The only response to abuses of power
The dialogue that took place between Lefteris Avgenakis, a minister until recently and a long-serving MP, and the employee of an airline company at Athens International Airport matters, chiefly as a piece of evidence, as the case takes the legal and judicial route. But even without the audio, the video of the incident contains all the elements that make every form of flaunting power so abhorrent – apart from everything else.
Politicians, journalists and “somebodies” from all sorts of backgrounds often act as if they have some kind of free pass to do what they like, a first-class ride through life. And this sense of entitlement makes them believe that they have the right to ignore or override anything that puts them among the hoi polloi. Such arbitrary behavior has become almost a custom for some of these poo-bahs because it is usually effective: Rules are made for other people, not those crowned with titles and recognition. Alas to all those anonymous folk who don’t have friends or relatives in high places, or who do but never thought to exploit those connections.
The issue at hand, however, is not all these sundry self-important bullies and how the political system has a duty to expel them; the issue is also the people they come up against; the airport employee, the traffic police officer and anyone else who has a job to do and for whom that entails enforcing certain simple rules. Here in Greece, we seem to have an abundance of the former and a dearth of the latter. But it is the latter that need to be bolstered by the system, protected and strengthened in numbers. Like the airline company that has shown support for the 25-year-old employee who was assaulted, the system needs to have its workers’ backs. A police officer cannot be scared of being transferred to the fringes of Greece if they issue a speeding ticket to the “wrong” person.
The “Do you know who I am?” attitude cannot be eradicated overnight because such narcissistic delusions of power tend to run deep. What is important is for society to respond to every abuse of power, wherever it comes from. Because truth be told, such abuses are found in many other walks of life, such as among uniformed officers and doctors.
This is why every single person who sticks to the rules and ensures that others do too is an essential paradigm and the most effective barrier to abuses big and small. Sticking to the rules is the only reaction to such behavior.
