The enemy is us

Sometimes a Greek of the diaspora, astatine slightest this one, looks astatine his state of commencement and despairs. While Greece has made galore strides since the reestablishment of ideology successful 1974 we are reminded often that successful galore ways we still unrecorded successful the 1840s when corruption was “officially” established by the then premier curate Ioannis Kolettis.

In 1981 (shortly aft I near Greece for the US) the socialist enactment PASOK, under Andreas Papandreou won the elections with a mandate to bring astir change. PASOK did strive to bring astir economical benefits for the little strata of Greek society, and it had galore successes. Unfortunately, arsenic clip went by it became wide that the enactment did not destruct the way the authorities dispensed favors to its voters. In 1996 PASOK had a caller leader, Costas Simitis, who promised modernization. That helium did but astatine the aforesaid clip nationalist corruption continued and successful some cases adjacent reached caller heights.

In 2015 the left-wing SYRIZA enactment won the elections and the caller PM, Alexis Tsipras, brought galore caller radical into the government; they were, similar him, untouched by the sins of the old-style politicians but astatine the extremity of the time they too attempted to seizure the state apparatus for their benefit.

Since 2019, the center-right New Democracy enactment under Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been successful power. It won different predetermination successful 2023, and polls amusement them up successful the adjacent predetermination scheduled for 2027. Mitsotakis appeared connected the governmental country arsenic a antheral looking for change. To beryllium sure helium comes from a household with a agelong tradition successful Greek politics, but helium attracted affirmative comments with his low-key attack to his job, his honesty, and his competency. The ND authorities met some superior challenges and conducted itself well. An effort by Turkey to nonstop thousands of migrants to Greece was checked successful 2020, and the Covid menace was dealt arsenic well arsenic 1 could expect. The defence of the state received a boost and its planetary illustration accrued during the existent Israel/US-Iran war. But present the enactment is astir to snatch decision from the jaws of victory. 

Sometime agone European Union authorities uncovered a vast lawsuit of corruption. The Greek enactment charged with distributing subsidies to agriculture did so by giving wealth to farmers with thousands of fictitious olive trees and tens of thousands of nonexistent sheep. The ungraded was connected the backmost burner for a while but caller accusations by EU authorities against much than a twelve New Democracy members of Parliament and ministers brought caller attraction to the issue.

I am, erstwhile again, disappointed successful Greece’s leadership. Time and again politicians proclaim their determination to change, modernity, amended authorities and clip and again they fail. Maybe then it is not conscionable the politicians who are to blame. Socialists, left-wing, center-right, they each succumb to corruption and the clientelist quality of Greek politics. At the extremity of the day, it is us, Greek citizens, who want our enactment to intervene and present favors we don’t person a close to expect. Maybe the Greek governmental system has not changed since the 1840s due to the fact that Greek society has not changed. To paraphrase a well-known remark by Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the existent person of the Communist Party of Greece, “This is who we are.”

John Mazis is simply a prof of past astatine Hamline University successful Saint Paul, Minnesota.