When life becomes long enough to care...

Greetings from Vienna, I am here for a conference and I am having a great time. Back in Greece, there is a lot of controversy those days about the ‘I am Hellene’ video and all the repercussions it created (for example this one, among others, since there is a lot of public discussion currently).

Of course in Greece there is a lot of controversy about everything and the good thing is that most of the people are trying to look themselves at the mirror. We are trying to understand what brought us to this point, we are going back to our history (I am referring mostly to the last 100 years and not the ancient one), trying to really find our identity. It is a healthy and constructive, but painful process which covers your life like a dark cloud.

Here in Vienna it’s sunny with 20^oC and the streets are full of people and life. Delicious chocolate cakes, cold beer, white wine, and ice cream. People are relaxed, smiling, making contact, while others are making business, they all seem to be taking their lives forward. A big contrast compared to Greeks, Italians, Spanish and Portuguese. 
Vienna is an beautiful city, full of monuments and history, but also a strong present. It is obvious that there is a lot of money, like there is a lot of money in the States, Switzerland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, etc. Part of this money is result of hard work and sharp minds, but there is also a big ‘dirty’ part. Colonies and wars, investments and bank deposits of third world mafia and corrupt dictators, manipulation of politicians, sweatshops in Asia, you name it. Ugly stuff that have become the foundation of our prosperity… Human rights activists and other political organizations try to remind us about the backyard of our capitalist system from time to time, but life goes on 'as usual'.

Let's face it... What we all know well is that we are in this world for only a century or so and this is not enough time to fulfill our own dreams and desires, not even to make ends meet or feel safe. Our life may also not be enough to make our friends and family happy, so why should we bother, especially when we are legitimate and we pay our taxes. Leonardo da Vinci made masterpieces in art and science, being the protégé of Dukes while people were living with the basics. Our politicians who should have the vision and responsibility to make the world better, have the same time available in this planet. So it is not surprising that they end up sweeping the dirt under the carpet, so they can live their unique moments of glory (and profit), instead of making the change which nobody knows if is feasible anyway…

After all people who are willing to die in order to make the world a better place, go against nature, throwing away our unique and  irreplaceable gift, the privilege of life, having friends, family, love... the anyway limited moments of laughter and happiness that are so precious and ingrained in our nature. So how can these heroes serve as an example, especially when there is such a sunny beautiful day? And finally, philosophy and religion, our intellectual effort to extend the scope of our existence beyond the duration of our life, has proven insufficient as a motivation to oppress our dark side and give our best to our society… At least in a big part of the western world…
So it comes out that only crises are moments of reflection, the moments when ‘you cannot sleep, since the beds are burning’. Greeks have no ‘sunny days’ any more, so inevitably they are reflecting… They are putting blame to themselves, to capitalism, to their politicians, to emigrants,  to communists, to multinationals, everybody has his own arguments and is right to some extent. This crisis is expected to be a long one and it will come the moment for the whole Europe to look in the mirror. Let’s just hope that we will all reach to the right conclusions… And most important that we will not end up fighting against each other...

It’s nice to be a ...pi(i)g!

Erwan had just had his forty birthday few weeks ago, he is handsome and athletic, his native language is French, but he introduces himself as ‘Breton’. He is a Geologist, doing research on estuaries for the University, he has a very clever dog, Dexter, and he lives in a small and humid place, right in from of Faro Beach. He is a nice guy, and a friend…

Inside his place you will find all kind of tools and various athletic equipment, most of which seem old and used hundreds of times. He has a van, a scooter, a bicycle and a boat; it’s very unlikely to find more than half of them functional at the same time and he is constantly engaged in the activity of repairing them, with a bottle of beer somewhere nearby. If you ask him, he will tell you that he doesn’t care about cars and motorbikes and all that is important is ‘to go from point A to point B’ (and he seems to be serious about it).

I am spending one week of holidays in his place, enjoying his company, the barbecues on the beach, doing some surf, throwing sticks so that Dexter would fetch them and all sorts of such vitalizing activities. Of course Portugal, like Greece (but hopefully not as much) is burdened by the economic crisis. People are complaining about their jobs, or the ones they lost and they are thinking to go abroad. My body itches when I hear this, since I am automatically transferred from the sunny Faro Beach back to Hannover, where a different concept of fun and relaxation is prevailing. One that most south Europeans would simply describe ‘not a life’.

