Our society doesn’t trust our politicians, nor our institutions. At the same time, it shows great tolerance for extremist behavior — whether this involves unions demanding greater benefits, the predations of anti-establishment raiders, or security forces mistreating citizens and migrants. Countless foreign invasions, dictatorships and liberation wars have bred into the Greeks the need for self-sufficiency (even as they demand as much as possible from a state that they are part of but which they distrust) as well as a romanticized devotion to militant causes, even if these are self-destructive. Until now, we didn’t care if some group gained benefits at the cost of society as a whole. Now, some are losing benefits while others are deprived of hope. All are enraged, ready for war.
Maybe Greeks are just aggressive and, by nature, incapable of avoiding division. Last century alone, the National Division (of 1914-17) and the 1946-49 civil war cost the nation dearly. We would win our wars and waste the peace. Today, after 37 years of unprecedented prosperity, our two-party political system did not manage to build on this stability. Instead, it cultivated division. When the two major parties alternate in power with such ease, each taking on the other’s role in government or in opposition, they undermine ideologies and institutions. Politics remains a personal business, incapable of getting past the weaknesses of its protagonists. Whichever party is in power undertakes reforms that it does not believe in, while the main opposition party (which may have proposed these very changes while in office) fights them mercilessly.
The smaller, leftist parties are usually out of government (with the controversial exception of 1989-90, when multiparty coalitions ran Greece briefly) and have perfected the role of smugly criticizing whoever is in power. The result is a political culture in which compromise equals treason and dialogue is impossible. When each side owns the truth and defends the only right cause (its own), it undermines the concept of responsibility and conscientiousness at the personal and collective level. It keeps people wary of institutions, reinforcing the belief that citizens are unprotected unless they find someone to protect them or take things into their own hands.
Today, we are at war for our collective survival. What is at stake is not personal, whether we be party leaders or among the “indignant” thousands that gather at Syntagma Square every night. The main issues are how we will make our economy viable without losing democratic values, and how we will negotiate (politicians and citizens, either together or in conflict with each other) with our partners in Europe to find solutions that will give hope to all the societies which today stand on the brink of bankruptcy.
In these battles, it is useful to have the grasping egotism of Agamemnon and the mad pride of Achilles; but, in the end, it is better to heed the poet-warrior Archilochus’ advice — do whatever must be done to survive today, so that you can fight again tomorrow
»
- advertisements -
Democracy is nothing more than mob rule. We were once a republic but that ended in 1935.
Greece needs to deflaut, run away from the EURO, devalue.
The banks cannot let them survive so they ask the community to bail them out under the banner of saving Greece, which does nothing of the sort.
The banks are just creating more debt, endless derivative construction.
THE WHOLE WESTERN -AND NOT ONLY! - CIVILIZATION OWES TO GREECE!
LET GREECE BREATHE AND LIVE OR YOU "EXPIRE" WITH IT !!!
Not to mention the geometrical and mathematical and trigonometrical theoremes, the Hippocrates medical papers etc.
Mr. Siemens, Mr. Bosch, Mr. Bell etc., all have patented their inventions.
Only the Greeks gave everything for free!
But, but, Mr. Gates, an intelligent American, has already "patented" the Ancient Greek Language as the "artificial intelligence" language for his computers!
And do not forget, the people of Greece speak this Homerian language under the Acropolis for more than 10.000 years!
An intelligent greek government would demand copyrights for every greek word spoken and used in sciences, in computers, in mathematics
and for the ancient greek language as a whole!
Sure 'n I thought machine code was double dutch, I guess its all greek to me ;)
When a nation (or people) feel powerful, they war monger instead of negotiating. Bush invaded Iraq.....France (Sarkozy, the next Nobel Peace Prize winner) invades Libya...and so on.
China gains nothing by war with its peace time economy booming. In fact, during the MENA riots news reporters all over China were stunned by the answers Chinese people gave them,"we're pretty happy...why riot?" China can devote a greater % to growth and happiness since it does not support a world wide army.
We need to rethink our postion ASAP and perhaps learn better negotiating techniques which some of our leaders have forgotten whether it be Bush with Iraq or the debt crisis now. War should be the last resort imo. War will always result in Blowback ...
Hey, that's a great idea for a book!
http://www.amazon.com/Blowback-Second-Consequences-American-Empire/dp/08...
Time to learn Greek!
After all for one vote only, the American National Senat did not vote for the greek language to be the official language of your country!
