Spring into Summer: Things Are Really Heating Up In Greece
It suddenly got hot in Greece last week, as schools closed a day early in preparation for the Greek national elections. Before, it felt like spring--not the sociopolitical Greek Spring that some political party overoptimistically wished to invoke last month, with the most encouraging days of the Arab Spring in mind, but a more modest, pleasantly cool, botanical and meteorological spring with its delicate red anemones, small fuschia sword lilies, and abundant Cretan rock roses blooming among herbaceous shrubs under picturesquely puffy clouds. These have given way to the hardier wild carrot (called Queen Anne's lace in my Pennsylvania days) and well watered gardens full of glowing bougainvillea, pink and white oleander that sways in our island winds, and the largest, hardiest rose and geranium bushes I've ever seen. But what will this summer heat bring? Will the current mess be followed by chaos? The suspense and tension build as we await results of elections along with a surprisingly large portion of the world population.Greek Political Parties, Slogans, Promises, and Fears, Old and New
SYRIZA, the Coalition of the Radical Left, has the political advantage as the party who can't be blamed for past corruption or mistakes. It is now a full-fledged, highly visible political party, although it had struggled along as a minor leftist coalition in previous years. And it appears to have slogan writers skilled at taking advantage of that fact. Last month's posters insisted, "They decided without us; we'll go ahead without them," referring to the entrenched political elite who'd gone along with the punishing austerity measures imposed along with the European bailout for Greece. A few days ago, new posters appeared, proclaiming, "The memorandum past, we open a road to hope," referring to its rejection of the bailout agreement, at least as it now stands. There's certainly an appealing logic to these slogans, given the extent of political and economic corruption and the failure of the two previously dominant political parties in Greece, the conservative New Democracy and the socialist PASOK. One of the Communist parties (yes, there's more than one here) has ironically been reduced to a reactionary response on the posters that appeared recently: "Don't believe SYRIZA!"
Unfortunately,
there may be some merit to that response:
SYRIZA suggests that Greeks can have everything--enough money from Europe, the euro as their currency, and
their own terms rather than the dreadful austerity from which they've clearly been
suffering intensely. Most powerful
Europeans seem to disagree, as they implied by refusing to meet with SYRIZA's
young, inexperienced leader during an international tour after the May 6
election. So it's quite possible that
belief in SYRIZA's message--appealing as it is for hopeless, jobless,
overtaxed, struggling, fed up citizens--may increase the danger that Greece
will return to the drachma. We faced
that danger last fall, when the former prime minister, George Papandreou, threatened
to hold a referendum to see if Greeks really wanted to keep the euro (and all
the “austerity” that goes with it these days).
For a few days, until it became clear that Papandreou would resign and
there would be no such referendum, many feared that Greece would lose its chance of European
debt relief and be forced to deal with life with the drachma and no foreign
aid. I hear that a return to the drachma
would also mean drastic inflation; vastly higher costs for imports; shortages
of imported goods such as medicines, certain foods, oil, and gas; a vastly
lower value for our money; the closing of many businesses; and probably more
civil unrest. We face the potential for
the same problem now.
Last fall,
a bank teller was asked what to do with money in savings accounts, those in
euros and those in dollars. The bank
teller answered, almost in tears, that she had no idea what would happen, or
what to do with her own money, either. She said some people exchanged their
euros for dollars, others did the opposite, and she’d take hers home and put it
under her mattress if she wasn’t afraid of being robbed on the way! Since then, of course, billions of euros have
been removed from Greece.
That was one of several times in the last year or so that I started stocking
up on nonperishable grocery items in fear of a return to the drachma and
general economic, political, and social chaos that might include empty grocery
store shelves since Greece might not continue receiving imports from exporters
lacking confidence they'd be paid. Even
my children seem to be concerned about a currency change, as they feverishly
try to empty their coin banks by turning them upside down. Fortunately, though, they remain blissfully
ignorant of the economic situation here.
Last November,
I was already struck by one of many ironic developments in the confusion that’s
called Greek politics: for some time, government leaders failed to agree on a
new cabinet for what was supposed to be a “government of national unity.” The problem?
Everyone was more worried about how appealing he or she'd look to voters
during the next elections. No one—the
just-resigned prime minister included, I presume—really wanted to have anything
to do with being in charge of approving and administering the latest miserable
package of so-called “debt relief” from Europe, given the “austerity” measures
of layoffs, benefit and salary reductions, and tax increases we keep seeing to
“relieve” those of us living in what the German government seemed to consider
immoral laziness and luxury in Greece. No
matter that there was, and is, no chance for economic growth here. It seems that the politicians were correct in
fearing for their jobs, since the new party, SYRIZA, is the one that has gained
ground, while the centrist old guard's popularity has plunged, both on the left
and on the right. Interestingly, as of
yesterday, my drive through part of Chania did not reveal one poster from
PASOK, which appears to have no chance of winning this election, or even New
Democracy, which does have a chance.
That may be partly due to the fact that some Communist students were
printing thousands of flyers on university printers, with paper and ink meant
to be used for academic purposes, the other day. Or does it have something to do with New
Democracy's anti-immigrant message?
