My first childhood contact with the concept of Pirates, was through the story of Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Due to my name being Peter, I fantasized more about becoming the Pan himself than a Pirate...
Yet a few days ago there I was filling in my application to become a Pirate member and a few days later than that I am the Pirate Party's candidate for Corfu...
Why did I do this?
As some of you may know, I spent a large part of last year, taking part in endless and varied conversations, in the "plateia", on facebook, and with many friends, all to do with the situation in Greece and possible solutions and proposals to get out of the "fix"... Certain themes kept cropping up again and again in these conversations, themes like Real Democracy, Transparency, Justice and Equality...
Since I was a teenager I had no great trust in elections. I don't consider we have ever been given any realistic choice. To make matters worse, the exisitng system has managed throughout the years, aided greatly by our indifference, to stack the odds in its favor, by voting in various ridiculous election by-laws. (An example of this is the fact that in the last elections, and in the 2nd electoral district of Athens, Syriza had a higher percentage than New Democracy, yet they got significantly less seats than them!)
I believe deeply that what we need is a change, not simply of government, but of the way the whole system works, even of the way we think.
The Pirate Party represents exactly this for me. The possibility of setting up something different, something "cleaner" and more fair to everyone.
Initially when I begun to read about it, when the Party was not yet set up in Greece, I found it a little strange.
There was no mention of their "positions" as regards the "important national matters". And I got the feeling that the Pirates were more into "secondary"matters like digital rights, transparency, access to digital technology and copyrights.
I soon realised though that the "important national matters" are potentially not the ones that the usual media channels and newspapers make them out to be. In fact it is those "secondary" matters that are most important...
Being an active citizen, achieving full transparency in government, distinct separation of authorities (especially judicial), are the matters whose change will really change our lives.
Matters like "memorandum or not", "Euro or drachma" and "right or left", I am afraid are matters which are thrown at us in order to make us lose our time talking about them, while others make the decisions.
I don't in any way support that the memorandum and its apllication are not catastrophic for Greece, but neither can I say with any certainty whether we would be better of with the drachma than the euro.
What I would like is for us all to be able to decide together about these matters and not have others decide for us.
And that is exactly the reason why I have decided to support the Pirates in their campaign, to become a Pirate myself. Because this is a central part of the Pirate idea.
So I am a candidate to become an MP with the Pirate Party in Corfu.
I realise that most English speaking friends of mine probably don't vote in Greece, but I hope that those who know me and what I stand for, might put in a good word, only of course if you agree with the ideas...
Peter Papageorgiou
For those willing to find out more about the Pirate Party here a couple of links.
Pirate Party UK
Pirate Party Greece (in Greek)
Κυριακή 27 Μαΐου 2012
Κυριακή 13 Μαΐου 2012
Dear Europe...
Dear Europe,
I have finally decided to write you a letter. Your behavior the last few days, let alone the last few years (!) has been atrocious. You have shown very bad manners and terrible misjudgement.
You insisit that we accept these memorandums and loan agreements so that you may continue to lend us money that we apparently need to pay of our debts. You are upset because the elections last Sunday show that 2 out of 3 Greeks don't want to accept your memorandums and don't want your loans. You insist that they are misguided and you continue to hope that he politicians who ruined this country with your help, somehow have the legitimacy required to continue to rule it.
Well, Europe, I'm really sorry, but this is just not on...
You see , Europe, all this time you gave the country a lot of money to supposedly set up infrastructure and shore up the economy. The problem is Europe you gave the money to the WRONG PEOPLE. And now you want it back from me?
Dear Europe, I live on a small island in the Ionian. My house is only 5 minutes drive, away from my job. Yet in the short distance I cover to get to work, I see many examples of the stupid choices you made when handing out money and aid packages.
And by the way, Europe, who are these "markets"? I went to the market today and all I saw was a lot of fish and fresh produce. There was no money there to be marketed. Who could come up with such a silly idea, Europe? Selling money?
Money, dear Europe has no value. All it is a piece of paper. How can you sell it? And all this credit Europe. Where do you get it so you can extend it? Grow up Europe. You are playing games, but there are peoples lives at stake...
Europe, this has really got to stop. This experiment at the expense of the greek people has got to stop. Do you really want to see how far you can go? Do you really think the Greeks will take it sitting down? They have already shown a lot of patience...
And do you really think , Europe, that your own people, are not waking up? Europe, an excellent musician I very much like, once said: "You can fool some people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time" You should listen to that song, Europe. It's pretty cool...
In fact you should listen to a few of his songs... have a drink while your at it. Relax. Close your eyes and make believe you're lying on a beach, somewhere in the Mediterranean. Because you can only make believe.
Make believe money, make believe system, make believe banks, make believe jobs.
Fuck off Europe. Fuck off and leave me on my beach. It's mine, Europe. I'll fish off it and eat, I'll collect chorta and boil it and eat it. I'll share with your people, Europe, because they like me and I like them. But I'll not share with you, Europe. You don't play fair. I do not wish to be a part of your experiment.
Take your banks and your loans, your make believe money and make believe life and fuck off.
A Greek.
I have finally decided to write you a letter. Your behavior the last few days, let alone the last few years (!) has been atrocious. You have shown very bad manners and terrible misjudgement.