Balkan mentality, xa xa
Balkan is a turkish word introduced into international affairs after 1453
Greece is in the Ancient Hellenic Aimos Penninsula (Aimos mountains)
the Kathimerini xa xa xa...
the praiser of the neo-ottoman imperior and the biggest falsifier of the Hellenic History
xa xa xa
I suggest You read Marc Mazowers article about "the Cradle of Civilization" and why Greeks were always the leaders in every cosmo-historical event the last 200 years (these are the words of Mr. Mazower, not mine)
from " a free nation deep in debt" james mcdonald. 2003.
tribes and empires
.
pg. 26
" all the fields of attica were thick with mortgage columns bearing
inscriptions stating that the land on which they stood was mortgaged to such and such for so and so much. the fields not so marked had for the most part already been sold on account of unpaid mortgages or interest and had passed into the ownership of the noble userer. the peasant could count himself lucky if he was allowed to remain on the land as a tenant and live on one sixth of the produce of his labour while he paid five sixths to his new master as rent. and this was not all. if the sale of the land did not cover the debt,... the debtor, in order to meet his creditor's claims, had to sell his children into slavery abroad. children sold by their father-such was the first fruit of father-right and monogamy! and if the bloodsucker was still not satisfied, he could sell the debtor himself as a slave. thus the pleasant dawn of civilization began for the athenian people."
( friedrich engels )
"the great lawgiver solon (c.594 b.c.) eventually banned debt bondage outright and limited the size of landholdings. ... it was aristotle who first put about the canard that while livestock and grain were naturally reproductive, coin was not, and that interest was therefore contrary to the laws of nature"
While I don't believe in debt slavery..and people should have the right to claim bankcruptcy...I do believe interest serves a couple porposes..
risk premium for allowing soemone to borrow money and a premium for consumption now while the creditor forgoes consumption for a later date. As I said though default and bankruptcy must accompany it so the creditors find out who's credit worthy and who is not and the debtor doesn't turn into a slave...that's what the rule of law was supposed to garuntee and as you can see democratic ideals don't allign with he rule of law only a republic can do that, the citizens decide in their own self interest (under a democracy) to be slaves to the collective then everyone equally get's the shaft from the elites...
While I don't believe in debt slavery..and people should have the right to claim bankcruptcy...I do believe interest serves a couple porposes..
risk premium for allowing soemone to borrow money and a premium for consumption now while the creditor forgoes consumption for a later date. As I said though default and bankruptcy must accompany it so the creditors find out who's credit worthy and who is not and the debtor doesn't turn into a slave...that's what the rule of law was supposed to garuntee and as you can see democratic ideals don't allign with he rule of law only a republic can do that, the citizens decide in their own self interest (under a democracy) to be slaves to the collective then everyone equally get's the shaft from the elites...
Interest in a fiat system, or in capital-intensive markets, is a different beast than interest back in the days of gold coins. When the money supply isn't growing, and when finance was all but non-existent on a large scale, then any amount of interest was immoral. Nowadays, with the money supply growing constantly and a need for financial growth simply to maintain your wealth, it's only exorbitant interest that is thought of as immoral.
called SEISACHTHEIA meaning take the burden of the shoulders of the people
Kinda funny how the end of sovereignty begins where supposedly democracy was born. Obviously no true Democracy without sovereignty.
True Democracy is only for a real country anyway and doomed to fail over time.
Piss off Greece.
You are where you choose to go.
"Extreme confrontation has become automatic"
"do whatever must be done to survive today, so that you can fight again tomorrow"
Who is it you want to fight big yin? .. and why?
A people divided are a people easily conquered.
The time has come for the Greeks to unite as
the enemy are at the gate. Will the Greeks overcome
their petty infighting and unite for their common
good? Only time will tell and time is running short.
That is why Europe and USA have been systematically overrun by 3rd world immigrants under the name of 'multiculturalism' and 'anti-xenophobia' in most countries it is even illegal to criticise this or you'll end up accused and sentenced for 'racism' with tents of thousands of euros pentaly or even jail.
If you say I am proud to be 'black', 'jewish', 'mexican' your defending your culture and heritage but try saying 'I am proud to be white' and your be labeled a Nazi and never again invited to any cocktail party
that is exactly the reason why USA is heading to tear apart in 3 pieces
cultural incompatibility
SP500 Buy any pullback until august 17 2011!
http://astrofibo.blogspot.com/2011/06/sp500-60min-buy-any-pullback-until.html
How many more times are you going to post this without any qualification or reason?
DavidC
It will only dawn on them when their "democracy" fades and bankers will decide everything for them.
They'll first get a incentive of course. The poison apple so to speak. The 120BN apple, and if they bite it, they'll lose it all forever.