Αρχείο κατηγορίας MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH

THE LOW PRODUCTIVITY OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH

Reliable assessments by competent authorities show that our country ranks among the lowest in Europe in public sector productivity. According to the same reliable sources, Greece still has more civil servants per capita than any other EEC country. The above results, confirmed by personal experience, prove that services provided to Greek citizens are inferior to the ones provided to citizens of other EEC countries. These findings should alarm the governing party, particularly since low productivity is one of the reasons for the lenghty financial crisis that our country is experiencing. We should also add that any cuts in the number of the civil servants that has happened so far, happened only after strong pressure by a series of Memoranda of Understanding, which were forced on us by our foreign lenders! The way to avoid the disastrous consequences  that were brought by the above-mentioned low productivity is to retrain the civil servants and to pay them according to their improved productivity. However, it seems that the government is moving in the opposite direction!

   A close look at the reasons for the high number of employees in the civil service and their poor productivity, brings us to the narrow-minded personal gain policies of our politicians. Politicians govern according to their desire to increase their electoral base and get re-elected. The obligations that they must undertake upon being elected towards everyone for the common good of all citizens, becomes a secondary issue for them. According to research, these realities vary slightly between different governments, however, in all governments there has been a big gap between pre-election promises and their deliverance.

The following three points confirm what we stated above:

  1. Let us look at article 101 of the Greek Constitution. Paragraph 1: The administration of the State shall be organized according to the principle of decentralisation. Paragraph 3: Regional State officers shall have general decisive authority on matters of their district, while the central services shall have, in addition to special powers, the general guidance, coordination and supervision of the regional officers, as specified by law.

How does article 101 correspond to reality? The state has created nine (9) decentralised Geographical Departments and has given them limited jurisdiction. It has also assigned limited decentralised powers to the thirteen (13) Regions and municipalities, without, however, having also allocated the necessary funds. In this way, the state is able to have direct control over the regions. It also has direct or indirect control of all regional appointments!

  1. The Regions, which are in essence decentralised structures with limited powers, without direct financing and with responsibilities that coexist or get intertwined with those of the respective Minstries, end up dealing with issues that should be dealt with by the state. We see regional politicians trying to impress their audiences with verbose statements on issues which do not even fall under their area of responsibilitiy! This shifting of responsibility diminishes the powers of the regional officers and eventually leads to a lower standard of living for the people who elected the regional officers. A good example of this shift is the pre-occupation of the present President of the Peloponnese Region with discovering deposits of oil in sub-sea terrains, which definitely does not fall under his area of responsibility. Yet, the President ignores the issue of provincial roads, which need repairs and improvements, an issue which falls exclusively under his responsibility. Provincial roads need to be updated to today’s standards, and the President could utilise the manpower and resources available to him to improve these roads and make them safe, thus helping the regional tourist development and averting road accidents.
  2. The municipalities of our country, and in particular the rural ones, have inherited manpower that could be retrained in order to cover at least the administrative needs. However, the municipal politicians have done nothing to retrain their staff, or help improve their productivity. Also, they have done nothing to establish or improve technical services, as needed. They do, however, hire staff on temporary contracts, who in turn will help them get re-elected in the next election.

Let us not forget that the memoranda which were financing the needs of our country have come to an end. Now we are led to a new era, where we will have to find lenders ourselves. We are now faced with a painful dilemma: we either increase the productivity of our economy, particularly in the public sector, or the new high-interest rates on our foreign loans will lead us to a new bankruptcy…

CITIZEN MOBILISATION – THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH, εφημερίδα

Opinion poll results published recently are disappointing, because they show that more than 1/3 of the Greek citizens are disengaged from politics! Even worse, a big part of the remaining population has a negative opinion of those involved in politics! It is true that all of us, some more and some less, have seen our incomes shrink during the past ten years of the crisis, however, income reduction alone cannot bring the necessary changes and economic recovery. We need to act, so that we can bring about a new model of governance. A way out of the financial crisis and sovereignty of the people can only be achieved if citizens are actively engaged in the political life of the country.