You insisit that we accept these memorandums and loan agreements so that you may continue to lend us money that we apparently need to pay of our debts. You are upset because the elections last Sunday show that 2 out of 3 Greeks don't want to accept your memorandums and don't want your loans. You insist that they are misguided and you continue to hope that he politicians who ruined this country with your help, somehow have the legitimacy required to continue to rule it.
Well, Europe, I'm really sorry, but this is just not on...
You see , Europe, all this time you gave the country a lot of money to supposedly set up infrastructure and shore up the economy. The problem is Europe you gave the money to the WRONG PEOPLE. And now you want it back from me?
Dear Europe, I live on a small island in the Ionian. My house is only 5 minutes drive, away from my job. Yet in the short distance I cover to get to work, I see many examples of the stupid choices you made when handing out money and aid packages.
And by the way, Europe, who are these "markets"? I went to the market today and all I saw was a lot of fish and fresh produce. There was no money there to be marketed. Who could come up with such a silly idea, Europe? Selling money?
Money, dear Europe has no value. All it is a piece of paper. How can you sell it? And all this credit Europe. Where do you get it so you can extend it? Grow up Europe. You are playing games, but there are peoples lives at stake...
Europe, this has really got to stop. This experiment at the expense of the greek people has got to stop. Do you really want to see how far you can go? Do you really think the Greeks will take it sitting down? They have already shown a lot of patience...
And do you really think , Europe, that your own people, are not waking up? Europe, an excellent musician I very much like, once said: "You can fool some people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time" You should listen to that song, Europe. It's pretty cool...
In fact you should listen to a few of his songs... have a drink while your at it. Relax. Close your eyes and make believe you're lying on a beach, somewhere in the Mediterranean. Because you can only make believe.
Make believe money, make believe system, make believe banks, make believe jobs.
Fuck off Europe. Fuck off and leave me on my beach. It's mine, Europe. I'll fish off it and eat, I'll collect chorta and boil it and eat it. I'll share with your people, Europe, because they like me and I like them. But I'll not share with you, Europe. You don't play fair. I do not wish to be a part of your experiment.
Take your banks and your loans, your make believe money and make believe life and fuck off.
A Greek.
Παρασκευή 17 Φεβρουαρίου 2012
Double default dilemma
Greeks are currently under extreme pressure. For the past months we have been bombarded with (mostly biased) information from the TV networks, both in Greece and abroad, but also by our "politicians", in an attempt to make us accept the fact that Greece is destined to become what looks, at first, to be a German run protectorate, but is more likely to be a country of servants to the European and World oligarchs...
Some Greeks said that this would happen, years ago...
On a political level we don't appear to have much choice. Our politicians are not interested in listening or heeding to what the people want. Last weekend hundreds of thousands hit the streets once more in protest to the austerity measures being voted in. TV networks consistently hide the number of people on the street by showing only footage of looted or burning buildings. The only real news is on the internet and to be found amongst friends. The rest is frankly bullshit.
So what are we supposed to do if they don't listen? The "conservative" voices (and I don't mean right wing, but conservative in a general way) say, wait for the elections. And here is one part of the dilemma. Because finally after years of it being only the extreme left wing who said it was so, the general public is realising that elections offer no solution.
The total of our existing parliament, even the left wing, communists, etc, is part of the game that has been played out in this country over the last 25 years or so. There is not a single politician who is not to some extent corrupt. Some of us who have read the second memorandum in its entirety, do accept that many of the measures included in it are correct, But how can we accept it to be implemented by the same bunch of corrupt politicians that brought us here in the first place. It would be like trusting an arsonist to put out the fire he started...
Greeks don't trust their politicians and they don'trust their political system anymore. Unfortunately they also don't have the "political" conscience that our ancient forefathers tried so hard to instill into everyone. Most Greeks are victims of messianism, waiting for some "leader"to save them...
They don't realise that it is the lack of control by the people on "authority" that leads to it's being abused at our expense.
And unfortunately, as the greek saying goes, "the fish stinks from the head down".
Just like our politicians are all corrupt so are a lot of the heads of the various public services etc.
Somehow we Greeks have to find a way to change the way that we are governed. A total reset is required...
The other dilemma we have been confronted with is the one thrown at us by our politicians and the so called "markets". Default and go back to the drachma or whatever or labour under a series of heavy austerity measures until 2020 (or more) in the hope that the economy may return to the level of 2009!!. In that year it was found out that the deficit was 120% which started us on this road to destruction. Even our PM couldn't find the balls to blatantly lie to us last Sunday, and say we would return to this number! Instead he said 120% or thereabouts (This morning the IMF announced it looks more like 129%!)
We are told that if we default it will be essentially the end of the world as we know it. But it already is!! There are a few voices who say this is not so, and I would chance it to say that a lot of Greeks agree. In any case, the feeling is better to go through hard times out of our own choice, and get through them by helping each other out as much as we can, than to accept to become a country of slaves to the German dream...
The problem is that nearly everyone feels currently as if they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Amongst the people on the street there is a widespread idea that in order to change, we have to change ourselves first. There are plenty of little inspirational slogans like "be the change you want to happen" etc. But our political system does not allow change. Elections are a dead end...
Will there be a revolution? I really wonder. I fear that there is still a large part of the population that are either too afraid to "free their minds" or have given up to such an extent that they can't be bothered to even think about it... For now they are not hungry, so it's ok... But I am afraid that as things get worse, there will be a stronger reaction. and unfortunately fear and hunger are not good advisors...
