Living in the past
Greek politics is not just revisiting the past; it’s living in a bygone world. You cannot cure old-school political mentalities and pettiness with spin alone, try as you might. Look at New Democracy, for example: It chose to throw a street party rather than a formal function with names on the seats to celebrate its 50th anniversary, yet the talk, right up to the last minute, was all about whether two former party leaders and prime ministers would turn up.
PASOK, for its part, has elections for a new leader on Sunday. All six candidates adequately presented their respective positions in a televised debate and at pre-election rallies, smiling hard, shaking a lot of hands and exchanging friendly fire and gentle jabs instead of taking a firm stand.
SYRIZA is disintegrating into a toxic pool of infighting and introspection. Stefanos Kasselakis, the unknown from America, tried to give the leftist party a worldly air when he swept in. In a recent campaign video ahead of the leadership race in that party, however, he succumbs to almost every cliche in the book. “I am Stefanos. Just Stefanos,” he states. “We are born as humans, not as officials,” he says. Looking us directly in the eye, he even apologizes to his supporters for letting them down. It’s a video by a young man, yet it embraces the discredited symbols of the past. He talks about a “reborn, untarnished and incorruptible party of the modern left,” basically echoing the moral grandstanding of his predecessor.
SYRIZA and PASOK have their own paths and aspirations, but they also share the goal of being elected into government so as “to close the current political cycle,” which “devalues human life.” They may not use the exact same words, but their meaning is the same.
In the meantime, the world, and this part of the world in particular, is on fire. The Middle East is exploding, new waves of refugees are expected and terrorism has already made its resurgence in a Europe that seems to be sleepwalking through it all. What do they have to say about it? It’s not on the agenda, apparently.
Our parties are not entirely to blame for such navel-gazing, however. We too, as citizens, have become comfortable in this microcosm, seeking comfort in familiar things, recycling the same themes with forced conviction and evident ennui.
Indeed, as “just Stefanos” says in the video, “old things have strong roots,” because everyone, without exception, waters them and protects them. They like to pretend that they’ve renounced the old, but they thrive on it and help it thrive in turn.
