The third lockdown is easing and spring is finally here. It has been a gruesome winter and we are happy to have survived it. Actually, most people are so focused on getting out of the social winter that they are not really paying attention to the cost of the upcoming summer. The cost is financial and social, with more debt, unemployment, taxation and poverty, along with the cost of freedom that we thoughtlessly surrendered for a few days under the Mediterranean sun.
Random thoughts have been visiting my mind for some time now, and although they always make sense, I have never attempted to line them up for them to tell a story. Maybe I am not sure what story I want to tell, or maybe I am afraid of the story making me appear in a strange light. The certainty of the situation is that we are not comfortable in our lives anymore, and although we are not ready to admit it, we are preparing ourselves for a new set of rules in our everyday life.
I recently read a book about the Pontian Greeks that were slaughtered and driven out of their towns and homes in Asia Minor, at the dawn of the 20th century. An educated, prosperous and productive society was destroyed, at the sword of the Mustafa Kemal, a gifted ruler but also a ruthless murderer of women and children. Similar was the fate for the Armenian community and the Greeks on the Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor. At that time, they were concerned with the details of their everyday life. Their work, their family, their society. When the dark clouds of war came near, they remained optimistic about their future, they continued their lives and they prayed for their safety. They were not able to imagine the cruelty and the violence that they would face shortly, when the Turkish armies killed and burned everything on their path.
Almost a hundred years later, we are still discovering the political stage that enabled those crimes. World War I, the Russian revolution, internal political schemes. The great forces of the time, viewed the world and decided how it should be run. England, France, Austria, Ottoman Empire, Russia, even the United States of America, they all wanted a piece of the new carcass that was to be Europe. And once the decisions were made, the people had to fight the wars.
Millions of people killed without reason. Not because they were acting against their fellow citizens, but because they were in the way of a grand scheme. A grand scheme designed by selected few, kings and emperors mostly, with their single priority to maintain wealth and status. Lower in the food chain, people believed in ideas, in propaganda, in ideals like freedom, religion, country, and independence. People fought and died believing that they were serving a great idea, and failing to see the simple wealth-grabbing attempts from their selected leaders.
At the same time, those local leaders that recruited the idealists and the fighters, they were also to benefit from the chain they wished to implement. So they hid the cruelty of reality and they told the story that people wanted to hear. The local councilmen, the priests, the educated businessmen, they all had influence over the people they employed and they were prepared to use that influence in order to shift momentum into one direction. But which direction? Would it be the one that suits best the people in charge, or would it be the one that suits the people? And would people know the difference?
I don't know that much about the political events of the 1930s in Germany but we all know how they developed. I do not think that millions of Germans suddenly decided to kill half of the world, but it definitely was one man's plan. He used the political and social situation to gain strength, implanted fear and hate and suspicion in people's hearts and then let things take their turn. It was not something that happened from one moment to the next. Events were perceived through perspectives that were influenced by propaganda, and that propaganda started making sense. The job was done.
Julius Cesar was one of the first to implement the strategy of divide-and-conquer, and following him, many others found success not only in combat, but also in politics, business, even everyday life. Politicians are especially capable to recognize the parts of population that needs dividing, because they then become more vulnerable and open to manipulation. Donald Trump utilized social media and won his election by campaigning different policies to different people, based on what that part of voters wanted to hear. Social media are the absolute expert in allowing people to read only what they want to hear. There is no democracy, no pluralism, no inclusion in social media. You are either with us or you are one of the others. Sadly, society is now relying in social media for building an opinion. An opinion that is usually part of a campaign and is usually second hand. Whoever does not fall in line, will be rejected. Posts will be deleted, removed, bullied, ridiculed, censored and their authors shall be cast as rejects, idiots, weirdos, or even conspiracists. The society has no tolerance anymore. We all need to agree, because we all need to be part of the mainstream movement.
In an economy that has been struggling because of lockdown and closed businesses, the only organization with money to spend is the government. They can borrow money and distribute it according to plan. This time the plan is not to support, I mean really support, the struggling businesses and the unemployed workers that are going hungry, but instead is to support their own government, their party and the sponsors of the party. It is no secret that political parties rely on donations in order to run their campaigns, recruit members, and continue winning elections. These donations are coming from idealistic citizens that believe in the principles of the party, but the vast bulk of the money is coming from businesses, industries and other organizations that are searching for allies to promote their cause. The parties and the politicians become employees of the business or the industry, and the policy that the party promotes is usually aligned with what the business wants. This is the fundamental basis of corruption. Democracy slowly dies and we are all subjects to the biggest sponsor. The government has means and access to promote their policy, using TV, radio, newspapers, social media, lobbying, and all of the sudden we are all listening to the same tune. A tune that dictates what is good for us, what should we be doing, how should we be thinking. Vast amounts of money are then spent to promote the government line, instead of being spent for the benefit of their citizens. And there can be no questions asked.
What should we do? What could we do? We are all bombarded and brain washed, and we hear no other voice to suggest otherwise. Hypnotised we accept and we bow our heads, we sacrifice our sanity and our freedom, because we can no longer think that we shouldn't. TV and social media are keeping us busy with useless and guided information while the world is slowly shrinking around us. The greatest weapon used against our society has been fear. Fear for losing our lifestyle, fear for losing our status, fear for not being able to live the luxurious life we are accustomed. The more we have in this modern day, the more we are afraid of losing it. We are ready and willing to sacrifice what is important in order to keep the artificial happiness that material things are giving us.
We have only one resource left, that inner voice that keeps us breathing every day, that voice of principle, justice, righteousness, dignity, and survival. That voice is being slowly depressed and quietened, but we ought not let it die. We need to remain true to our values, to our ideas, to our beliefs, and even though these won't make us popular, they will give us a sense of belonging. No, we will not belong with the crowd. We will belong to ourselves, and besides the difficulties and the hurdles that are being constantly risen in front of us, we will always be true to ourselves. We will question ourselves but we will again find our compass and our purpose. We will be called names but we will face them with understanding. We will be asked to change but we will politely refuse, because we know ourselves.
Before the Turks invaded the Pontian and Greek territories, the Christian Greeks were offered the option of becoming Muslim Turks, and then they would be allowed to live in their areas, under the protection of the Ottoman Sultan. Some changed their religion, hid their language, and denied their heritage in order to fit in and survive. Others didn't and ended on the long road that refugees make, or even worse, they were killed as a demonstration of hate. Under no circumstances I can compare my life with what my grandfather went through in order to survive, but like him, I would like to think that I am staying true to what I believe and that I am not sacrificing so much, to gain so little.
I wish we could all try to keep true to ourselves because, after all, we have nothing else to give to this world, just ourselves.