Greeks are a proud people. They (we) will never take this lying down. And in doing so I hope they will inspire people around the world to do so too.
The markets have ruled for too long...
Some Greeks said that this would happen, years ago...
On a political level we don't appear to have much choice. Our politicians are not interested in listening or heeding to what the people want. Last weekend hundreds of thousands hit the streets once more in protest to the austerity measures being voted in. TV networks consistently hide the number of people on the street by showing only footage of looted or burning buildings. The only real news is on the internet and to be found amongst friends. The rest is frankly bullshit.
So what are we supposed to do if they don't listen? The "conservative" voices (and I don't mean right wing, but conservative in a general way) say, wait for the elections. And here is one part of the dilemma. Because finally after years of it being only the extreme left wing who said it was so, the general public is realising that elections offer no solution.
The total of our existing parliament, even the left wing, communists, etc, is part of the game that has been played out in this country over the last 25 years or so. There is not a single politician who is not to some extent corrupt. Some of us who have read the second memorandum in its entirety, do accept that many of the measures included in it are correct, But how can we accept it to be implemented by the same bunch of corrupt politicians that brought us here in the first place. It would be like trusting an arsonist to put out the fire he started...
Greeks don't trust their politicians and they don'trust their political system anymore. Unfortunately they also don't have the "political" conscience that our ancient forefathers tried so hard to instill into everyone. Most Greeks are victims of messianism, waiting for some "leader"to save them...
They don't realise that it is the lack of control by the people on "authority" that leads to it's being abused at our expense.
And unfortunately, as the greek saying goes, "the fish stinks from the head down".
Just like our politicians are all corrupt so are a lot of the heads of the various public services etc.
Somehow we Greeks have to find a way to change the way that we are governed. A total reset is required...
The other dilemma we have been confronted with is the one thrown at us by our politicians and the so called "markets". Default and go back to the drachma or whatever or labour under a series of heavy austerity measures until 2020 (or more) in the hope that the economy may return to the level of 2009!!. In that year it was found out that the deficit was 120% which started us on this road to destruction. Even our PM couldn't find the balls to blatantly lie to us last Sunday, and say we would return to this number! Instead he said 120% or thereabouts (This morning the IMF announced it looks more like 129%!)
We are told that if we default it will be essentially the end of the world as we know it. But it already is!! There are a few voices who say this is not so, and I would chance it to say that a lot of Greeks agree. In any case, the feeling is better to go through hard times out of our own choice, and get through them by helping each other out as much as we can, than to accept to become a country of slaves to the German dream...
The problem is that nearly everyone feels currently as if they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Amongst the people on the street there is a widespread idea that in order to change, we have to change ourselves first. There are plenty of little inspirational slogans like "be the change you want to happen" etc. But our political system does not allow change. Elections are a dead end...
Will there be a revolution? I really wonder. I fear that there is still a large part of the population that are either too afraid to "free their minds" or have given up to such an extent that they can't be bothered to even think about it... For now they are not hungry, so it's ok... But I am afraid that as things get worse, there will be a stronger reaction. and unfortunately fear and hunger are not good advisors...
Greeks are a proud people. They (we) will never take this lying down. And in doing so I hope they will inspire people around the world to do so too.
The markets have ruled for too long...
Δευτέρα 13 Φεβρουαρίου 2012
WTF is going on in Greece?
It is high time I wrote another article to update my english speaking friends on the current situation. In fact
I am way behind, but it has been a busy and eventful fall and winter...
Yesterday 199 Greek MPs voted in the 2nd austerity measures package which was a prerequisite in order for Greece to take advantage of the second bailout worth 130 billion (or, as some say has already been deemed necessary 145 billion!)
I am currently reading thorugh the memorandum. There is a lovely Greek expression that goes like this:
Θα σου βάλω τα δυό πόδια σε ένα παπούτσι!! which translates as I will put both of your feet in one shoe!
But bearing in mind Greece's love of bureaucracy if we were to compare Greece to a millipede due to its many many "feet" it is more like trying to put 999 feet in one shoe...
What it really means is I will put you in your place, I will make you do what you have to do...
And this is truly what the memorandum is. Mr Venizelos, our finance minister, rather candidly, and much to my amazement said at the beginning of his speech yesterday, that our European "partners" are essentially "neo-liberals" (why hide it?) and that they believe that neoliberalism has been a success in their respective countries. For this reason they wish to "show us the way" to apply neoliberalism in our country, in order for us to be successful too!
I read through the memorandum and I see quite a few proposals that would have been great for Greece (to a certain extent), if they had been applied years ago. But these measures NOW, when Greece has already suffered the failure of the first memorandum and lies stricken, in the deadly spiral of reccession, are not what we need.
We were "terrorised"by our finance minister and the Prime minister with the "terrible" specter of the return to the drachma. We were told that we will suffer the because there will be no money to pay wages, no money to import goods, no fuel (it is imported) no nothing. These are blatant lies. Yes we are sure that things will be difficult for a while, but I strongly believe that most Greeks would rather go through a difficult time chosen
by them and with a visible end in sight rather than have a series of pointless memorandums full of good but unapplicable ideas, imposed on them by the same bunch of lying hypocrites who got the country messed up in the first place. And what is worse there seems to be no end in sight. Not even the Prime Minister could bring himself to say with certainty that the deficit would be below a certain level by 2020! He had to make do with saying "probably"!
