Talking the talk, but where’s the walk?
Listening to the attitudes that have prevailed for decades in the public discourse on our “national issues,” you’d think that Greece likens itself, somehow, to Israel, with patriotism and extreme patriotism in particular, running rampant. But there ate a few simple questions we should be asking ourselves, especially the representatives of the political system that has governed us for the past few decades.
Where were they all when the basic pillars of national security were being eroded? When politicians would pick up the phone without an ounce of shame to demand a favor from some high-ranking military official? When we had more generals than we could ever need or when partisan ties determined top military appointments? Where were they when the armed forces were transformed into a business of the state, without any proper oversight, without incentives for moving up the ranks and without discipline? When billions was spent on defense procurements without any thought being given to developing serious research and the country’s defense industry? When our neighbors advanced in leaps and bounds in this particular area and we were celebrating the fact that we were still taking baby steps? When we missed the opportunity to tap into the incredible talent of our fellow Greeks abroad to lay the foundations for the creation of a serious innovation hub that could have been making advanced drones today? When the National Intelligence Service was allowed at times to become a hotbed of cronyism, law-bending and revanchist partisan favoritism? When no politician took the trouble to create a policy for cultivating serious ties with the diaspora or organizing a powerful lobby that was not beholden to a small number of diaspora Greeks who have made lobbying into a business? Or when the Foreign Ministry became a shadow of its former self?
Most importantly, where were our politicians when so much of the Greek people’s precious money was being pilfered away on unnecessary hirings, favors and useless subsidies?
Let’s not forget that apart from everything else, we are paying the price of the bankruptcy brought on by such attitudes. This is why we are lagging in crucial sectors and why the navy doesn’t have enough engineers.
True patriotism requires structure, professionalism and the eradication of corruption. A patriot is someone who ensures that the country is fortified both economically and institutionally, as this is what matters most.
To put it differently, we may talk like Israel, but we behave like a poor Balkan version of it. Patriotism isn’t just about grand words, but also about actions, as Konstantinos Karamanlis was the first to demonstrate.
