Who said Greece is “washed-up”? New tragedies Produced

Erik Edman

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Greece might not be receiving the best treatment from its European partners, but it remains a European country.

(picture from: theglobeandmail)

A Greek “Tragodia”

The Ancient Greek civilization, some 2500 years ago, gave birth and meaning to the word “tragedy”. It was a genre of theatre in which a fundamentally good –but far from perfect– tragic hero would make a mistake or hubris, resulting in different types of calamities meant to punish him for his shortcomings. These calamities where collectively known as the pathos of the protagonist, made worse in the peripeteia, during which the events take a turn for the worse and within that dire moment of despair, all seems lost.

Anyone who has been following even the most basic developments of the Greek economic crisis will be able to draw a number of parallels between an Ancient Greek tragedy and its modern counterpart. The details of this story are known all too well. With an astronomical public debt, a corrupt administration, a soaring unemployment rate and with civil unrest as a common phenomenon, Greece is definitely the most volatile corner of the European Union. Young people in Greece face a 51.5% unemployment rate as opposed to a 22.2% in the UK and an impressive 7.8% in Germany. Europe might be saving Greece as a political entity –although even that is questionable- but it is leaving it bereft of life.

Some may ask: “What is Europe meant to do? It simply wishes to ensure that its investment is not laid to waste.” I can sympathise with that. What I refuse to endorse is the way Europe is going about doing this. It is so easy seeing Greece as a collection of graphs, spread sheets and numbers when sitting in an office in Berlin, an office not smelling of teargas and with no daily protests to interrupt the rhythmical, hypnotising clicking of the calculator.

Greek “Mythoi”

The austerity measures have started to take their toll: the number of homeless in Greece’s capital, Athens, has risen to 20,000. Graffiti reads: “Let us not live like slaves”. (picture from: The Guardian)

But Greece exists outside those numbers. It lies in the South-Eastern corner of Europe and it is taking a good beating, like it has done so many times in the past. Hardships are not new to the Greek people, some of whom still remember the German occupation, the Civil War that followed, and the military dictatorship of the 1970s. It is important to dispel the myths of sloth that surrounds Greeks today. It is disturbing that anyone would consider these as truthful. The European continent was witness to one of the most monstrous vilifications of a single people the world has ever seen. One would have thought that it would know better.

What Greece needs is to regain its political trustworthiness and legitimacy, not only with its international partners, but also at home. Until the Greeks can feel that they can trust their politicians, the unrest will not end and the country will stay in turmoil. The state needs to create new institutions, replace outdated legislation and implement the changes it has promised not just on the easy targets, such as the poor, the retired and the jobless, but also the rich and powerful. Greece needs a strong government; a government that will put the national interest above political interests.

Europe is desperately trying to keep Greece afloat and in doing so, it is damaging its people. Greece as a political entity is a fumbling, imperfect thing which does not resemble a modern democracy in a number of key ways. It had to fall and give rise to a new country; refreshed and born out of the mistakes of the old one. Instead, Europe has kept alive a gravelly ill patient, not because it cares for the Greeks but because it cares about the euro. A cure might be found in the long term but until then, the patient will have to suffer.

A discontent Greek outside the House of Parliament holding a sign that reads: “Punishment Awaits You at the Elections”. The Greek public has lost all hope in its political representatives. (picture from: keeptalkinggreece)

The Way towards a Greek “Katharsis” and the UK’s part in it

In Greek tragedies, following the peripeteia, the road is open for the protagonist’s katharsis which leads to atonement. Sadly, Ancient Greeks were huge fans of drama, and atonement did not necessarily mean “happily ever after”. In this modern production, the happy ending might depend on the secondary characters.

The UK is currently firmly undecided concerning its role. Germany is happy with the UK taking an observer’s position in this crisis and the UK seems, in return, happy to oblige. But there are plenty of reasons why it should speak up.

The first and most obvious reason for the UK to act is moral. The Greek people are being forced to live in conditions where no human being could live. The new debt-swap deal might save the country as an institution from bankruptcy –for now– but it does little for its citizens. When one attempts to save an addict, they take upon them the responsibility to do so in a way gradual enough not to kill them. Brussels and Berlin have simply pulled the plug. London should recognise this and oppose it.

The second reason is economic. A healthy and steady Greece could only benefit the UK. Although outside the Eurozone, the UK is still part of the European Union and therefore part of a single market which provides free movement of people, goods, services, and capital within member states. As such, it is in Britain’s interest to involve itself in the proceedings. The Greek people need to have some kind of market power in order for their economy to stand back on its feet. But when the citizens have no money to spend, there is nothing to get the economy moving again. This is disastrous for the euro, which hopes for a Greek recovery. Any blow to Europe’s economy, the UK’s biggest trading partner, would have huge negative side-effects on the country’s economic strength and stability. The UK is not beyond economic reproach, as the recent warning from Moody’s to downgrade the country’s triple-A status proves.

Europe also owes Greece a cultural debt. Greece is one of the main pillars of European civilization, a fact that Europeans of the Enlightenment were keenly aware of when they came to Greece to fight and, as in the case of Lord Byron, die in the revolutionary war against the Ottoman Turks. However deep in economics Europe decides to bury itself, no matter how much it loses itself in accounting, it will never be able to escape its past; a past which is inescapably intertwined with Greece’s. The idea of the Union turning its back to the country that shaped the thought of the continent so profoundly is unthinkable.

Greece in “Europi”

Greece belongs in Europe. It is a European nation, with European ideals, beliefs and culture. Most European languages can find within them the profound influence Greek culture and ideas have had on the continent’s development. What the nation needs is fair treatment from its European partners. It does not require saviours, but it does need supporters; nations that will encourage investment in the country in order to commence a much needed growth period.

It is interesting to note that many Greeks, and especially the younger generations, continue to feel part of Europe and welcome a European future for Greece. They were taught to appreciate money with the drachma but they have learnt to use it with the euro. They have seen the merits of a united Europe and it would be a shame to ruin their dreams and replace them with hatred through this unreasonable EU treatment.

With the Olympics Games quickly approaching and the Parthenon Marbles still safely on display in the British Museum, the UK should take a step back and remind itself that Greece is everywhere. It is in the language we speak, the thoughts we think and the economy we worry about. One needs not be a social activist to accept the fact that Greece is too big a part of us to be left to ruin.