I'd like to share a funny thing that happened to me yesterday. I was getting ready to take part in the protest and was looking for my wet weather gear as it has been raining for days and the same was predicted for yesterday evening. I couldn't finf mu "new" grey waterproof pants and grabbed an "old" yellow salopette I found in the wardrobe. As I went to stick my phone in the pcket, this is what I found...
I 'm going to take it as a sign...
By now you understand that I am one of those who believe that Greece would be better off going back to the drachma. Or even better coming up with something new! and if it was coin made by the people for the people's benefit and banks were not inovolved that would be even better... But i'll try not to daydream too much.
for the kind of clever solutions I believe in I would ask you to read this amazing story.
But why are greeks protesting so much if the memorandum is so good for them? Why are they out in the streets shouting for the polticians to step down? I wish I could offer a simple answer. I could go for the easy answer and say they don't know, they are ignorant or naive and they think they can just shoo away the politicians and their european counterparts just like they would some bloodsucking mosquitoes. But this would not be true.
Greeks are a proud nation. Greeks believe in things fiercely. To watch a couple of Greek friends have even a mild argument, is an excercise in keeping your cool. The funny thing is when they shrug at the end pat each other strongly on the back and wander off, for an ouzo or wine to continue the "argument".
One of my favourite Greek values is that of "filotimo" It means to be a friend of honesty. essentially to be honest, to do the right thing. "Filotimo" has become slightly "lost". And those who have lost it completely are the politicians. With very few exceptions, all politicians are corrupt. The few exceptions are really those who find themselves permanently in the minority, and mind you we are only talking about the really small ones!! All the rest have at least a few skeletons in their closets... As they say in Greece, "the fish stinks from the head [down]" and certainly greek bureaucracy is corrupt too. But the big money has been taken by the politicians ad=nd theoligarchy of media moguls and construction giants behind them.
So these corrupt politicians who for years skimmed the "till" or rather just stuck their hands in as far as they can go are justified in draughting up, voting and applying laws and memorandums that will cut Greece's already low wages and pensions even more, while at the same time their wages and benefits remain unchanged?
No way! They must either lead by example or leave.
I'm going to wrap it up somewhere her, but intend to come back with a little "analysis" on the political factions and groups currently on the streets and a little info about how things work in the riots...
But I would like to finish with a phrase I borrowed from an article of Mr Baxevanis, an excellent greek reporter.
He refers to the fact that greeks allowed corruption to run rife and also stopped using their better judgement when it came to making the necessary decisions. The phrase plays on the fact the word "crisis" (a greek word of course) means both crisis but also judgment (and that is where the english get "critic" from)
He says:
Για να φτάσουμε στην κρίση, έπρεπε να χάσουμε την κρίση μας. Μήπως για να βγούμε πρέπει να την ξαναποκτήσουμε;
"To get to the crisis we had to lose our judgment. Maybe to get out of it we have to find it again?"
and a video of the riots in Thessaloniki where you can get taste of how the riot police work against a peaceful crowd...
I am way behind, but it has been a busy and eventful fall and winter...
Yesterday 199 Greek MPs voted in the 2nd austerity measures package which was a prerequisite in order for Greece to take advantage of the second bailout worth 130 billion (or, as some say has already been deemed necessary 145 billion!)
I am currently reading thorugh the memorandum. There is a lovely Greek expression that goes like this:
Θα σου βάλω τα δυό πόδια σε ένα παπούτσι!! which translates as I will put both of your feet in one shoe!
But bearing in mind Greece's love of bureaucracy if we were to compare Greece to a millipede due to its many many "feet" it is more like trying to put 999 feet in one shoe...
What it really means is I will put you in your place, I will make you do what you have to do...
And this is truly what the memorandum is. Mr Venizelos, our finance minister, rather candidly, and much to my amazement said at the beginning of his speech yesterday, that our European "partners" are essentially "neo-liberals" (why hide it?) and that they believe that neoliberalism has been a success in their respective countries. For this reason they wish to "show us the way" to apply neoliberalism in our country, in order for us to be successful too!
I read through the memorandum and I see quite a few proposals that would have been great for Greece (to a certain extent), if they had been applied years ago. But these measures NOW, when Greece has already suffered the failure of the first memorandum and lies stricken, in the deadly spiral of reccession, are not what we need.
We were "terrorised"by our finance minister and the Prime minister with the "terrible" specter of the return to the drachma. We were told that we will suffer the because there will be no money to pay wages, no money to import goods, no fuel (it is imported) no nothing. These are blatant lies. Yes we are sure that things will be difficult for a while, but I strongly believe that most Greeks would rather go through a difficult time chosen
by them and with a visible end in sight rather than have a series of pointless memorandums full of good but unapplicable ideas, imposed on them by the same bunch of lying hypocrites who got the country messed up in the first place. And what is worse there seems to be no end in sight. Not even the Prime Minister could bring himself to say with certainty that the deficit would be below a certain level by 2020! He had to make do with saying "probably"!
I'd like to share a funny thing that happened to me yesterday. I was getting ready to take part in the protest and was looking for my wet weather gear as it has been raining for days and the same was predicted for yesterday evening. I couldn't finf mu "new" grey waterproof pants and grabbed an "old" yellow salopette I found in the wardrobe. As I went to stick my phone in the pcket, this is what I found...
I 'm going to take it as a sign...
