2023 a decisive year
Two hundred years after the start of the Greek Revolution and 100 since the Asia Minor Catastrophe, daily we deal with our virtues and our weaknesses, always one step away from triumph or disaster. Coming to the New Year, I would like to number achievements from the remote and recent past, to recall the Greeks’ resilience and resourcefulness, to note the potential for a bright future. Our country is, after all, a member of powerful economic, political and military alliances. Greeks excel across the world. More and more visitors are swayed by the beauty of our land and our culture, by our hospitality and the relationships that they strike with Greeks. Coming out of a long crisis, we were never in a stronger position than we are today.
And yet, all of these positives are threatened by circumstances and by our own, timeless bad habits. Our planet has hit multidimensional turbulence, from the climate crisis, the pandemic and conflicts over wealth and influence, to the undermining of truth in politics, diplomacy and social media. Unprecedented challenges demand all our strength and sharp focus on the target of survival. But despite the lessons of the past, we are forever in search of triggers for division. Despite our demographic decline, not only do we not attract immigrants but we cannot keep our own young here. The problem is not chiefly economic – it is the sense of injustice that reigns, the lack of trust in institutions which is regularly justified by events. It is the political tradition in which friends benefit while rivals are wiped out, at the cost of unity and effectiveness. We waste our resources and the interest of our allies, to the benefit of our rivals.
When we cannot get serious in the face of clear danger, when personal and party ambitions lead politicians into trade-offs with powerful interests, into arbitrary action and into pandering to voter groups at the expense of the whole, then our virtues are not enough, the future of all is undermined.
The elections of 2023 will show whether our politicians grasp the magnitude of the threats we face and whether they can speak frankly to the people. At the end of the year we will know whether any optimism is justified.