It is understandable that at the beginning of the crisis Greek citizens disengaged from political life, because then their priority was to deal immediately with their new needs, personal, family and otherwise, due to the harsh new financial measures that were imposed. It is certain that for the Greek economy to rebound, we need a new model of political governance, one which will be put forward by those well-informed citizens who understand the real causes of the financial crisis. As we analyse the situation, we tend to conclude that the main cause of the crisis is the fact that in the past, both politicians and citizens, focused on their own narrow personal interests. The electorate voted for politicians who they throught could promote their own personal, family or sectional interests.

The starting point for the mobilisation of the citizens and their joint action towards implementing a new form of political governance has to be the firm commitment to our institutional texts. The Constitution and the imprelementation of its institutional rules are the basis on which we must build a new model of political governance, without the weaknesses of the past political system. In order for the institutional rules to be implemented correctly, we need to differentiate between the three sorts of power: legislative, executive and judiciary. This traditional threefold division of power should not be circumvented due to vague laws. However, what happens in practice is that the common legislator (i.e. the executive power) weakens this division of power, by submitting to the Parliament bills and passing them, because they hold the majority of seats. This affects the democratic functioning of the state and has many negative consequences, such as the present economic crisis. We should reflect on whether the weakening of the powers of the President of the democracy has contributed to the economic crisis. This amendment occurred in 1985 , after revision of the relevant Constitution passage of 1975, and in effect it changed our form of government from presidential democracy to giving absolute power to the prime-minister. Therefore, we no longer have a safeguard to government arbitrariness, and this can lead the country to impasses, such as the long-term economic crisis, which we are presently experiencing.

The lack of credibility of the Greek model of political governance, which is reflected in the opinion polls, and the resulting disengagement of the citizens from the political life of their country are closely related to the many promises given by various political parties. These promises can never be kept due to the present poor financial situation of Greece. Politicians need to have principles, to think very carefully before they give promises and to follow a personal “self-cleansing” process. Once all these are put in place, solid institutional commitments between politicians and citizens can be implemented, as they have been clearly defined in the 1975 Constitution. The effective application of the institutional rules means that all vague laws which favour politicians or specific groups of people, but not society as a whole, need to be discarded. It is through this kind of favouritist laws that public finances are burdened, resulting in heavy taxation of the Greek citizens, who have been suffering for a long time now from high taxation.

We are in an important pre-election period. Within the year 2019 we will have three elections: elections to the Greek Parliament, elections to the European Parliament and municipal elections. We will have the chance to reflect and vote strategically, so that we will elect a truly democratic government. The votes of conscious citizens are those which can build the solid social and financial frame of the next decade. If we continue to focus on narrow personal interests and vote in a selfish way, it is possible that the ensuing ills will be worse than the ones we are presently experiencing. If, however, we mobilise, we act jointly and we vote for the common good, we will not again experience the ills of the present decade. The future of our country is in the hands of its conscious electorate.

ECONOMIC CRISES ARE CAUSED BY THE PUBLIC SECTOR’S MANAGEMENT MINDSET

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH, ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΦΥΛΛΟ ΠΟΥ ΚΥΚΛΟΦΟΡΕΙ

 

   The term “mindset” describes a generalised way of thinking. The term “generalised” refers to both the affairs that are of interest to certain individuals as well as to all individuals who have the same way of thinking. Αctually, the term prevailing mindset would be more accurate. We believe that the current mindset of corruption in managing the affairs of the public sector is at the root of the long financial crisis of our country. It is still not certain how much longer the crisis will last and when it will finally end, however, a shift in the current mentality could help find an effective solution for the prolonged crisis. Although changes to attitudes do not happen overnight, they can be the beginning of an optimistic development and eventually bring much-needed positive results.

The generalised mindset described above characterises the whole public sector, the central administration, the legal entities and the other public interest entities. There are of course some exceptions, but because of their small number, they cannot offset the general trend. The way that the budgets of ministries, public institutions and bodies are run confirms the prevailing mindset that we referred to in the previous paragraph. A careful examination of the budget of any public agency or body and the authorisation of expenditures shows their usefulness or otherwise to the common good.