By now you understand that I am one of those who believe that Greece would be better off going back to the drachma. Or even better coming up with something new! and if it was coin made by the people for the people's benefit and banks were not inovolved that would be even better... But i'll try not to daydream too much.
for the kind of clever solutions I believe in I would ask you to read this amazing story.
But why are greeks protesting so much if the memorandum is so good for them? Why are they out in the streets shouting for the polticians to step down? I wish I could offer a simple answer. I could go for the easy answer and say they don't know, they are ignorant or naive and they think they can just shoo away the politicians and their european counterparts just like they would some bloodsucking mosquitoes. But this would not be true.
Greeks are a proud nation. Greeks believe in things fiercely. To watch a couple of Greek friends have even a mild argument, is an excercise in keeping your cool. The funny thing is when they shrug at the end pat each other strongly on the back and wander off, for an ouzo or wine to continue the "argument".
One of my favourite Greek values is that of "filotimo" It means to be a friend of honesty. essentially to be honest, to do the right thing. "Filotimo" has become slightly "lost". And those who have lost it completely are the politicians. With very few exceptions, all politicians are corrupt. The few exceptions are really those who find themselves permanently in the minority, and mind you we are only talking about the really small ones!! All the rest have at least a few skeletons in their closets... As they say in Greece, "the fish stinks from the head [down]" and certainly greek bureaucracy is corrupt too. But the big money has been taken by the politicians ad=nd theoligarchy of media moguls and construction giants behind them.
So these corrupt politicians who for years skimmed the "till" or rather just stuck their hands in as far as they can go are justified in draughting up, voting and applying laws and memorandums that will cut Greece's already low wages and pensions even more, while at the same time their wages and benefits remain unchanged?
No way! They must either lead by example or leave.
I'm going to wrap it up somewhere her, but intend to come back with a little "analysis" on the political factions and groups currently on the streets and a little info about how things work in the riots...
But I would like to finish with a phrase I borrowed from an article of Mr Baxevanis, an excellent greek reporter.
He refers to the fact that greeks allowed corruption to run rife and also stopped using their better judgement when it came to making the necessary decisions. The phrase plays on the fact the word "crisis" (a greek word of course) means both crisis but also judgment (and that is where the english get "critic" from)
He says:
Για να φτάσουμε στην κρίση, έπρεπε να χάσουμε την κρίση μας. Μήπως για να βγούμε πρέπει να την ξαναποκτήσουμε;
"To get to the crisis we had to lose our judgment. Maybe to get out of it we have to find it again?"
and a video of the riots in Thessaloniki where you can get taste of how the riot police work against a peaceful crowd...
Πέμπτη 13 Οκτωβρίου 2011
Idiots can fly!
As a child I was often called a "bookworm". And in a way I still am. A child or a bookworm? I'll let you decide... I used to read anything. I especially loved reading in that sanctuary of sanctuaries, the toilet... If I had no reading material, I would read the washing up powder boxes...
I was lucky in that our house was always full of books. The first novel I read was Jaws. I was 6 or 7 years old at the time. I haven't liked swimming over deep water or seaweed since...
One of the books that I found lying around the house was called "The story of Language"and was written by Mario Pei. Once I got over the, admittedly teenage, novelty of Mr Pei's surname (Pei means penises in Greek) I read the book. It was a revelation. I have since had a great fascination for language and words.
It was in this book where I first read about how words are alive. They live in our minds but also in our societies, they grow, they change, they sometimes even die... This happens in many different ways.
Being half Greek and living in Greece I have often had heated discussions with my full blooded Greek friends about the richness of the Greek language compared to others (especially English as that was my other half...) While I never doubted this, I could never fully concede that Greek was somehow above all other languages. A few years ago I started reading Bill Bryson and acquired many more insights into languages in general, but especially English (and American English...) English according to Mr. Bryson is one of the most bastardised languages in the world. It has begged, borrowed and stolen thousands of words from all over. And of course many of these borrowed words have come from Greek. A learned customer of mine and serious language buff, once told me over 250,000 english words are of Greek origin. This is something that happens. For example Greek has also borrowed many words from French. Many words to do with car parts are greek versions of French terms. Bougie (Μπουζί) for sparkplug, pare-brise (Παρμπριζ) for windscreen, embrayage (ντεμπραγιάζ) for clutch and many others.
Sometimes words are borrowed and their meanings are changed, usually over time. One of my favourites is the word "idiot". This word comes from the greek root ιδιώτ- as in the noun ιδιώτης or the verb ιδιωτεύω. In ancient Greece to be an ιδιώτης meant to be someone who only cares about himself and does not take part in social and political life. The Greeks could not imagine someone to be so lazy and not ot care less about being a part of the decision making processes that made up Greek Democracy, and the word came to imply that someone was stupid. And this is what idiot means in English.
Now back in Greece where the original word came form, Greeks have become idiots to such an extent that they have decided, over time, to take away this meaning of stupid from the word and to give it other meanings. So Ιδιώτης today can mean someone who has no professional skills but it's most common use is something like "private citizen". And the adjective ιδιωτικός, -ή, -ό means "private" (Funnily I have yet to find a word in greek that means privacy...)
I'll take this a step further. A major part of the Greek problem today is that we Greeks became such idiots that we allowed another bunch of better connected idiots to rule us and decide for us. Throughout our lives we have been sold the idea that we cannot change anything. That the system is as is and no action on our behalf can make a difference. And so the politicians partied. They threw some people some scraps like a government job position or some other political favour and kept us there, in the idiot phase...
