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Reaction to Giannaras talk ..
BREAKING News
By Prof. Asher J Matathias
The recent talk given by Dr. Christos Giannaras at the Stathakion Cultural Center, Astoria, appears a stream-of-conscience prescription for the serious ailments that have afflicted Greece based on old bromides that simply do not suffice in a modern civilization. His anticipation of a social explosion, the result of increasing Greek poverty, is both premature and historically unsustainable. The American Great Depression of the 1930’s had at its nadir a quarter of the population destitute; yet, the nation held because the distress was precisely widely-shared, and the ingrained expectation that “happy days” will be here again. Greece’s social net is brittle not because of the economic disparity; it is the built estrangement the populace feels towards the collective scoundrels in the political class that have used, misused, and now abused the system to advance dynastic and personal interests.
These, and other points I would have liked to make directly to Dr. Giannaras, but reading the extensive reportage in the bilingual National Herald and GreekNews I have been able to get quite a taste of the proceedings. Regretfully, the talk ended in a pessimistic note, and that is too bad, in my assessment. My optimism is anchored in the belief that this Greek crisis is not a tragedy; further, it creates an inherent opportunity to progress and strengthen democratic institutions, even as we rid society of its regressive features: rampant nepotism, endemic corruption, and the anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, and anti-Israel geopolitical positions that have been reflected and ill-served in the Greek polity.
With the creative assistance of Western nations, continuing the welcome opening to, and future collaboration with, Israel, and, always, the good will of the expatriate Greek community, our native land will again see sunny economic days, in congruence with its incomparable physical beauty!