   In order to evaluate the allocation of the funds of a budget, we need first to examine the relation between a) the operational and consumer spending and b) the investment expenditures. This relation is of course influenced by the statutory powers and responsibilities of each administrative body. In most instances, the investment expenditures are much lower than the operational ones, and they are allocated according to non-transparent criteria, since they are not set by a democratic planning and do not correspond to political commitments. This trend is particularly prominent in recent years, to the point that instead of investment, we see divestiture, since hardly any funds are allocated for the maintenance of the existing assets, logistics and infrastructure.

The lack of equitable planning leads to allocation of limited investment expenditures with criteria governed by political ends and micropolitics, and serving certain target groups of citizens or certain preselectioned areas. This constitutes one more distortion, since the economic resources are not spent efficiently, the needs of the general public are not met and quality of life is not improved.

The operational and consumer expenses are allocated in such a way that it leads to overdevelopment of the public sector and the increase in the number of businesses and suppliers depending on it. This results in decreased productivity of government bodies and state institutions, and thus the prevailing mindset of the administrators is perpetuated. This has a negative impact on the tax paying citizens whose everyday needs are not met by the services provided by the state.

   This prevailing mindset on the part of state administrators has plagued Greece since independence. The newly-liberated Greeks were not able to understand and accept the rational governing of Ioannis Kapodistrias, who had been elected by the National Assembly as the first Governor. It is worth noting that Kapodistrias donated the bigger part of his personal assets to the Greek National Treasury. In the few years that he governed, he established the rule of law and the foundations of sound administration. His vision included the common good of all citizens and the expansion of the Greek state to the north, from Arta on the west to Pagasitikos Bay on the east (these expansion plans were later abandoned). The prevailing corrupt mentality and policies had  already been established during the years of Turkish occupation in order to benefit those powerful groups who were involved in the central administration. This culture continued until the Greek independence and was followed by four bankruptcies, one of which lasted for almost a hundred years, until the end of the previous century!  It also led to high taxation, so that state loans could be paid back.

The general thoughts presented above, and in particular the imperative need for a mindset shift, should definitely be taken seriously by the public administrators of our area.

PELOPONNESE DEVELOPMENT CONGRESS:  GLOOMY OUTLOOK FOR MANI

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH, Εφημερίδα

The Development Congress of the Peloponnese Administrative Region took place in Tripoli in February 2018. It was the 10th of thirteen (13) congresses that are supposed to take place in the capital of each Greek administrative region. These congresses are organised by the Ministry of Development and Finance together with each region. According to the government, the goal of these congresses is the in-depth investigation of the production capacity of each region and  the drafting of a coherent implementation plan for economic reconstruction. This was supposed to happen through consultation during the work of the Congress, resulting in establishing a road map of procedures according to the priorities set out in the “National Development Strategy 2021” and the initiatives that have already been planned or developed, thus marking the transition from the economic crisis to the equitable development for the region.

The generalities of targets and goals, as described above, have probably been set vague on purpose, so that personal interests are promoted through unclear statements and development congresses. During the three days of the Congress in Tripoli, the vague speeches of the ministers and the pretentious public statements made at press conferences by central and local government politicians did not lead to any conclusions and were definitely not conducive to triggering a process of regional development. The speeches of the local politicians, shortened to fit the timelines of the Congress, did not contribute anything essential to the Congress, as they were supposed to do. There was also no provision for statements of case or pleadings to be submitted. Two months after the conclusion of the Congress and the ensuing discussions, recommendations and suggestions, there has been no progress.

   In order to achieve a proportionate and equitable development among all Greek administrative regions, the development budget needs to be divided equitably. Based on fixed data, such as the population, the area and the number of dwellings, which have been determined by the Hellenic Statistical Authority, stable allocation guidelines of the available resources could be established. Realistic projections of the central and the regional budget could be established and communicated to the relevant organisations and agencies, for further action. If this procedure were to be followed, allocation of funds would be a lot more efficient and political/personal gains would be reduced.