The time has come though for Greeks to remember what being an idiot really means. And to denounce idiocy for what it really is. To refuse to allow others to decide for us. To refuse to be idiots anymore.
PS The change in mindset required is big. Many of us, glued to our screens and stuck to our sofas have one hell of a steep learning curve ahead of us. But change is happening. It is starting from small groups who are rediscovering the joy of community, the happiness of sharing a day's work, the elation of a job well done in company and the friendly smiles on faces who have been angry and sad for too long. I am happy to be a part of just such a small group...
Papapete Corfu 14/10/2011
I was lucky in that our house was always full of books. The first novel I read was Jaws. I was 6 or 7 years old at the time. I haven't liked swimming over deep water or seaweed since...
One of the books that I found lying around the house was called "The story of Language"and was written by Mario Pei. Once I got over the, admittedly teenage, novelty of Mr Pei's surname (Pei means penises in Greek) I read the book. It was a revelation. I have since had a great fascination for language and words.
It was in this book where I first read about how words are alive. They live in our minds but also in our societies, they grow, they change, they sometimes even die... This happens in many different ways.
Being half Greek and living in Greece I have often had heated discussions with my full blooded Greek friends about the richness of the Greek language compared to others (especially English as that was my other half...) While I never doubted this, I could never fully concede that Greek was somehow above all other languages. A few years ago I started reading Bill Bryson and acquired many more insights into languages in general, but especially English (and American English...) English according to Mr. Bryson is one of the most bastardised languages in the world. It has begged, borrowed and stolen thousands of words from all over. And of course many of these borrowed words have come from Greek. A learned customer of mine and serious language buff, once told me over 250,000 english words are of Greek origin. This is something that happens. For example Greek has also borrowed many words from French. Many words to do with car parts are greek versions of French terms. Bougie (Μπουζί) for sparkplug, pare-brise (Παρμπριζ) for windscreen, embrayage (ντεμπραγιάζ) for clutch and many others.
Sometimes words are borrowed and their meanings are changed, usually over time. One of my favourites is the word "idiot". This word comes from the greek root ιδιώτ- as in the noun ιδιώτης or the verb ιδιωτεύω. In ancient Greece to be an ιδιώτης meant to be someone who only cares about himself and does not take part in social and political life. The Greeks could not imagine someone to be so lazy and not ot care less about being a part of the decision making processes that made up Greek Democracy, and the word came to imply that someone was stupid. And this is what idiot means in English.
Now back in Greece where the original word came form, Greeks have become idiots to such an extent that they have decided, over time, to take away this meaning of stupid from the word and to give it other meanings. So Ιδιώτης today can mean someone who has no professional skills but it's most common use is something like "private citizen". And the adjective ιδιωτικός, -ή, -ό means "private" (Funnily I have yet to find a word in greek that means privacy...)
I'll take this a step further. A major part of the Greek problem today is that we Greeks became such idiots that we allowed another bunch of better connected idiots to rule us and decide for us. Throughout our lives we have been sold the idea that we cannot change anything. That the system is as is and no action on our behalf can make a difference. And so the politicians partied. They threw some people some scraps like a government job position or some other political favour and kept us there, in the idiot phase...
The time has come though for Greeks to remember what being an idiot really means. And to denounce idiocy for what it really is. To refuse to allow others to decide for us. To refuse to be idiots anymore.
PS The change in mindset required is big. Many of us, glued to our screens and stuck to our sofas have one hell of a steep learning curve ahead of us. But change is happening. It is starting from small groups who are rediscovering the joy of community, the happiness of sharing a day's work, the elation of a job well done in company and the friendly smiles on faces who have been angry and sad for too long. I am happy to be a part of just such a small group...
Papapete Corfu 14/10/2011
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| The Boutsouni Social Solidarity Network |
Κυριακή 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2011
Greece, Greeks and the "Greek Problem"
I started this blog in an effort to provide another view, an inside view, let's say, of life in Greece etc. I have been rather relaxed in my postings, but as things seem to be coming to a head and the picture being painted of Greece and the Greeks by the foreign media, becomes increasingly darker and bleaker, I feel it is my duty to try and do something about it...
A few days ago I read a rather good article by a Swedish journalist, Kajsa Ekis Ekman. Here is the link to it for those who wish to read it: When the Euro-suit doesn't fit
The article is very good, (the translation is a bit off, though) and I agree with almost everything she writes. what I thought I would do is to take a few of the points she makes and expound upon them, thus adding some extra insights.
But first a look at the current situation. Greece is, to all intents and purposes, bankrupt. The government has announced that there is barely enough money to last until October and then they will be forced to stop paying wages and pensions. The 6th installment of the original, first, aid loan from the EU, is being stalled, due to the fact that Greece's austerity measures and financial plan are not going according to plan. At the beggining of September, the troika (whose inspections decide the fate of each loan installment) arrived for it's quarterly inspection, only to leave very quickly for unknown reasons. The troika officially announced that they had left in order to give Greece a little time to implement the measures, but the word on the grapevine is that they immediately saw the government had done almost nothing and left in disgust... The latest news is they don't know when they will return, and the decision on the 6th installment is postponed until sometime in October.
