On a regular July day in the year 2004, the unforeseeable happened.
An event so spectacular and surprising that it would result in hundreds of thousands of Greeks flooding into their towns, villages and city streets with such unbridled glee and ecstatic euphoria, as to conger-up images of ancient festivals dedicated to Bacchus.
The Greek national football team won the most prestigious European sports trophy available: The Euro-League Cup!!!
History was written!
Now, to a layman or anyone not really overly involved with sporting events or soccer in particular, this would seem a trivial matter possessing some interesting cultural facets and yet paling in comparison to the multitude of possible national rewards and gains, and fading in lustre when juxtaposed against the many national problems and deficiencies facing modern-day Greece.
To a soccer aficionado though, as many modern Greeks are, the ramifications of soccer glory have transcending, supernatural effects that no mind can fully grasp but only felt. All other issues are insignificant or on the verge of becoming obsolete when one considers the implications of a sporting victory.
Why, if they could win the Euro-Cup, then no obstacle can stand in their way.
Next….the World Cup!!! And then…The Universe!!!
As it happens, Greeks seem to be more motivated to take to the streets, in celebration, over eleven men in shorts, that managed to place an inflated leather sphere more times into the oppositions netted goal- thusly proving their own creeds obvious genetic superiority in imitation of battleground victory, of course- than they are to do the same in protest over systematic corruption, uncontrolled nepotism and decaying economic and cultural prosperity.
Or should I say Greeks are more motivated to celebrate, in general, for any reason.
Opa!!!
But that might not be totally accurate.
They do regularly take to the streets, in protest, to ensure job security, with no exertion, to inflate pay checks, with no effort, or to simply take a day off; this, particular, practice resulting in regular work stoppages, transportation gridlocks and urban chaos.
I watched, in stunned amazement, as one ‘fan’ declared the indubitable supremacy of the “Greek spiritâ€- although it’s questionable if this individual knew anything about or had ever considered what said spirit was or what it entailed- that had so spectacularly led a group of athletes to excel.
It reminded me of that guy that once pronounced Greek superiority, to me, by mentioning his unequivocal certainty that Greeks were endowed with an extra rib!
He had read it in a book…He said.
I smiled, at first, believing the remark was made in jest, but my face quickly turned to a mask of feigned interest when the expression on his, dull-eyed mug, told me that it was meant in all seriousness and that contradicting him would be a futile attempt to soften a brick wall with a cotton-ball.
His extra Hellenic rib, presumably, failed to offer him the benefits of critical thought and failed to protect him against prejudiced, emotional hypothesising, which morons from around the world are equally guilty of.
Then it hit me.
This guy reads?!!!
It therefore didn’t surprise me much, when a few days later, while channel surfing through Greek TV stations, I came upon an infomercial channel occupied by a certain personality, that looked like a cross between a gorilla and a Hitler youth member, proclaiming that, and I quote:
“Greeks are from Siriusâ€, that far off galactic dot in the sky, and “Greeks were the first to settle South Americaâ€.
That would explain why both South Americans and Greeks love soccer, for one.
Perhaps he believed it, perhaps he only wanted to sell the books he pedals to uneducated, nationalistic, intellectually retarded fanatics, but whatever the case may be it goes a long way in proposing a possible, further, explanation as to why many modern Greeks are so obsessed with astrology, Taro cards, coffee grain reading, homeopathy, evil-eyes and so thoroughly immersed in Christian Orthodoxy.
(There are actual regular astrology segments on morning shows on Greek television and many Greeks hang blue beads around their necks to protect themselves from the ‘EYE’).
This complete immersion in superstition and self-flattery not only denies reality but it also underestimates the forces confronting individuals, in our modern world today, and social progress, in general.
But it is funny as hell.
But I digress.
Of course, the question of how the actions and victories of others, somehow, miraculously imbues every blood-relation, compatriot and fellow participant in a cultural unity, with the qualities of excellence, was drowned out by the shrieking revelries and the echoes of hand and back slapping.
I’m sure that this fellow, or the many like him, that grasped glory through some sort of electronic osmosis, feel that in some way their screams of encouragement from the stands or their psychic aura, projected through television screens in cafes, restaurants, billiard halls and living rooms, where they sat in comfortable seating, munching on mousaka and lamb and filling their, already engorged abdomens with wine or beer somehow…somehow!..contributed to the awe inspiring victory itself and expressed the undeniable physical and mental superiority of the entire Greek nation over their lesser European brethren…Or maybe it was the blue beads hanging around their necks.
But I humbly reserve the right to remain sceptical…Barely.
Being someone who, to my chagrin, has spent some time in Greece, that has gone to school and served in the army there, I possess first-hand knowledge on what life is like there and what the overall Greek mentality and psychology is.