   Once more, our region was left by the wayside by the Peloponnese Region Development Congress. Mani’s needs, even after the considerable tourist development of the last decades, once more were not taken into account. As a matter of fact, not even one of the proposed projects or procedures addressed our area! It seems that being ignored by the state and by the regional public investment programs has become business as usual. A quick glance at the official data provided by the Hellenic Statistical Authority proves this injustice. If the allocation of the development funds were done in a fair way, i.e. taking into account the population, the area and  the number of dwellings, Mani (Eastern and Western) should receive 4,4% of the total regional public investment funds for the Peloponnese  (we arrived at the 4,4% percentage by taking into account the following data: a) total population of the Peloponnese 577.903 inhabitants and of Mani 19.950 inhabitants, b) total number of dwellings of the Peloponnese 411.462, and of Mani 22.692 and c) total area of the Peloponnese 21.550 km2 and of Mani 913,3 km2). It is obvious to anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Mani and its villages, that for many decades the investment funds allocated to our area do not even amount to 1/3 of the 4,4% that our area is entited to according to an equitable distribution of the development resources.

The recent Peloponnese Development Congress is tangible proof of the long-term negative attitude of politicians towards Mani. It is now left up to Maniots and philo-Maniots, who care about our area’s development, to carefully evaluate the above data and take action accordingly. We would like to stress once more, that injustices of this kind are not to be dealt by using with personal gain politics, but with common rallying and organisation of the considerable Mani human resources.

THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR NEWSPAPER “MANIOT SOLIDARITY”

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH

 

The beginning

In 1999, when the members of our association decided to publish this newspaper, they had no idea of how difficult the undertaking would be. However, the will of those of us, who decided to volunteer our free time so that our love for Mani could be expressed through the newspaper, was stronger than the difficulties that we would be facing. For all of these years, our course of action was guided by researching and publishing those historical elements that constitute the heritage of our heroic ancestors; we also tried to connect these elements to today’s needs and to the prospects for the future, a future that we would like to be as bright as possible for our children and for future generations.

 

In our very first issue, we presented our professional ethics, which have remained the same in the twenty years that have passed. These values are also reflected in the title of our newspaper: “MANIOT SOLIDARITY”. We all know that for many centuries the primitive custom of family scores and blood feuds prevailed in our area. This inhumane custom caused long-running conflicts and constant agitation in the Maniot society. It is a blessing that during the last decades this custom has disappeared, at least in the form of revenge killings. It is not certain that the societal and biological substrate that caused these blood feuds has also disappeared. This mentality, expressed as suspicion and resentment, leads to selfish perceptions and makes a meeting of minds impossible. However, the reconciliation of different positions and the finding of common ground are absolutely necessary for the development and prosperity of the region. Our goal is to help bring Maniots together, so that we can together showcase those elements that make our area unique. The geophysical characteristics of our region, our cultural monuments, the great climate and the spontaneous hospitality of Maniots are timeless characteristics that attract many visitors. If Maniots decide to stand in solidarity and support each other, the disastrous divisions that we have seen, and which have cost our area more than the blood feuds of the past, will become less frequent. These divisions continue to hinder the efforts necessary for the development of our area.

 

The course of action

The phases of our long publishing journey were not always smooth or without problems. Because of the common efforts of the members and directors of our association, we managed to overcome them. In addition to the steady publication of our monthly newspaper, we went further in our editorial goals. We ventured into the publishing of several books on Mani, such as:  “Guide to Tourist Investments”; “Vignettes from the History of Mani”, volume 1; the booklet “Western Mani: 20 Sightseeing Spots Starting at the Boundary at Kalamata”; and “Travel Routes” (Outer, Lower, Inner Mani and Bardunia) with detailed references to all settlements. Last year, in response to today’s digital era expectations, we upgraded our website www.maniatiki.gr by adding a lot of data about Mani and many articles and editorials from our newspaper. The high number of Maniot and philo-Maniot visitors to our website proves the necessity of our most recent undertaking.