PM Papandreou has cancelled a trip to the US, to return to Greece and try and sort things out. Finance minister Mr. Venizelos, has announced a new tax on property, to be collected via the electricity bills. I personally think this tax will be their undoing... Just like the poll tax was the undoing of Mrs Thatcher's government... especially as the same man, Mr Venizelos stated in June that electricity is a basic need and not a means to leverage taxes on and out of the people...
In Ms Ekman's article she says "I don't think that I 've ever been to a country where everybody, everybody I meet, agrees"... Well I'm not sure that is exactly true. But certainly what I am hearing about this new tax is that probably most people agree it is unfair and shouldn't be paid. In an impressive show of solidarity the electricity company workers syndicate (GENOP-DEH) has announced that it will not allow the tax to be added to the bills, it will not allow any electricity cut-off orders to be issued and it will not allow anyone to go without electricity for not paying the tax. Finally Greeks seem to be getting the message that unless they do something all together there will be no change...
But are Greeks really waking up to reality? You could be mistaken to think not, if you took a nightly stroll along the Liston, where people continue to sit around drinking expensive coffee and the young sit around playing with their expensive smartphones...
In May 2011, the spanish Indignados, put up a sign in the Puerta del Sol square which read: "Be quiet, we might wake up the Greeks". This was taken up by a number of Greeks, initially in Athens and very quickly in other Greek towns and squares and became what is known as Aganaktismenoi . Amongst the other aganaktismenes towns of Greece was also our very own Corfu. The Corfiot Aganaktismenoi have been there right from the start, and were responsible in part for the eruption in anti-politician and anti-MP behaviour and protests all over Greece. On the 1st of June, they protested a number of Greek and foreign MPs in the Old Fortress which resulted in them leaving via kaiki from the sailing club, in order to avoid confrontation!
The protests in the squares continued and went from strength to strength. On one Sunday some calculated their numbers were over 300.000 and possibly even half a million! On the 15th of June they attempted to blockade the parliament. On that day PM Papandreou played yet another game on his people. He initially came out with an announcement that he was calling for a coalition governmet, an act which led everyone to think he was essentially resigning, and Greeks breathed a collective sigh of relief... Hours later he stated that the opposition was not being willing, so he would continue as is on his own... (Certainly without any consent from us anyway...) Many people now think this was a trick to allow the pressure to be relieved and people to go back to their sofas...
A trick to also buy them some time. But why? Why not just default and get it over and done with? Many people think ithe reason behind this is that this will allow European banks and institutions to lessen their exposure to Greek debt and cushion the fall. The problem is that the majority of Greek people are on the receiving end of all the measures, when it definitely was not the majority who took advantage of all the loans and grants sent Greece's way in the past years... VP Mr. Pangalos, famously came out and said "Ta fagame mazi" (we partied together loosely translated) but I can tell you many people were never invited to this party and they are now being asked to foot the bill...
At the end of June specifically the 28th and 29th the mid term austerity package was being voted in. It was decided that everyone who could, should go to Athens and be there to protest.. A small number of Corfiot Aganaktismenoi went too. I was among them. Our experience there shall be the material for another post. For now I 'll concentrate on the current timeline. During July and August the protester numbers waned. The heat, the summer holidays, but also the continuous threat of police violence and chemical attacks conspired to keep people away from the squares. Of course the groups continued, as they have from the beggining, to voice opinions and keep contact on the internet and social media,. and a small number of them continued to populate the squares... As the last days of August melted away in the heat, a call was made to bring people back to the square. Some, but not many, have answered it. Yet if you walk the streets and listen in on the kafeneio, you can hear the desperation. A friend of mine who works in a very specialised part of the IT industry, just told me that all of their future projects (mainly to do with banks etc) have just been put on hold indefinitely. The latest austerity measures, new taxes, a new law allowing the government to lay off 10% of its workers (within the next month), the news that potentially the greek deficit was made to look bigger (!) than it actually was to push the situation and the fact that the government somehow still managed to take on an extra 25000 workers in 2010, have pushed the greek population to the edge. The next few days could see some catalytic events...
To be cont'd...
A few days ago I read a rather good article by a Swedish journalist, Kajsa Ekis Ekman. Here is the link to it for those who wish to read it: When the Euro-suit doesn't fit
The article is very good, (the translation is a bit off, though) and I agree with almost everything she writes. what I thought I would do is to take a few of the points she makes and expound upon them, thus adding some extra insights.
But first a look at the current situation. Greece is, to all intents and purposes, bankrupt. The government has announced that there is barely enough money to last until October and then they will be forced to stop paying wages and pensions. The 6th installment of the original, first, aid loan from the EU, is being stalled, due to the fact that Greece's austerity measures and financial plan are not going according to plan. At the beggining of September, the troika (whose inspections decide the fate of each loan installment) arrived for it's quarterly inspection, only to leave very quickly for unknown reasons. The troika officially announced that they had left in order to give Greece a little time to implement the measures, but the word on the grapevine is that they immediately saw the government had done almost nothing and left in disgust... The latest news is they don't know when they will return, and the decision on the 6th installment is postponed until sometime in October.
PM Papandreou has cancelled a trip to the US, to return to Greece and try and sort things out. Finance minister Mr. Venizelos, has announced a new tax on property, to be collected via the electricity bills. I personally think this tax will be their undoing... Just like the poll tax was the undoing of Mrs Thatcher's government... especially as the same man, Mr Venizelos stated in June that electricity is a basic need and not a means to leverage taxes on and out of the people...
