Αρχείο κατηγορίας 2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH

A CRUCIAL QUESTION FOR THE FUTURE OF MANI:  COMMON RALLYING OR PERSONAL GAIN?

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH, MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH

Recent developments have proven  that decisions and projects about the future of Mani are made or cancelled without consulting its inhabitants. The following three incidents prove this observation:

1) At a meeting of the Economic Committee of the Region of Peloponnesus, councillors voted against the proposal for public tender of the road that would join the village of Milea in Western Mani to the Monastery of Panagia Giatrissa on the ridge of Taygetos and from there to the road network of Eastern Mani. This particular road is the second provincial road of the Messinia Prefecture and according to a royal decree was designated as a “first priority” road already in 1955! The Peloponnese Region politicians who have been elected since 2010, instead of apologising to the Maniots for the 60-year state delay in proceeding with the construction of the road, which will finally connect Western to Eastern Mani through theTaygetos mountain range, they have tried to cancel this project! Even worse, some “minority” councillors tried to change the designation of this road as a “first priority” road, and they proposed the transfer of the funds, which since 2013 had been deposited by the Ministry of Development  to the Regional Peloponnese Fund, to another project! On the other hand, the “majority” councillors, instead of apologising for the four-year delay between the assignment of the state credit and the approval of the tendering documents , they presented the bringing forward of the project as a great achievement.

2) In 2005 the Ministry of Infrastructure ordered the study of the national road Sparta-Gytheion.  This study has not yet been completed, although since then, the road Scoura-Pyri, which bypasses Sparta, has been completed and therefore the scope of the study has been reduced. We believe that this project should be given a “first priority” status, as it is beneficial for the whole area of Mani, and particularly the eastern part of the region. We believe that it is crucial that this study gets completed as soon as possible, so that this project can then be incorporated into in the current Community Support Framework. This has still not happened, although almost fifteen years have passed since the decision for commissioning the above study. Since then, five or six different governments have been elected, and Maniots could have voted for the ones that would have moved the above project forward. Maniots might be few, but still, when they act in solidarity, they can get results!

3) Recently the forest maps for the region of Mani were partially approved. During the first six months of 2017 we reported on many injustices caused by these maps, as compiled by the Forest Registry, and the protests of many Maniot landowners who were negatively affected. We reported on meetings of the landowners with those responsible, and we also reported that protests by local municipalities would be submitted. Then, during the last six months of 2017 there was no further action. What happened? Those of us who believe that it is ethical and legal to declare the truth about the status of private properties that had become forested because they had not been cultivated, were we wrong? Why was this proposal not considered? Were Maniots not able to defend this proposal or once again were they divided and could not come up with a clear statement?

Under the present circumstances, the trend for development, which is supported by the specific climatic, geophysical and cultural characteristics of our area, will always be halted because of the lack of state funding. A low index of development in Mani will also mean weak development in the private sector similar to the mid-term development of our country and stagnation, disappointment and frustration on the part of local business people. Low development will negatively affect entrepreneurship, labour market, real estate and our everyday life in general, and it will crush the hopes of the new generations.  If all Maniots do not mobilise and do not commit themselves to unite and demand what is rightfully due to them, the stagnation of public funding in our area, which has been going on for the past twenty years, will continue. Only common action can bring a development proportionate to the potential of our region. The crucial question is: are we going to internalise this reality or are we going to continue acting according to narrow-mindedness and short-term personal interest?

 

LOCAL, NATIONAL AND GLOBAL CONSCIENCE

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH

Times are getting harder. Individualism is on the rise and is often expressed through aggression. It is obvious that, although aggression is no longer necessary for survival and many centuries have passed since it was, violence has still not been eradicated. Social solidarity and the need to jointly address individual challenges have still not become common place. There is a need to tackle these issues, and the situation can only be improved through conscious efforts and actions of all citizens.

   Local, national and global conscience are three components of the same basic concept: the individual is part of the global human community. This is why the aforementioned three kinds of conscience and all resulting actions need to be closely coordinated. When this happens, progress is faster and the benefits are universal. If there is lack of coordination, any benefits are short-lived and ineffective. This has been proven many times throughout history.

Local conscience has the advantage that any changes and benefits can be easily observed and measured because of the small area involved. Anyone who wants to study the developments and the results of actions based on local conscience can easily do so. Of course, there is also the false local conscience, which is practised by individuals whose main goal is personal interest. False local conscience can be detected in a relatively short time, because of the lack of progress and positive developments for the common good.

National conscience is an extension of the local conscience: people who feel that they possess the same genetic, linguistic and cultural characteristics have made a conscious decision to follow a common path. Thus, it is as if an informal democratic “contract” has been signed by these people, which binds not only them, but also their descendants, to stay on common course. National conscience is very closely related to social conscience because of the undertaking of each of the members  to serve the others in their group towards a common goal.

As with the false local conscience, there is also the false national-societal conscience, which is also practised by individuals who do not possess this trait and are only interested in personal gain. Again, the false national-societal conscience can be detected, but in a relatively longer time, mainly because of lack of any positive results. In false national-societal conscience, any “benefits” are not usually for the common good and bring with them damage and harm. Unfortunately, it has also been proven that people who brag about their selfless actions, which they claim are based on their national-societal conscience, often do not possess any such conscience, and their motives are directed only by selfishness and personal interest. On the contrary, people who truly act on their national-societal conscience, usually do so quietly and their actions bring beneficial developments to the whole of the particular national-societal group.

The fact that all humans inhabit the same planet is the foundation of global conscience. The concept seems to go back to the archaic era, and is based on common characteristics between people who have the same national-societal conscience and who espouse commonly-accepted human values. Far-right and extremist groups value national conscience much more than pan-human conscience and place narrow-minded national interests above the interests of the global humanity as a whole. Populist politics create numerous dangers and impede global progress. Dangers include wars and other similar adverse developments caused by short-sighted nationalism. These policies bring some short-term “benefits”, but mid- to long-term calamities.

   The humanity of man is the foundation of the local, the national-societal and the global conscience. The societies which progress the most are those which go beyond the narrow local and national-societal conscience and have espoused global conscience instead. It is the moral duty of each member of society to reflect and act upon their conscience, using their abilities to promote the common good and with their actions contribute to the progress of the humanity as a whole.

 

   As a New Year wish for 2018, we would like to wish the Maniot and philo-Maniot readers of our newspaper to act upon their local, national and global conscience and contribute to human progress with their particular strengths and talents.