 

The future prospects

We believe that our moral obligation towards Mani does not end here. We will continue with further work, such as the publication of the second volume of the book “Vignettes from the History of Mani”, which will bring us to the years relating to the preparations for the revolution of 1821. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the publication of our newspaper “MANIOT SOLIDARITY” and always loyal to our original goals, we are also in the process of finalising plans for additional initiatives to be undertaken in the near future.

 

We would like to end this article with the following excerpt from the editorial of the first issue of our newspaper in April 1999, with a message which is still relevant today: “The publication of this newspaper will fill a void. Mani is characterised by sparse populations and long distances between villages. The infertile soil and the need for employment as well as the civil wars have forced a large percentage of Maniots to immigrate either to other Greek regions or abroad. However, the main characteristics of our ancestors are still present in their genes, particularly the love for our country and everything that is related to our home region, such as its institutions, the occupational activities of its inhabitants, its prospects for the future and its prosperity. Maniots are indeed an integral part of Mani, and based on strong common roots, they have succeeded in developing common attitudes and have accomplished some of the most glorious achievements in the history of our country. Through the newspaper that we are now launching, we will try to showcase all relevant facts, so that the younger generations will also learn about the basic principles, attitudes and lifestyles of their ancestors. Hopefully today’s young Maniots will also be inspired by their glorious common past and they will firmly move forward and face the future by adopting strong joint undertakings.”

HISTORIC AWARENESS AND MANIOTS OF FUTURE GENERATIONS

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH, Εφημερίδα, εφημερίδα

A development which has been taking place in Mani for the past two decades has brought not only financial gains to our region, but also new practices and mindsets. These are the customs and mentalities of both visitors/tourists and of new settlers. As long as these new characteristics are in harmony with our own culture, they are welcome. However, when these new customs are not in harmony with our values, then there is the danger that the local culture and the specific nature of Mani (the particular character of the area), which is the product of many generations of Maniots practising the same customs and cultural norms, will change drastically. In order to avert this risk, coordinated actions of the whole region are needed; unfortunately, this kind of initiative has not as yet been undertaken. The question now is: how many people are aware of these risks, and even more important, how many local people are willing to undertake action in order to preserve the Maniot culture?

It is hopeful for the region that according to the prebookings for the Greek tourist season of 2018, there will be an increase of 10% in tourists. Some of these visitors will visit Mani, which means increased business in our area. The beauty of our natural environment and the welcoming nature of Maniots are well known and do not need to be praised in our column. However, what would really help local entrepreneurs is if first-time visitors became repeated visitors to Mani and if they advertised our region to friends and acquaintances. It is certain that visitors would enjoy their stay in Mani more, if they were to get to know our cultural monuments through quality foreign-language publications on our cultural heritage and through well-documented guided tours. The same can be said about the local cuisine and local food ingredients. Some progress has already been made in these areas, but these are mostly isolated actions that need to be grouped together and systematised. The long-term preservation of the main characteristics of our area (i.e., nature, climate, cultural heritage, history) needs stronger coordinated action across the whole region of Mani.

A small tour of our villages reveals very different demographics than thirty (30) years ago. In some villages the new settlers are more numerous than Maniots. The question now is the following: which culture and lifestyle are going to prevail? The local culture that was developed many centuries ago or the culture of the new settlers? This issue is crucial, particularly for the indigenous inhabitants who believe in Mani and our heroic ancestors and have spoken in public about these issues. These people in particular should look for innovative ideas and suggestions, so that they can support the preservation of the local culture not only with words, but also with actions, which might require some small personal sacrifice.

The new residents of our region can generally be divided into two large groups: a) those who come from countries with a high level of civilisation, particularly from western European counties, and b) those who started coming to Greece after the collapse of the former Eastern Bloc, thirty (30) years ago; these economic migrants continued to arrive in Mani for twenty (20) years after the fall of the communist block. This flow only stopped with the Greek economic crisis. In spite of the economic crisis, many of the economic migrants stayed in our country, and most of them have now become permanent residents. Their children were born and raised here.