Taking into account the fact that all opinions are perspectives tinted by personal experiences, talents and flaws, I can bluntly say that the common characteristic of the average Greek, in Greece, today is that of an adolescent, village idiot suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder.
To say that modern Greeks have huge, unwarranted egos is an understatement. Overcompensation is, after all, a well documented reaction to subconscious feelings of inadequacy.
What is remarkable about it, in this case, is how utterly oblivious they are to it and how this, sometimes, makes them charming, humorous and innocent about it.
It has been said that the causes of many of Greece’s current woes have been the result of western imperialism, globalization and the lingering effects of four-hundred years of subjugation to Ottoman Turkish rule, that prevented a rebirth through a consequent Renaissance, and I would agree with all these factors participating in a general stagnating effect.
But I, also, believe the primary reasons for Greece’s third-world disposition can be found in the Greeks themselves and in their psychology.
Here are some of the characteristics of the Greek psyche that inhibit national progress:
1- The inability to accept and acknowledge personal responsibility in all aspects of human life.
I cannot count the times I’ve listened to adult Greeks complaining about the government’s inaction concerning everything from weather calamities to national sports-team fiascos and from corruption to lowered birth-rates.
In the case of corruption, specifically, full accountability is forced upon second-tier beurocrats and federal desk-riding employees -who’ve, most likely, acquired their position due to political patronage rather than qualifications- and not on the supposed ‘innocent’ citizen who knows no different or is forced to silently accept the ‘way things work’ and who willingly and blatantly attempts to expedite proceedings, in his own interest, while crying bloody-hell in every other case.
In corruption cases, both sides of the interaction bear equal guilt.
The practice of buying medical attention from doctors with money-filled envelopes, buying leniency from the justice system with a few well placed payments, buying services from government agencies submerged in red-tape and back-door resolutions, buying work in government agencies and diplomas from educational institutions, is a national pastime rivalling soccer itself.
The other favourite national pastime is that of trying to get out of the system through a premature retirement.
Does anybody want to earn anything there legitimately?!
How many times can one blame others for ones own problems before he/she also looks to ones self and ones own hand in the calamities that plague him/her?
Irresponsibility is not only a sign of cowardice and slavishness but it also exposes an immature demeanour, expecting everything and earning nothing.
I certainly recognize the duties and responsibilities of government in everyday human affairs, but I also recognize the citizenry’s duties and responsibilities in their own affairs and how they themselves are the ones that make, shape and tolerate governments.
Governments do not spring out of the ether, in an act of Immaculate Conception.
The members of governments are products of the citizenry. They were nurtured, taught and formed amongst the very populace they govern (At least in Democracies) and, more importantly, they were raised into power and maintained there by the people they lead.
To blame a government you fertilized with your own moral and social ethical manure, even if you do come from Sirius and you do have an extra rib, is simply dishonest, if not stupid.
2- The inability to accept and acknowledge authority from other fellow Greeks.
Being an expatriated Greek myself, enables me to speak from personal experience about the Hellenic Diaspora and the results of the Hellenic daimonio.
After the end of the Greek civil war, millions of poor Greeks - predominately liberal ones- spread across the globe in a mass exodus of unequalled proportions on a percentile of the population basis.
These immigrants not only managed to adapt and participate in socio-economic and cultural systems that were alien to them but, in many instances, they managed to stand out and excel in environments with which they often had very few experiential intersections with.
Yet, back in the motherland, their compatriots went through decades of political squabbling and superficial, simplistic national and intellectual growth, which inevitably resulted in an unprofessional and undisciplined social demeanour that still weighs-down national growth levels and quality of life standards.
Meritocracy is not a moral issue but an issue of social health.
When enough positions are filled by incompetent but well connected individuals, one is only made to wonder about what quality of mind inhabits the highest positions of social, economic and moral power.
Efficiency is a product of capability. When you hire incompetent, brown nosing, grovelling, ignoramus’ to run your social machine, you shouldn’t expect more than stagnation, and incompetence.
This inability to accept authority figures from within a shared cultural body inevitably results in internal bickering, stagnation and successes, when they happen, are inevitably lead by foreigners or dictated by foreign powers.
Not only was the Greek national football team led by a German coach, but we may even say that the current trend towards social cleansing and internal restructuring that is occurring in Greece today, is mostly the consequence of European pressures and demands.
3- The before mentioned comments coupled with historic and cultural events, have also resulted in a general national attitude of indifference and a spiritual laiser faire that prohibits the pursuit of hopeful change and directs every individual citizen, that may feel disheartened and disgusted with how things are, into a defeatist acceptance of the status quo.
Modern Greeks are, by nature, fatalists.
They are inclined to accept the environments they find and adapt to them accordingly, while taking few actions to rehabilitate them.
