THERE ARE NO DILEMMAS, THERE ARE ONLY SOLUTIONS: 

CHANGE COMES FROM WITHIN

Tomorrow Greece will be facing one of the most important dilemmas in its modern history.  Some say the dilemma is left or right.  Some say the dilemma is to stay in the Euro or not.  Some say the dilemma is to continue the austerity measures or not.  My belief is that these dilemmas hide a much more fundamental problem & solution than our politicians in Greece and our European leaders are suggesting or are willing to speak of.  In reality there is no dilemma.  The Greek voter is trapped within her/his own political creation.   She/he has to choose among inefficient politicians whose speeches sound more like a leftover from the 1974 overthrow of the dictatorship rather than a credible modern alternative to a certain short term dead-end.

What will Greece look like on the 7^th of May 2012?  Will Greek voters choose a stable, pro-Europe coalition government? Will Greece turn its back to Europe and all the bail-outs? Will Greece become a nationalist left or right minded country?  I have an answer to all of this: NOTHING WILL CHANGE.  This is not a pessimistic view point.  This is a rational evaluation of the Greek mentality. A mentality, so deeply entrenched, does not change overnight.  It takes time to realize one’s own mistakes.  It takes time to accept one’s responsibilities and admit to their wrongdoings.  

The morning of May 7 2012 will be no different than any other.  Yes voters will give a message that they are frustrated, that they are exhausted, that they want their salaries back, taxes to decrease, and job creation etc…  Don’t we already know this though?  Did we need to wait until May 7 to understand this? Do we really need an official electoral result to get the message through?

Most worry about May 7 2012.  I worry about May 7 2032.  I do not care on how many years it will take for Greece’s ‘economic’ recover, I care more about how we are going to change an ecosystem of inefficiencies;

·         A system designed to kill creativity,

·         A system that impedes innovation,

·         A system that….Entrepreneurship? wait what entrepreneurship…?

·         A system in which one’s intellect is measured by the number of degrees they have and not  the quality of his or her education; how many master degrees do you have?

 As I am not a Greek politician, I will stop complaining and offer solutions:

·       Change our educational system to produce something other than lawyers, doctors, and teachers.  We have enough of them and most of them are unemployed.

·       Ensure that our teachers & professors make a decent living which motivates them to focus on their job and not on the black economy of merchandised educational stupidity.

·       Make a 360 degree evaluation of Greece’s resources and DECIDE what resources, apart from tourism, we can utilize.

·       Reverse the brain drain and exodus of Greek intellectuals.  There are millions of young Greeks who have immigrated in pursuit of a better future.The majority of Greece’s diaspora desire to come back home. All they are waiting for is a viable excuse. They do not expect to come back to a perfect Greece, what they expect is to come back to a Greece that provides hope.

·       Regulate the banking sector to ensure that banks operating in Greece are true to their fundamental role of being a savings & investment facilitators rather than a legal loan shark.

·       Punish with no mercy:

ü  Making examples out of a high-profile politicians and celebrities are tactics of appeasement. There has to be a deep seated fear of the law, a fear that no one is untouchable, no one can escape the tax man. There are two fundamental rules in life: you cannot escape taxes and death, Greeks for eternity thought they could.

ü  Legally forbid the exchange of ‘favors’ between politicians and citizens. Both should be held legally accountable.

I could go on with more solutions and ways to change things.  There are solutions and there is no dilemma.  The solution lies within us: within ourselves, within our families, within our friends, within our relationships, within our neighborhoods, within our villages, within our cities, within our workplaces, within our country.

I do not ask for our politicians to change. They are after all a reflection of ourselves, a creation of our own. Baby steps, we Greeks do not/cannot expect to a miraculously change of our society overnight. Each and every one of us can harness our power of influence within our individual circles of influence. Start by urging change within your family, your friends, and importantly yourself.  

I care not about the upcoming electoral results, because I know the results. The results will be the same as they were for decades now; cronyism and incompetence. What I care about are the results of my own actions; will I implement my resolutions for change, or will I grow old, content and disenchanted?  CHANGE COMES FROM WITHIN and no one else will be to blame for Greece’s future failings but ourselves.

Kouris Kalligas