The image of summertime Greece has been shattered with the developments in my country. The economic crisis has bought on a new shame to my homeland. "The true Greek spirit left Greece many years ago with the diaspora," says a diaspora Greek, reminding us of the old-fashioned notion that diaspora Greeks have of their mother country - that she should not change, that she should be the same country she was when they left (the last large immigration wave - before the present one - was in the 60s-70s), that Greek society's evolution into a more demanding and less ignorant one somehow does not match their image of Greece, that Greece should show a more stoical acceptance of her suffering, and once again become the 'filipina' of the modern world. Worse still, even the ξένοι have realised that Greek people aren't who they used to be: "It’s crazy; Greece is the only country in the world where Greeks don’t behave like Greeks. Their welfare state, financed by Euro-oil, has bred it out of them," says Thomas Friedman. The crisis signals an end to old Greece, and the start of a new one. But where are all the good Greek people? Gone to greener pastures, Paul Whitefield says: "... all the hardworking, frugal, responsible Greeks left and came to America," he tells us. Cry, the beloved country!Greece has changed - or has she? The following photographs were all taken yesterday or in the previous week.
Some things are timeless...
... because some things can't change.
It's not only Greek Greeks that have changed; the diaspora is different too.
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When Thomas Friedman wrote about the Greek welfare state, financed by Euro-oil, I wonder if he really had any idea of the reality?
ReplyDeleteThrough no fault of his own, my husband has been out of work for over a year and so is therefore is no longer entitled to any unemployment payment (despite the fact that they delayed starting to pay him when he first signed on before there simply wasn't any money). He'd better be careful not to get sick, cos he no longer has full medical coverage.
Articles like Friedman's give a very false impression of the reality of Greece for thousands of ordinary people.
There is absolutely no comparison between what the Greek state provides through its paltry welfare state with what folk in northern Europe take for granted. And as for the possibility of getting help for stress-induced depression, well forget it.
It almost feels like Greece is being punished for being so presumptious as to try to break out from the picturesquely backwards image of the country that some prefer.
foreigners who write about greece from the comfort of their hi-tech homes dont speak our language, dont know our culture and have never lived in greece - and that goes for a great part of the present greek diaspora
ReplyDeleteThe scent of Greece. I remember it so well. Reading your blog helps me maintain that memory - not just with the images you post but your descriptions of food, and Crete, and ..... everything in between.
ReplyDeleteThank you Maria.
-Debbie (NYC)
p.s. In New Yawk parlance Tom Friedman is an Ahole!
Thank you for always reminding me of Greece,Maria,especially in the summer when I tend to miss being there most...Everytime I visit your blog I think I'm there,even for a little while..Thank you for the book again,I posted the Semolina Halva on Monday,XO
ReplyDeleteLook up in my dictionary to find how the word αλλοτριωση is translated inτο english. I found: transference, estrangement, alienation. I really don't know which word is best for the Babiniotis definition: η αισθηση της αποξενωσης του ανθρωπου απο τον εαυτο του και τον κοσμο που τον περιβαλλει, η απωλεια στοιχειων τηε προσωπικοτητας του, με αποτελεσμα να καταληγει ξενος η κατωτερος ως προς αυτο που ηταν.
ReplyDelete"some things are timeless ... because some things can't change" and it's these things that still hold us together somehow, in order to find our way to the future. At least that's what I hope for!
Thank you Maria!