Friday, June 3, 2011

The Greeks are fully awake!

 Being away from home at such hard times I cannot but be overwhelmed by mixed, conflicting feelings: relief and compassion despair and hope.

When you are away, you distance yourself from the problems but you also run the risk of either exaggerating or undervaluing them.

I used to wonder how much longer the people in Greece were going to put up with the depreciation of their self-dignity along with the decline of the level of their welfare. I used to, because I don’t have to wonder anymore. Watching all those who gather at the Constitution Square every night, thousands of “indignant” Greeks, I feel proud.

Eventually we have decided to demonstrate that Greece is not represented by the politicians, by the people who feathered their own nests and fled.

The core of the Greek spirit can be found there, in the squares of the Greek cities, the towns and villages where the public assembly (the teenagers and the elderly, the immigrants and the natives, the poor and the poorer) looks for radical changes. Feeling the strong need to join them, I use this blog to let them know

I too am an indignant Greek.

I want them to know that I’m fed up with all the accusations fired at me, the Greek citizen, by our “European friends” that I’m lazy and overpaid or I spend too much time on holidays.

How can I let them know that I am one of the thousands of hard-working state school teachers who receive the absurd salary of 1200 Euros after 19 years of service, with a totally self-funded Msc completed a few years ago, when I was raising my two children. What if I still work hard trying to be a better teacher and hope to finish a PhD in the following years? (self-funded too, although I’m not sure I will be able to afford it in the years to come). How hopeless does this sound today? What difference is this going to make to my life when all those young people who are looking forward to start their careers with postgraduate degrees and impressive qualifications are working for just 500 Euros per month?

I know I’m not alone. We are too many. And you know what? We didn’t protest so so far because we struggled for the best. Because we were looking for a better future for our children. Now we need to explain to them why we’re taking that future away from them; why they will have to put up with the degrading comments and accusations coming from our so called “friends”; why they will have to migrate to find a job.

Or should I just tell them that we, “the indignant”, are
powerful?

Dignity consists not in possessing honours, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.”

Aristotle

Greek critic, philosopher, physicist, & zoologist (384 BC - 322 BC)









3 comments:

  1. It is true that it took us a very long time but now we understand that we can take more. It seems that something has really changed.

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  2. I'm not sure about all the references made in you article, but it has spurred me to educate myself. I want to know what you are talking about! We are so insular over here in the U.S., we don't delve into world politics nearly enough.

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  3. Hi,
    Thanks for stopping by, but above all thank you for being interested in what is going on in Greece right now. Check out the new post.

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