Erwan knows that since he is well travelled and has lived in England, Germany among others. For him better salary, cars and security worth nothing compared to good weather, fresh fish, the view of the ocean and a lot of space for Dexter. He knows well what he wants… And he talks about the crisis as less as he can, because ‘it doesn’t affect him’.

There is no doubt that South Europe is corrupt and inefficient and to some extent deserves to be poor and less developed. On the other hand, nobody can really doubt that small poor countries can be easily exploited by the larger and more powerful ones. It is the duty of historians to show which mistakes and interests allowed or helped this absurd consumer culture to emerge in the poor South European countries, during this EU experiment. Back in Greece of the 90s another friend was telling me: ‘They are out of their minds… How many kilos of tomatoes do we have to sell, in order to buy a BMW? How can this work?’. My friend still doesn’t own a car and he also avoids the crisis, because ‘it doesn’t affect him’ he says.

Poverty, when it is not extreme remains a problem, but is not tragedy, especially as long as the social structure is not collapsing. Unemployment is tragedy because it doesn’t let people ‘go from point A to point B’ and this crisis brings to the south unemployment and social collapse. There will be consequences from this situation, we are all facing them already. If there is some justice in the world, the ones who let this paradox grow, will face them even more sometime in the future…

Living in more developed societies like in the North of Europe you enjoy being part in a more sober, more fair and less corrupt system, surrounded by people who often have a more intricate and better structured way of thinking and functioning. On the other hand, when you are sitting under the sun, eating sweet, juicy Algarvean oranges after a good surf; thoughts get buried under the avalanche that your senses create. What you are doing, or will do becomes less important when you are immersed to the beauty of nature. You feel insignificant and alive at the same time, especially if you are born in this latitude.

So, it’s not bad to be a …PIIG after all…

As long as they let you ‘go from point A to point B’.

A Greek's open letter to Europe's citizens

Dear friend...

I decided to write to you because during the last months many things are being discussed about me and my country, but nobody let's me get into the discussions. If you happen to be German I also live close to you (Hannover) and I don't feel very well when I hear that they tell you about me. I thought that maybe you would like to listen to my opinion, it could give you another perspective... If you have any doubts please don't hesitate to contact me and I encourage you to confirm what you will read here from other sources.

Everybody knows that Greece has financial problems and some people may tell you that other countries have as well and there is a crisis of the capitalist system overall... But I don't want to discuss about that. Let's assume that Greece is the only country close to bankruptcy on the planet right now and I have to tell you that I am feeling very ashamed for that. They tell you that Greek people are corrupt and lazy and they only party with your money and now it's time for them to pay. And this is completely unfair and I will explain you why...

First of all the debt of Greece is public and not private, the private debt of Greece is much smaller than in most other European countries and even in the world. Greek people are definitely not lazy and they take care of their home and businesses, like you do. They are proud like you and they don't like to live on other people's money and that's why they are careful. If you happened to visit Greece you probably saw a poor, chaotic, south European, beautiful country and I am sure that you also saw people running their businesses well, cleaning their houses every day and cooking their food with passion. I am sure that you didn't see a bunch of lazy, corrupt bums, partying with no tomorrow like they tell you.

I will remind you also that Greece has been consistently one of the last countries in the EU, during the last decades and what the people have been living was far from paradise. You can understand it from all the indicators of economic freedom, from the percentage of the people above 30 living with their families and the low fertility rate, which between the lines reads 'no job, no perspectives, no stability, no plans for the future'. And they have been trying hard all these years, the old to support their families and the young to study and educate themselves, in favorable conditions. I know that it is difficult for you to understand it because you grew up in a system that was maybe pushing you, but was providing you several things. If you were in Greece you would have to try all the time, without expecting any justice, or recognition.

But still Greek people have been trying hard to be like you. You may have seen that from your Greek friends in the University who don't do so bad I guess. You may not know that Greek families have to pay thousands of euros every year for private supportive lessons of English, Math, Physics, etc to complement the inefficient education system. I will remind you also that several decades ago Greek emigrants came to your country, worked hard, learned your language and habits and and became part of your society without creating serious problems. Now, a new wave of emigration has started and your country will receive hundreds of highly educated young people without spending a dime on their training. So please don't let them accuse me because we are normal people like you are and we have been through hard times ...before the hard times expected to come!