I am
neither a political scientist nor an economist, so I'll end today's political
commentary with links to some articles that strike me as useful. I do not appreciate the flippancy of whoever
coined the term "Grexit" (mentioned in a New York Times article) to refer to the possible exit of Greece from the euro zone, with far more
concern for international financial markets than for the people of Greece.
On the other hand, the most sensible brief article I've seen about
what's at stake in today's election, and what led up to it, appeared on Friday
in the online English edition of one of Greece's major dailies, the politically
moderate Kathemerini, titled "Greece's creditors matter as much as its
voters"--and, we might add, vice versa (http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite3_1_15/06/2012_447265). I also like Ross Douthat's discussion of
SYRIZA in the New York Times, except
that it doesn't acknowledge the party leader's lack of qualifications to lead a
country, especially one in as much trouble as Greece, or SYRIZA's lack of a
concrete, detailed solution ("Sympathy for the Radical Left" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/opinion/sunday/douthat-sympathy-for-the-radical-left.html?hp).
School Celebration, and Stocking Up for Possible Emergencies or Shortages
On Friday,
I spent more money at the supermarket than I ever had before. And two nights before, I paid less attention
to an elementary school performance than I ever had before. It was like this: all the elementary children, their teachers,
and their parents in the schoolyard, most arriving late, on a hot evening in
the sun. There is no auditorium or gym
at our school, although it's only about a decade old--so there were too many
people for too few seats, and no stage.
For the last two years, we'd had a temporary wooden stage to raise the
children high enough to be seen, but for some reason (perhaps related to a new
principal) that was missing this year.
So once the performance began, anyone who wanted to watch the children
dance, sing, or recite information about the different regions and cities of Greece needed to stand up. The center aisle was full of standing
parents, further obscuring the view of the children (and no one noticed that
the sun was sinking into the Mediterranean, spectacular view that we had, since we see that
every day). Probably at least half of
the parents were conversing, which is typical of Greek school functions, award
ceremonies, weddings, and baptisms--so typical that I doubt anyone considers it
rude. I valiantly strove to watch and
listen, walking over to the far side of the crowd for a vantage point and
dutifully recording my daughter's part in the evening (proud that she said her
piece better than the boy next to her with two native Greeks for parents,
though of course I wouldn't say so to them and told her it didn't matter if he
messed up a bit).
I watched a
while longer, but then, an hour or so into it, I gave up, sat down, and
whispered with a bilingual Greek friend.
She drew from her purse some
lists of emergency supplies which she'd collected from both American and Greek
sites in preparation for the uncertain times ahead of us here in Greece--the
possibility of extreme inflation, shortages, and power outages: matches, canned foods, gas burners,
batteries, pastas, beans, olives, etc.
We compared lists, since I was certainly at least as paranoid (or eager
to be prepared: time will tell), and I
made some adjustments to mine. We
discussed the accuracy of the NPR report about Greece's major electric company running
out of money due to unpaid bills, so that it couldn't buy enough natural gas to
get the country through the summer without extensive blackouts. Apparently the company denies it, but
considering all the blackouts we've endured in previous years, I expect that
we'll have more this year. The New York Times writes that Greeks dread
the future. Yep, me too.
Greek Generosity, Beauty, and Uncertainty
I feel a
weight of sadness and worry. But,
whatever happens, I don't think there's any danger that people as fortunate as
us will go hungry: we have many friends
here, and Crete is an island full of not only
natural beauty, but good produce, and great hospitality and generosity. We still haven't finished the bags of
apricots and potatoes that neighbors gave us.
Even if the government runs out of money and can't pay public workers,
including university professors such as D, we will have plenty to eat. And we can share our beans and pasta with
those who have fresh produce. The jovial
party after the school performance made it clear that Greeks will continue to
be generous: parents had brought plenty
of juice, soft drinks, raki, cheese pies, cakes, cookies, popcorn, and potato
chips to satisfy the crowd that surged toward the refreshment tables even
before all the treats could be brought to them.
There are other concrete reasons for hope, too: the pharmacists are accepting public health
insurance again--starting Thursday night, just in time for me to refill my
prescriptions for allergy medicines without (again) paying cash. In spite of problems, the beaches are often
clean and lovely, with gorgeous clear waters, and they are free. The Greek national soccer team even beat Russia to qualify for the Euro 2012
quarterfinals, adding a much-needed positive note to the national
consciousness.
D has been
in Athens this weekend for another
celebration, a baptism--a function as big, expensive, and important as a
wedding, and as much a time for reunion--and to vote. (So far, weddings and baptisms, school
celebrations and exams, continue.) Like
many Greeks, D chose not to move his voter registration out of his hometown (or
village, in many cases); this makes voting day a time of reunion for so many of
the Greeks who deeply value ties to family, old friends, and former homes. This afternoon, all remained relatively
calm. But people ask, what will you do
this summer? We reply that we don't know
yet. We'll have some preliminary
election results shortly, but neither they nor the final outcome of this
election will immediately clarify Greece's future.
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