Agora
Posts in Society
Between heaven and hell
What is the distance between heaven and hell? About 700 metres – I measured it on Monday. The morning after the referendum on the Eurogroup’s bailout proposal, I visited my local pharmacy, where my pharmacist was confident that the convincing No vote the night before would lead to good things for Greece. “Everything will be fine,” he said. I walked home and bumped into my neighbour. His view of the referendum was completely different. “We’re doomed now,” he told me.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Europe (296), Society (151), Greece (529)
Divided we fall?
Almost 11 years ago today, tens of thousands of Greeks poured onto the streets in harmonious celebration of the national team's Euro 2004 victory. That was another decade, another time, another world. Today, Greeks have little to celebrate and much that divides them.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (414), Society (151), Greece (529)
Sowing the seeds of anomie in Greece
In his opening speech to Labour MPs after the party’s historic election win in May 1997, Tony Blair implored the party’s lawmakers to be “whiter than white, purer than pure”. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (414), Society (151), Greece (529)
Mentioning the war so we don't have to mention the war
Fawlty Towers was never a popular show in Greece and the concept of not mentioning the war is not one familiar with Greeks. In fact, Greece is a country where history is often viewed as a collection of unresolved issues - such as the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the Second World War, the Civil War and the military dictatorship – that continue to shape the present. The sense that there has been a repeated lack of closure is prevalent at each new crisis, each key turning point in the country’s progression.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Europe (296), Politics (414), Society (151), Greece (529)
![Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]](resources/toolip/img-thumb/2014/08/28/ndsupporters_myrto_2808-large.jpg "Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]")
Samaras strays out of line in search for new normal
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has a habit of defending his government by saying that his aim is to make Greece “a normal European country.” Whatever he may mean by this and however genuine he may be in wanting Greece to recover from its long crisis, this is an infuriatingly patronising comment. Intentionally or not, it aligns Greece’s prime minister with all the cranks in Europe and Greece’s misinformed critics beyond who view the country as some kind of basket case.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Europe (296), Politics (414), Society (151), Greece (529)