So who is to blame? The fact that Greece has been ungoverned for decades, that there is no institution that is working, no justice, no planning, nothing. For decades... This is the corruption in Greece; normal people have NO RIGHTS, but the stronger pariahs of the political parties have total immunity when they steal or even kill. And this is what I want to discuss with you and to cry for help, if you want...

They say that every nation has the government it deserves, but in Greece it is not so simple as it seems and I will explain you why. Greece has suffered a civil war after the second world war, on which the 'British sphere of influence concept' had a lot to do. Then was a CIA driven military coup in the 60s, and both events opened wounds that have not healed since then, even though 'democracy' came in the end of the 70s. All these recent events have destroyed the political structure in the country and have established a 'sick' system... There is no democracy because the voters' only options are 2 parties (plus the 5% nationalist, Christians and 5% Stalinist communists). The names in the parliament have been the same from the 50s till now, people have no power to change anything and this is probably a unique situation for Europe. And external political destabilization is very easy to do, you may know about Latin American and African countries. Once the system deviates, it is difficult to bring it back....

All the politicians and their friends and relatives have been plundering the country's wealth for decades; without representing the Greek people, and having full immunity for their actions. What Italians rejected in last weeks referendum (Berlusconi's immunity) is the norm in Greece... Nobody can touch them! Even if they are openly involved in scandals, if they degrade the future of this country, if they are getting rich when Greece is collapsing. Now they try to convince your politicians that they 'control the situation', but in fact the people don't want them anymore. Despite most European countries there has been no referendum for any crucial matter the past 20 years. We need a referendum whether we want them to govern, and I know the answer: DEFINITELY NO!

Tonight they are voting (and they are going to pass) the new support/austerity package and 1 million people will demonstrate in front of the Greek parliament in Athens. And they are not demonstrating for the austerity measures. THEY ARE DEMONSTRATING AGAINST THE POLITICAL PARTIES! We want to make sacrifices, but we don't trust our politicians. They are not Greek, they are traitors, parts of elites, who showed up one day and had a seat in the parliament. We are willing to make sacrifices, and we acknowledge our responsibility. But during the last year of austerity measures which paralyzed the country, none of the people involved in large scale scandals were touched. We are desperate for justice, people will not back down unless the ones who stole, or acted against the country will be punished. This is the only way that our country can get back in the right track again.

And this is where I need you help... All those years with the EU, we traveled, met and enjoyed each other's company. We like Europe, we have felt it that it is better that way. As I told you the situation has not been good for me and now it is really bad. And I am feeling very bad, ashamed and humiliated. I can't sleep at night. Unfortunately, you are asked to pay taxes to support Greece, because some 'experts' say that it will still be better for you (and all of us) that way'. I am not the person to argue on that, personally I would fell more descent to leave the euro-zone and walk my own way. Apparently again I have no choice...

But before you pay, just make sure where you give your money and for what reason. If you have to pay taxes for the present Greece don't do it. If you feel that the European Union is something precious that should solve the problems and be preserved, please help me on the actual problem. And if you feel rage about the sacrifices you have to do, please don't simply 'blame the Greeks', but search a little bit more. There are huge scandals, obvious people responsible. Please help me pass this message through:

The Greek people are asking desperately for help. We need to reset out political situation. We are in a dead-end. Military coups can fall with public reaction and the hope of democracy bringing justice is a big motivation....

When 'democracy' fails then there is nothing to do or expect....

Your politicians knew about this for long time, some may also have been nurturing this situation, but I don't want to waste time blaming others.

The point is that Greek default may mean the end of Euro (as they say) and we are all involved... And now it is your money too...

The ones guilty for Greece's bankruptcy have to be punished and you have more power to do that than me... It is very easy to find out who they are: 2 political parties and 5-6 families... If Greek justice is corrupted and not efficient, a European committee or even the International Court could be the right way to go. For the bankruptcy of a historical nation, the burdens of the EU tax payers and the overall destabilization.

For us political reform and justice is more vital than financial support...

We are in need of a European intervention in governance, our political and judicial system has failed....

Kind regards

Michalis Vousdoukas
Coastal Oceanoghrapher, PhD, MEng, MSc