The national image of Greece. A brief introspection
By Andreas Miliou
In the two hundred years since the founding of the modern Greek state, much has been written and is being written, by Greeks and foreigners, about the pathogenesis, weaknesses and institutional and ideological dysfunctions of the country and much more about the identity and character of modern Greeks and the country’s image. . as an entity on the international stage little. The balance of views, perceptions, impressions and comments about the new Greece and the modern Greeks is unfortunately negative.
Is the result of this balance fair or unfair? It is fair to think that, although Greece is the first independent state created by the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and one of the oldest in Europe (Germany was united in 1871), it has not been able to modernize its socio-political institutions and the functioning of the state to the extent that their level is close to that of the countries of Northern Europe, despite the fact that it had all the historical and political guarantees; it is fair to think that although it belonged to the victors of the two World Wars financially, after their end in devastating civil wars ∙ it is fair to consider that despite the military and financial support he had from the allies he not only went bankrupt seven times, but a large part of the population is still hostile to them ∙ it is fair . if one considers that it assassinated its first governor who tried to modernize the country, imprisoned the leading hero of the revolution, forced into exile the prime minister who tripled its borders, as well as the prime minister who in the 1950s put the country in development orbit, building on the wreckage of the civil war, and later led it. at the core of Europe, in the European Community.
On the other hand, of course, the result of the balance is unfair if one considers that this poor province of the Ottoman Empire, the “stone cape” of Seferis, managed, during these years, not only to survive seven wars, four civil wars and seven bankruptcies, but to triple its borders and grow to the point where it now belongs to the thirty most developed countries in the world. It is unfair because, despite its failures and its idiosyncratic collective temperament and behavior, it has managed to be an equal member of NATO and the country today, to enjoy the appreciation and acceptance of the planet’s powers, and to be adequately governed democratically, despite regime has serious pathogenesis in many issues related to institutional modernization. For a country that has experienced, for more than four hundred years, barbaric slavery is a special historical achievement and may be the only example of power in world history. Stathis Kalyvas attributes this success to our national virtue, which he calls “the virtue of Odysseus”, because “it is based on elements such as intelligence, extroversion, propensity for adventure and risk, along with a significant dose of adventure.” (Kalyvas, S. 2020, p. 22)
Think of what else we could have accomplished if we could tame the established, eternal pathogens of our character and curb selfish individualism, egocentrism, jealousy, resentment, seriousness, cunning, moral depravity. East and West), “infant narcissism”, self-destructiveness, sloppiness and Cain syndrome! Even if we had eliminated half of these defects, we would not have disappointed modern thinkers and they might not have written the following:
“I am looking for a little seriousness in my place. Not a seriousness that is the usual Greek eczema; seriousness.” (Days C ‘, 100)
“..To miss your place, living in your place, nothing is more bitter”. (G. Seferis, Days C ‘. August 1936)
Greece is “the golden country of Smallness that makes no use of the value of the number; but also the black country of Anisos, where no destiny is cut to the measures given from the beginning.” (Elytis, Od. 1992)
Greece is a country “immersed in the imaginary”, “unable to keep up with modernity”, “sleepwalker in the slow present”. The Greek suffers from “infant narcissism” and “adolescence”. (St. Ramfos)
* Mr Andreas Milios holds a PhD from the University of Frankfurt, is an economist and author. The subject of the article is a subject that is dealt with in detail in his new book entitled “National image and economic development”, which has just been published by the publishing house “KLIDARITHMOS”.