In Ms Ekman's article she says "I don't think that I 've ever been to a country where everybody, everybody I meet, agrees"... Well I'm not sure that is exactly true. But certainly what I am hearing about this new tax is that probably most people agree it is unfair and shouldn't be paid. In an impressive show of solidarity the electricity company workers syndicate (GENOP-DEH) has announced that it will not allow the tax to be added to the bills, it will not allow any electricity cut-off orders to be issued and it will not allow anyone to go without electricity for not paying the tax. Finally Greeks seem to be getting the message that unless they do something all together there will be no change...
But are Greeks really waking up to reality? You could be mistaken to think not, if you took a nightly stroll along the Liston, where people continue to sit around drinking expensive coffee and the young sit around playing with their expensive smartphones...
In May 2011, the spanish Indignados, put up a sign in the Puerta del Sol square which read: "Be quiet, we might wake up the Greeks". This was taken up by a number of Greeks, initially in Athens and very quickly in other Greek towns and squares and became what is known as Aganaktismenoi . Amongst the other aganaktismenes towns of Greece was also our very own Corfu. The Corfiot Aganaktismenoi have been there right from the start, and were responsible in part for the eruption in anti-politician and anti-MP behaviour and protests all over Greece. On the 1st of June, they protested a number of Greek and foreign MPs in the Old Fortress which resulted in them leaving via kaiki from the sailing club, in order to avoid confrontation!
The protests in the squares continued and went from strength to strength. On one Sunday some calculated their numbers were over 300.000 and possibly even half a million! On the 15th of June they attempted to blockade the parliament. On that day PM Papandreou played yet another game on his people. He initially came out with an announcement that he was calling for a coalition governmet, an act which led everyone to think he was essentially resigning, and Greeks breathed a collective sigh of relief... Hours later he stated that the opposition was not being willing, so he would continue as is on his own... (Certainly without any consent from us anyway...) Many people now think this was a trick to allow the pressure to be relieved and people to go back to their sofas...
A trick to also buy them some time. But why? Why not just default and get it over and done with? Many people think ithe reason behind this is that this will allow European banks and institutions to lessen their exposure to Greek debt and cushion the fall. The problem is that the majority of Greek people are on the receiving end of all the measures, when it definitely was not the majority who took advantage of all the loans and grants sent Greece's way in the past years... VP Mr. Pangalos, famously came out and said "Ta fagame mazi" (we partied together loosely translated) but I can tell you many people were never invited to this party and they are now being asked to foot the bill...
At the end of June specifically the 28th and 29th the mid term austerity package was being voted in. It was decided that everyone who could, should go to Athens and be there to protest.. A small number of Corfiot Aganaktismenoi went too. I was among them. Our experience there shall be the material for another post. For now I 'll concentrate on the current timeline. During July and August the protester numbers waned. The heat, the summer holidays, but also the continuous threat of police violence and chemical attacks conspired to keep people away from the squares. Of course the groups continued, as they have from the beggining, to voice opinions and keep contact on the internet and social media,. and a small number of them continued to populate the squares... As the last days of August melted away in the heat, a call was made to bring people back to the square. Some, but not many, have answered it. Yet if you walk the streets and listen in on the kafeneio, you can hear the desperation. A friend of mine who works in a very specialised part of the IT industry, just told me that all of their future projects (mainly to do with banks etc) have just been put on hold indefinitely. The latest austerity measures, new taxes, a new law allowing the government to lay off 10% of its workers (within the next month), the news that potentially the greek deficit was made to look bigger (!) than it actually was to push the situation and the fact that the government somehow still managed to take on an extra 25000 workers in 2010, have pushed the greek population to the edge. The next few days could see some catalytic events...
To be cont'd...
Σάββατο 17 Σεπτεμβρίου 2011
Yet another blog by Papapete!
Hello again,
I am starting this particular blog, because I felt a need to better communicate my views of the situation in Greece with all my non-Greek speaking friends. Talking with many of you in the past few months, I have realised that many, even though they live here, still do not realise the extent of craziness in the Greek system and situation, and often do not have access to the wealth of obscure, or not so obscure, information which would help to appreciate it. I'm not saying that i know better or more, but another view is another view...
So I am going to try and keep you up to date with what is going on. Or at least what I think is going on...!!
I've been wondering what to start with, and initially wanted to get into the suject of the wages of public servants in Greece, however I decided to leave that one for a coming entry.
(The above was written almost a year ago, and never posted. In an effort to restart my attempt to give some insight to the Greek situation, I'm posting as is...)
I am starting this particular blog, because I felt a need to better communicate my views of the situation in Greece with all my non-Greek speaking friends. Talking with many of you in the past few months, I have realised that many, even though they live here, still do not realise the extent of craziness in the Greek system and situation, and often do not have access to the wealth of obscure, or not so obscure, information which would help to appreciate it. I'm not saying that i know better or more, but another view is another view...
So I am going to try and keep you up to date with what is going on. Or at least what I think is going on...!!
I've been wondering what to start with, and initially wanted to get into the suject of the wages of public servants in Greece, however I decided to leave that one for a coming entry.
(The above was written almost a year ago, and never posted. In an effort to restart my attempt to give some insight to the Greek situation, I'm posting as is...)
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