2 mentalities prepare for their final “battle” Their battle ground: Greece
Certainly the country has major problems, but that’s a far cry from earning a title of a dangerous place for its citizens or tourists. What you see on TV is just for “show”. The problems are different, bigger, more serious and require convincing solutions. Not in the future, not tomorrow. NOW.
A new mentality
One of the main reasons that Greece has reached this critical point is due to the fact that it “gave” into populism over the last 30 – 35 years. A new mentality was established in the country and slowly but surely became its role model:
- “People have rights”
- “People have needs”
- “People DESERVE”
- “People should be free, don’t stress them with obligations”
- “The State MUST pay for everything”
- “We are not responsible, we may vote but politicians are to blame”
and many more such quotes became part of a puzzle that dominated Greek society. In theory everyone agrees with most of the above. But as civilized members of a society, we also have obligations and we should respect the law. Unfortunately in Greece, populists succeeded in kicking out most of the investors and create a country where the State controls (directly or indirectly) 60% of the economy and where illegal actions are not always punished. A large part of the society made all manner of possible mistakes, “but it was not their fault”. Excuses are endless…
2 mentalities, 2 different worlds
So the world’s economic crisis found the Greeks unprepared (like most other countries, I must say). The country’s growth model had become “borrow, spend, grow. Then borrow again, spend, grow”. A big part of the society applauded this way of thinking, while another one watched in disappointment as the country drove straight on dangerous paths. The society got split in 2. The populists and the conscientious ones. This is still valid today.
The populists’ approach
The populists consider that they are not responsible for any of the problems the country faces today. They are sure that there is some kind of conspiracy behind all they hear and they are upset with everyone, starting with the politicians. For them “someone must pay, someone must change”, but this “someone” is definitely someone else, not them. They should continue living their lives as they have done in the past. If you ask them anything regarding their own behavior and mistakes, they will probably tell you that “it is not my fault, the politician is the one to blame, he should not have allowed me to do all this. But he did, because he wanted to make me vote for him and then steal big”. They want all the others to change, including the government, without any clear proposal for the future. It is not a surprise that most of them consider investments and business as something that “takes advantage of the poor in order to earn millions off of them”.
A few months before the first Memorandum Greece signed in May 2010, a small political party had the… perfect solution for the country’s financial problems: “We should hire another 100.000 public servants (added to the 1.000.000 the country already had) and this way the State would receive revenues through taxes, plus additional cash flow would be injected in the market”. There was just a small detail they failed to mention: The State should borrow again, in order to hire these people…
The conscientious’ approach
What surprises a careful observer of Greek society nowadays is the growing number of conscientious people he meets. They recognize their mistakes and share in the problem’s creation, usually with the expression “we all made more mistakes than we should have”. They are upset with the politicians as well, but recognize that they were the ones who voted for them. So now they try to separate the serious ones or identify new leaders. For them Democracy is not negotiable and they insist that the country must “run” towards the future.
They declare that they are ready for change, starting with themselves. They search for the politician who will dare to undertake painful but necessary measures in order to heal some of the country’s structural problems, someone who will not be afraid of the political cost. They want a smaller State, a more open market, less bureaucracy, more possibilities for business and healthy investments.
Coming up: The final “battle”
At the end of June, the Greek government succeeded to get the parliament’s approval for the second Memorandum with its debtors. It was probably the most difficult voting that the country witnessed since the 60s. But it was not enough.
According to this Memorandum, the government is obliged to actually change the country in just a few months, resolving problems that have been present for decades. The conscientious part of the society is skeptical though, doubting the politicians’ will to really do what they have to. At the same time the populists are ready to strike back, attempting to block any change, as it is “against the people’s interests”.
The time is now. This autumn and winter we will witness one of the most interesting social debates that has ever occurred in Europe. With Greece having 1.000 problems to solve now, but also 1.000.000 advantages to benefit from tomorrow, this June’s vote was just the kick start of the “game”. Two different groups of people, two different worlds will collide trying to impose their opinions on the rest.
The populists start with the advantage. They are louder and create “shows” for the media, their arguments are attractive for the masses that suffer as a result of the economic crisis, plus the majority of journalists and groups of interest support them, for various reasons.
Lately the conscientious group has proven to be greater than it was initially estimated. They can be found in every political party and their arguments are accepted by a growing number of people who want things to improve for the better.
Don’t hurry to predict the winner. You might be in for a surprise. For the moment, there are just two things that you can be sure about Greece:
- It will not be the same in 12 months from now.
- It remains a safe destination for vacation, in 99,9999% of its territory.
Next week: The Greek social “tribes” and their approach regarding the country’s problems.