Today, Greece holds a general election. The country will vote for a government to steer it through the next phase of management of its debt crisis and inevitable austerity measures. I was talking about this last night with Chrisoula and Sotiris, a couple of about my age who own a cafe/bar in the local village of Plaka. The business is run by their adult children, but my new found friends sit outside every evening and hold court or watch the world go by, sometimes snapping broad beans freshly picked from the garden and sharing the sweet goodness of the raw beans.
Anyway, their take on the election is that everyone is tired and indifferent about the two main parties, Pasok and New Democracy, who have both held power during the period of Greece's economic decline and are both characterised by hubris, scandal and accusations of corruption - and people are angry. "Humph, what does it matter who we vote for? Greece will still be run by the Germans, they're in charge now."
In the peace and beauty of Crete, it's easy for visitors to forget how dire is the country's crisis - but this island has been much less affected than smaller islands and the mainland, especially Athens and its suburbs. Crete's relative prosperity is maintained by tourism, for which it is well organised, offering a variety of holiday types, and by agriculture. With its rich, fertile soil, reasonable water supply and centuries-old traditions of farming, Crete supplies fruit, vegetables, olives and olive oil to much of Greece.
In fact, I've been told that people from all over Greece, especially Athens, are moving to Crete in search of work and a relief from the hardships of life in the capital city. The brunt of this crisis is being borne with outrageous openness by the poorest of workers, whose real income and rights are being utterly eroded, while the ship owners, lawyers, doctors and others continue to enjoy their traditional tax concessions.
The truth is that alongside the openness, friendliness, great sense of community, creativity and joie de vivre that charcaterises Greek people, corruption, croneyism and tax evasion have been a way of life, endemic throughout government and all of society, as people resent what they perceive to be payment into the public purse only for the funds to be abused and misused. It's a time of hard awakening to the truth about the dark side of this society and the way in which its nature has left it vulnerable to the American banking predators.
Even now, the country's scarce resources are certainly not being used for the common good, either by choice or by dint of the bail-out terms imposed by the international financial cabal. One of these terms, for instance, is that Greece is now obliged to buy a clutch of new military fighter planes from the USA.
Minoan grandmothers, Greece needs you now...
Anyway, their take on the election is that everyone is tired and indifferent about the two main parties, Pasok and New Democracy, who have both held power during the period of Greece's economic decline and are both characterised by hubris, scandal and accusations of corruption - and people are angry. "Humph, what does it matter who we vote for? Greece will still be run by the Germans, they're in charge now."
In the peace and beauty of Crete, it's easy for visitors to forget how dire is the country's crisis - but this island has been much less affected than smaller islands and the mainland, especially Athens and its suburbs. Crete's relative prosperity is maintained by tourism, for which it is well organised, offering a variety of holiday types, and by agriculture. With its rich, fertile soil, reasonable water supply and centuries-old traditions of farming, Crete supplies fruit, vegetables, olives and olive oil to much of Greece.
In fact, I've been told that people from all over Greece, especially Athens, are moving to Crete in search of work and a relief from the hardships of life in the capital city. The brunt of this crisis is being borne with outrageous openness by the poorest of workers, whose real income and rights are being utterly eroded, while the ship owners, lawyers, doctors and others continue to enjoy their traditional tax concessions.
The truth is that alongside the openness, friendliness, great sense of community, creativity and joie de vivre that charcaterises Greek people, corruption, croneyism and tax evasion have been a way of life, endemic throughout government and all of society, as people resent what they perceive to be payment into the public purse only for the funds to be abused and misused. It's a time of hard awakening to the truth about the dark side of this society and the way in which its nature has left it vulnerable to the American banking predators.
Even now, the country's scarce resources are certainly not being used for the common good, either by choice or by dint of the bail-out terms imposed by the international financial cabal. One of these terms, for instance, is that Greece is now obliged to buy a clutch of new military fighter planes from the USA.
Minoan grandmothers, Greece needs you now...
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