The first group of the new inhabitants of Mani (citizens of western European nations) already had a lot of knowledge about our area before they settled here; actually, most of them settled here exactly because of this knowledge. The second group, however, (the economic migrants from the former Eastern block) had very little knowledge about our area; even today, they have learned very little about Mani, because the constant struggle for survival leaves them with little time for anything else. Both of these groups are characterised by a general lack of interest in acquiring more knowledge about the Maniot culture and our heroic traditions. The children of these new residents might attend regular public Greek schools, however, even these children who were born in Greece, do not learn about Maniot culture. There is no formal teaching of the local culture, and in the few schools where this teaching takes place, it is incomplete and uncoordinated.

This last thought brings us to the following crucial question: how much knowledge about Mani, its culture and its history will the inhabitants of Mani of the next one or two generations have? Have the leaders of the municipalities of our area reflected at all on this issue? If they have, should they not be coordinating their actions, so that they can draft and implement long-term integral-type programs, which year after year will promote the cultural identity of our area to present and future generations? Should they not be promoting , the whole range of our local culture, from our dietary habits to the local Maniot mores, customs and traditions based on past entitlement?

We are leaving these questions unanswered, in the hope that some enlightened local leader might be moved by this editorial and undertake some belated action.

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.

POLITICS FOR THE COMMON GOOD VERSUS POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM

MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH, εφημερίδα, Εφημερίδα

 

   It seems as if a new epoch may be starting. The balance and harmony between different social trends is in the process of being lost. Positive relations between states are being threatened because of the different mentality of the citizens of individual states. What is worse, these new trends also permeate small municipalities. Upon deeper reflection, we cannot but wonder if the above global tendency is in effect an individual trait that is becoming public at this point in time. Since it is difficult to give a definite answer to this question, we can hypothesise that the individual way of thinking and acting affects the public mentalities and actions that we have been observing. 

   Political opportunism, i.e. exercising power  with the main goal of getting the politicians who are already in power reelected, seems to be the dominant trend in contemporary politics. This trend is even more dominant in countries where political culture is unsophisticated and social institutions are weak. In countries where democracy is well established and universal suffrage is a long-established principle, political opportunism takes different shapes, corresponding to the mentality of different societal groups. In the USA for example, the last election was won by promoting a political agenda aiming at protecting American local production from international trade! In Western Europe there are parties that hope to seize power by promoting a political agenda aiming at restricting the movement of foreigners! In our country, because of the politics that were exercised during the last two centuries of the modern Greek state, there is homogenisation, so political opportunism has shaped itself in different forms.

   In Greece, the mentality that the governing party needs to remain in power at all costs has almost been “legitimised” and therefore has become more important than the party’s obligation to promote the long-term interests of the country. Since this goal cannot be put forth in a blatant manner, many devious ways have been invented in order to conceal it; one such way is to promote various false causes, appearing as beneficial to the national interests. To this end, measures of economic usefulness to many societal groups are being passed, without however revealing which other societal groups have been hit with additional taxation, in order to fund the above false causes. Corrupt politicians expect that funding false causes will bring them multiple benefits, including reelection.  It seems that Greece is unique in having invented and exercising this kind of political opportunism.

   This political opportunism ressembles wading through a swamp: all it does is stirring muddy waters. States and societies in general can only benefit through production and fair distribution of new wealth. The exploitation of wealth-producing natural resources and the utilisation of new inventions are the main ways of producing new wealth. If this happens collaboratively, then the new wealth is distributed evenly throughout the society. In democratic societies, everyone benefits, although some citizens more and others less, and social progress occurs. All states are obliged towards their electorate to maximise the utilisation of their resources and distribute the wealth in a fair manner to all their citizens. This process not only leads to sustainable development and fulfillment of the goals of individual states, it also fosters cooperation among different states according to the inter-state statutory provisions that have been agreed upon.

