"When I look at Greece I see one of the richest
places in the world with untold potential for a booming sustainable economy,
one with more than enough human and natural resources for everyone to live
very, very well. So let us indeed think like the ancient Greeks, and look
forward into the unknown with vision and courage. Otherwise we shouldn’t even
call ourselves Greeks, as we will not deserve the wealth of this land. It is
ours to safeguard, not squander through petty-mindedness. But If we are bold
and wise, then we can truly, be rich” - see original article by Pavlos Zafiropoulos.
Nikos Dimou argued that Greeks are using all their energy to widen the distance between wishful thinking and reality, and he defines that distance as the 'misfortune of being Greek'. True, living in fantasy without any relation to reality is not a good recipe for happiness, at least not for sustained happiness.
On the other hand, Martin Luther King once spoke about 'having had a dream' and one can rightfully wonder if the US would have a black president today if King had never had that dream.
Regarding Greece, I come down on the side of Pavlos Zafiropoulos. If the distance between dream and reality is as wide as it presently is in Greece, the issue is how to bring reality closer to the dream and not how to wipe out the dream in favor of reality. Zafiropoulos' dream may be unrealistically beautiful; only time can tell. But there can be no doubt about the fact that Greek reality today is a lot worse than what the country has potential for.
It wouldn't hurt if Greek leaders of all walks of life read Zafiropoulos' article and, instead of explaining why that dream cannot ever become reality, started asking 'why not?'.
Pavlos Zafiropoulos is part of the problem. Whenever I hear a Greek talking about solar energy I realize how clueless some people can be. The only thing going for Greece, when it comes to solar energy is the sun, Africa has sun; Arizona has sun, Spain has sun. Do Greeks thing they can compete with the Germans, Chinese and Americans? Where is the know-how? Do we have any big companies that produce or do solar panel R&D? In Spain and in Germany it's all about the subsidies and for Spain solar subsidies is part of the problem. The only thing he is right is the Greek politicians (voted by a clueless people). Finally, do not overestimate Greeks; look at the rankings of the Greek Universities and that will tell you what kind of human capital we are talking about.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Mr. Zapiropoulos we could all live in Arcadia in our traditional Greek villages. Solar energy would power our air conditioners and other electrical appliances, and cars, for a thousand years to come. We could live from the abundant catch in the seas while watching the whales and dolphins frolicing around us. We could eat the diversity of biological vegetables grown on small Greek farms, while watching our unique topography. We could cover our insatiable appetite for imports with revenues from niche tourism. Rent bicycles to bikers, binoculars to bird watchers and sell statues of Alexander the Great (made in China) to cultural tourists. All the above we could have if it wasn't for the damned politicians (and their voters).
ReplyDeleteLike most Greeks he knows what he wants, but not how to get it. Like most Greeks he tells us very specifically what he doesn't want. A true visionary, a Greek Martin Luther King.
I understand Nikos Dimou better and better.
Lennard