This psychological defeatist attitude is the result of a deep felt insecurity and an under-estimation of the power of will and determination on reality.
They have truly forgotten the lessons of their ancestors.
It often manifests itself in feigned overconfidence and a pretentious attitude of superiority leading to, the before mentioned, instances of superstition and foolishness and also in a general in-your-face temperament of excessive belittlement.
Its source can be found in the centuries of subjugation to foreign rule and the comparatively small population and geographical dimensions of the nation, at large.
It can be traced back to the Christian doctrine that dominates modern Greece today. A doctrine that preaches unquestioning discipline and humble acceptance of mans place in the universe.
But the source can also be traced back to the sense of disconnection, modern Greeks feel, to the very inheritance they find pride in.
In a way they feel like they cannot ever measure-up to this past glory and that they are forever condemned to merely be the children of great parents.
4- An indifference and ignorance concerning their own heritage and true culture, not obscured by the distorting influences of alien cultures and moral systems.
There is a dominant belief, amongst the Greeks, that their national identity was preserved, through the long Turkish occupation, by the Christian faith and its institutions and that the rebirth of Hellas, in 1821, is owed exclusively to Christian clerics and to the faith that filled Greek hearts with hope and conviction during the ‘dark-ages’.
But so much is allowed to be assumed and guessed upon after the fact.
Who’s to say if a pagan or an alternate religious tradition would not have acted with the same resistant and protective manner that Christianity did?
But, more than this, to feel grateful towards a faith that saved Hellenism by warping it to its needs and by suppressing and diverting its original spirit, is to ignore the past and the inherit contradictions between Christian and Hellenic thought.
The domination of Christianity during the Byzantium period and afterwards has resulted in a widening gap of disconnection between ancestral teachings and present day ones.
Nobody should be overly taken aback to hear that the works of the classical period were reintroduced into Greece through the translations of foreigners and that this was fought tooth-and-nail by the Christian church.
It has been only recently that a Greek publishing company has translated and distributed ancient texts.
The year now being….2004.
(Side note: Many ancient religious sites have Christian churches built on them today.
The Olympic games were for centuries condemned and denounced by the Greek Church as being a product of paganism and therefore of Satan himself. It took a foreigner, once again, to reintroduce the glory of the past into the present and to force a reassessment of the ancient ways by the moderns)
The common Greek today may know a few stories or sayings by his ancient ancestors but, besides this, has little interest or understanding about the depth and breadth of what was meant by them and why.
I’d say that there is very little Hellene present in a Greek today, except for a few exceptions, as there is very little ancient Egyptian present today in the people of modern Egypt; a harsh conclusion to utter openly, perhaps, but nevertheless a necessary conclusion given the phenomena at hand.
I would be more inclined to forgive, my so called compatriots, their many flaws and overcompensations, if it weren’t for their accompanying proclamations of self-worth and their self-adoration.
“We are a nation of hospitality (φιλοξενια)â€, “We are a nation of justice and honour (φιλοτιμο)â€, “We are an intelligent people†they repeat on T.V. news and talk-shows, as if to become convinced of it themselves.
(Let us forget the “We are extraterrestrial, well-ribbed, super soccer players.†for the moment.)
Yet, their real ‘hospitality’ can be witnessed in how they’ve driven their tourism industry into the ground in pursuit of a quick euro and an easy profit; their real ‘honour’ can be witnessed in their nepotism, favouritism and total disregard for quality in the face of personal, petty immediate interests that has placed well-connected mediocrity on the pedestals of power and fame; their real ‘intelligence’ can be witnessed in their total disregard for their own cultural past, their disinterest with their own history, manifesting itself in an Athenian population, living under the shadow of the Acropolis, that international symbol of Hellenism, having never ascended, in their majority, the cliffs to its height; literally and figuratively.
It becomes perplexing to me how a nation of barely 11 million souls can support so many public servants, so many artists and so many aspiring models.
Complaints are beginning to surface, these days, about the levels of unemployment and under-employment, directed at the government as usual. Complaints that would find a sympathetic ear in all of us if it were not for the over 1 million foreign nationals entering the country and finding work with relative ease.
Greeks want work, but only if this work contains the right amount of leisure and compensation and it endows them with the right image to fit into their own opinions of themselves.
So as unemployment levels reach the 10% level and would-be, doctors, lawyers, and public servants wait their turn to occupy a cushy, well paying job with no possibility of losing it, foreigners shovel the gravel, construct the roads and buildings, collect the garbage and find jobs in regions no self-respecting Greek would accept, because it is too far away from an urban setting.
The rest?
Well, their just waiting for their upcoming careers as singers, actors, dancers, models and, let us not forget, soccer players.