American Creativist, Living in Greece
Features
Political Drama
(I hoped to get away from politics for a while…I was actually even ignoring the national elections yesterday here in Greece…so this post is not intended to express a political view, but rather an observation of human behavior.)
Today, the morning after election day in Greece, I went downstairs to pick up Anna for our prearranged walk to the bank. She was going to exchange my American currency for Euros…not an uplifting event considering the state of our dollar…but I needed to pay rent.
When I arrived…she was watching the news solemnly, and informed me that she was “very sad today.”
“The Socialists win,” she says, “very bad for Greece.” I couldn’t believe that I had come all the way to Left Wing Europe and I am renting from a Right Winger! I was so happy inside, but couldn’t show it as Anna was explaining the sadness she felt. Then, hearing her concern for her country reminded me of how I felt after the last American election…
As we turned out the door and down Varvaras towards Eurobank, Anna continued to explain Greek politics to me. She tells me that Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis has been in power for ten years, and has been attempting to fix what the socialist party before him had done.
As we walk, she tells me that, “they didn’t do what they say, they take the money for the roads and the airport and they eat it, they don’t make anything.”
Apparently when Mr. Karamanlis came to power he vowed to repair what the previous administration had done, and since, the Greeks have a new airport, Metro, and many new roads, but the people did not agree with, or understand his tactics.
Anna says that the Greek people, “don’t see,” and “don’t know anything,” and “vote like animals.” What she was trying to tell me was that many Greeks are uneducated about the issues and vote emotionally, and unprepared…
…I tell her that this reminds me of America…and she says to that me that at least in America, Obama will be gone in four years…or perhaps eight…but the Greeks are stuck with the Socialists, lead by George Papandreou, for many years to come. She fears they will ruin everything.
…This was sounding more familliar to me all the time…and the parallels between Greek and Amercian political drama were becoming clear…
The policies urged by both American conservatives and Greek conservatives are similar…as are those between the two Democratic parties…but there is more…whether Left, or Right, we all believe we are cleaning up someone else’s mess, and the majority of voters choose with their hearts, and not their heads, and when we don’t get the “man” we want in office we think the world will go to pot.
I have said many times recently that I was coming to Greece to get away from such conversations…and this today reminded me of why…but also warmed me to know that no matter where your are born, what language you speak, or what side of the spectrum you are on…we are all the same when it comes down to the drama and frustration of politics.
Love, Rach
Actually, Karamanlis has been in power since 2004. After his party was re-elected in 2007 they were involved in a seemingly endless series of corruption and influence peddling scandals. But I guess the riots in December and the fires last month were the straws that broke the camel’s back.
Yes, that was what the paper reported. That the people of Greece were getting tired of inaction regarding the fires…and there was a mention of the scandals. Was his party in power prior to 2004? Maybe that is what she was referring to???
Yes, politics can leave us all feeling crazed, conflicted and betrayed, that’s why we have sports. Tonight Brett Favre became the first quarterback to defeat all 32 NFL teams when the Vikings beat the Packers. Let’s see crazed, check…conflicted, check… betrayed, check, okay, back to politics.
And when we get tired of politics and football, we have David Letterman who has been having sex with his employees for years, and a CBS producer of “48 Hours”, David Halderman who told Letterman to pay up $2 million dollars or he was going to tell all in an original screen play. The New York Times is referring to it as sexploitation.
Halderman has been indicted, and Letterman’s ratings are higher than ever!
haha! I guess we humans find the drama where ever we can!