I'm republishing this short piece that was written on May 10, 2012, for the readers of this blog.
What
actually decides is our character Jose Ortega y Gasset
By Con George-Kotzabasis May 10, 2012
Surprisingly, you are profoundly pessimistic,
not to say nihilistic, about Antonis Samaras, who is the greatest politician
appearing on the political firmament of Greece since Eleftherios Venizelos.
Samaras is “framed in the prodigality of nature,” to quote Shakespeare, endowed
with that rare combination of high intellect, imagination, stupendous moral
strength, and economic insight, which he proved by his
prediction of the disastrous policy of austerity, encapsulated in the first
European Memorandum as a remedy to Greece’s dire economic peril, without
economic resurgence.
Statesmen are not responsible for the ignorance
and political immaturity of their people. They try to lead even in a vacuum of
understanding among their people about the real dangers their country is
facing. The tragedy of Samaras was that his clear and sagacious policies were
not able to overcome and trump the ignorance of a large part of the electorate
about the real dangers that were threatening Greece, especially in a state of
akyvernisia (Lack of government).
As a physicist you must know the fate of Galileo
and how difficult it is to nullify ignorance. And your quote of Christopher Hitchens
in your blog gives me the sense that you are aware of this difficulty. To wish
therefore for Samaras removal, seems to me not only unjust but also politically
immoral. And to hope that the leader of Syriza, AlexisTsipras, a staunch votary
of Hugo Chavez, that he will change his inveterate leftist populist position of
anti-Europe led by Germany, is to indulge in wishful thinking.
In moments of a great crisis, statesmen have
the obligation and responsibility to lead their people from darkness to
enlightenment and imbue them with indispensable hope about their immediate
future, so they can overcome the crisis.
No comments:
Post a Comment