   Mani, our area, suffers from acute political opportunism, which is being exercised at many levels. The Greek state appears distant and not appreciative of the highly divided citizens of this remote corner of our land. Unfortunately, our epoch is a time of anti-heroes, and while we, as individuals and as Maniots, might find comfort in the heroism of our ancestors, the central government politicians in Athens do not have any such sensitivities. In addition, the tacit approval of the governing politicians by the societal groups which benefit from political opportunism undermine the efforts of the other citizens and prevents them from putting forth and promoting the local needs of our area.  We can lift ourselves out of this stagnation only if we remember the heritage received from our ancestors : their biggest accomplishments happened when they made a conscious decision to sing from the same hymn sheet, and to cooperate with conviction and selflessness.

FROM THE “STREET FORUM” AND THE “ELDERS’ COUNCIL” TO SOCIAL MEDIA

2017 MAIN ARTICLE IN ENGLISH, MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH, εφημερίδα, Εφημερίδα

  Until recently the street forum (ρούγα) and the elders’ council (γεροντική) were two very important institutions in Mani. Their importance came from their structure and their mode of operation. At the street forum, everyday events relating to the members of the community as well as other events were analysed, opinions were exhanged and objections were raised. Usually at the end, after the sythesis of all points of view, an agreement was reached. At the elders’ council more important affairs were discussed, i.e. those which affected the balance of the community as a whole. The elders’ council consisted of representatives from each family in the community, usually the older members, and was a form of governance within the autonomous system of Mani. As at the street forum, at the elders’ council decisions were also made after the synthesis of all viewpoints, however, this institution also had executive powers.  These two institutions (the street forum and the elders’ council) were practised for centuries, because they operated in the following integrated way: expressing opinions – objections – broad debate – comprehensive decision.

   Immigration and technology were the reasons why these two traditional institutions gradually became weakened and eventually ceased to exist. As a result of immigration, the number of people who participated in the street forum of each village became smaller and smaller and decisions became less and less comprehensive in nature. New technology, such as radio first and television later, meant that people moved from the street to the coffee house (καφενείο)[1] and later, once they had their own radio or television, to their own home. Τhe elders’ council declined and was gradually replaced by municipal government and the first courts of the modern Greek state. However, some elements of the street forum and the elders’ council survived in later years in the social relations between various Maniot municipalities.

The coup de grâce to these two long-standing institutions came a few years ago. Internet became the absolute tool of multi-information, not only for current, but also for past events. Social media, and in particular Facebook, established new communications on many levels among their users. We are now at the phase of building multi-communication through new technology. However, these new technologies lack some basic elements of the older “social media” (the street forum and the elders’ council). We believe that these missing elements cannot be addressed by new technology, and this is why no comprehensive results can be achieved.

Communication through the modern social media means lack of immediacy – the participants are not physically present, and they communicate in isolation, usually in their home. Technology can only partially and poorly replace the sound and movement or the local atmosphere of the area, the local problems of which are debated upon. Of course, in the future new advancements in technology might achieve a closer personal approach, however, we believe that they will never be able to entirely reach the effectiveness of face-to-face communication.

The above-mentioned differences between old and new social media have a profound impact on today’s society. They bring about social isolation, they decrease the desire for undertaking joint actions, and they replace quality with quantity of human interaction. They lead to tendencies that eventually weaken long-standing institutions that were established as a result of complicated, lengthy and painful procedures. This weakening starts at the lower social institution, the family, and it permeates through all the higher ones: it affects the common interests of the local municipality, the common interests of citizens with common ethnic roots and origin, and finally the common interests of the members of alliances between countries.

Unfortunately, these tendencies have also appeared in the cradle of the time-honoured social media, our area Mani. It is easy to observe today’s laxity here, because Mani is a small area. Of course, there are other reasons for this slackness, except for those given above. However, here the danger of weakening long-standing institutions is greater because of the sparse population. In our region, effectively responding to these problems can only happen through a very strong desire for social clustering and co-operation. Our ancestors were able to find effective solutions every time there was a need. Are we able to find effective solutions and carry them through?

[1] at the beginning there was only one radio (and later one television) at the village καφενείο