Elitism

"It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few. But while there exists equal justice to all and alike in their private disputes, the claim of excellence is also recognized; and when a citizen is in any way distinguished, he is preferred to the public service, not as a matter of privilege, but as the reward of merit." Thucydides, Pericles' Funeral Oration.

How do you find the quote above? Some of you might think it's elitist. Isn't democracy supposed to put all citizens equal opposite the law and the state? I know this may sound like a terribly scary slippery slope but I think not. Democracy only works if the people who vote are educated and can form an informed opinion about the matters of a state. Give power to a bunch of uneducated, oppressed, entitled idiots and what do you get? A disgustingly high percentage of a nazi party in Athens! The Greek media are fluffing about trying to make sense of it again. Some of them call it an "unfortunate surprise". My God, the word understatement was invented for a reason... They talk about people's anger against the older political system that needs to be channelled somewhere, or even people's financial uncertainty that turns them against immigrants etc. And I say: bullshit. Complete and utter bullshit. People do not deserve their vote, because voting should come with some obligations: go read a book, open your eyes, read a newspaper, educate yourself on what these people stand for and don't just sit there repeating the bullshit the media are feeding you. You don't like reading about stuff, no vote for you, then. You want to remain an ignorant idiot? No vote for you. 

I am sick and tired of people talking about their "rights". In Athens, since we are taking the Athenian democracy as a model and an ideal, if you didn't participate in the open political discussions in the Agora, you lost your right to vote. Simple as that. If you cared only for the affairs of your "own house" (that is what being an "idiot" originally meant) then you could not vote. Being ignorant on political matters made you ineligible to vote, end of. 

You call that elitism? Then Golden Dawn it is. 

Kicking and screaming

I am not a maternal person, not at all. I like other people's children, but not all of them. I hang out with (some of) them, but in moderation. In fact I particularly dislike little spoilt creatures that have no boundaries and break everyone's balls.

I am about to put my money where my mouth is though: 31 weeks and counting. In about two months I'll have an alien of my own, keeping me awake at night, not knowing what to do. I haven't felt any fantastic maternal feelings kicking in during all this time, I'm just going with the flow and taking it one day at a time.

But there are mornings like this, sitting in bed, fooling around on the net, the rain lashing outside, and as I am sitting relaxed I get a funny kicks-combo inside my belly. It's a funny feeling, I have to say. I am often tempted to see too much into it: the baby responding in a movement I made, a song playing, or something I say. But perhaps it's just a way to simply say "hi I'm here". Or being squashed in my belly, wants to stretch about a bit. In any case, I have to say, cliché as it sounds, it's a little miracle, and I like it a lot. Makes me think it will be fun to meet this individual who kicked my ass off for all these months.

Two months and counting.

Scary, but exciting.  

Before Midnight, or romance for real

Finally got to see "before midnight" last night. For the uninitiated this is the third movie of the Linklater - Delpy - Hawke love triangle that started 18 years ago in Vienna, continued 9 years ago in Paris and now finds generation X's favourite couple in Greece, married with twins, exploring for the first time a different kind of love: not the "once in a lifetime" love of the first movie, not the "lucky second strike" love of the second movie, but the "love for real" that normal people, with normal love stories have to face, day in - day out.

This is the kind of love that people warn you about, the kind of love that gets you every day, with the good things and the bad things, the kind of love that makes you "wipe the pee off the toilet seat" and see your loved one naked, imperfect, boring, part of reality. They said that this movie was about the "melancholy of commitment" and I guess one couldn't have hit the nail in the head better.

What happens after the fairy tale ends, people ask, after Snow white gets the Prince and so on... With the danger of sounding terribly cliché, the answer is, life happens... Life takes over and fairy tales are put to the test. And I guess for the not-20-somethings-anymore among us, that's the question, at least this has been the one for me: how will we fare differently, us, the clever educated free self-conscious generation that does not have the constraints of our parents. How will we do? Will we all divorce? Will we manage? How will it be?

Jesse and Celine's answer is that we will manage, of course we will, but not without a small sad look in our eyes. Not without a pain in the heart, not without bruises. You manage to go through life but you really must "love [the other person] unconditionally" to put up with the pretentiousness of human existence, with the fact that people are boring, with the fact that sex can be boring, with the fact that the every day reality of family life can be boring, and really break through and keep romance alive. Not for one night in Vienna, not for one afternoon in Paris but for ever and ever, keep romance alive.

Bring it on!

The diary

Reading old diaries can be so depressing: the inadequacies of your older self, presented before you in magnificent glory; the terribly banal old "loves"; the intensity of the drama, even in cases where you now know how stupid it all was...

But most of all this fantastically clear understanding of the past in the comfort of the present: "in retrospect..." what a great phrase. What a great concept. We are all so wise, so cool "in retrospect". We are all insightful historians, we are all profound thinkers, in hindsight. We all analyse the past in such a clear way. What am I saying, it is clear!

And therein lies the drama: why are we all so so clever after all the drama has passed, but never during?

And why do 16(or even 17, 20, 25)-year old girls go through everything as if it is such a drama?

My 35-year old self cannot find a respectable answer to that.

And now back to my old diaries, perhaps they will give me another clue. 

No need to be blue...

And Pharell does it again! He brings us an upbeat song, catchy enough to rival the-one-that-shall-not-be-named (are you listening Daft Punk?),  and now nominated for an Oscar!

Most of all I love this song because it is a rare breed: it's beautiful, and poignant but not sad, desperate or desperately about love.

Clap along if you feel that happiness is the truth, he sings, and'd you know what? I am sure clapping along... 

Happy new year

Commonplace (and extremely belated) as it sounds, let us toast to the new year.

The year of the horse, my sign, the sign of success, prosperity and happiness.

Looking forward to another year of changes, (aren't they all?) a year of getting better, learning new things, and facing new challenges.

I'll be back soon with something interesting, but until then, Καλή Χρονιά σε όλους!

Things people say

People are funny. I mean, everyone says rhetorical things, commonplace expressions that carry no real meaning whatsoever, but some things are simply wrong. Take my longtime favourite (often uttered in despair by a Greek aunt or uncle, or even worse my mum):

"Have you put on weight recently?"

What do you respond to that? "No, this is just an illusion" or "Yes, I've been sort of eating like a pig lately"? Nothing just seems right…

There is no right answer, possibly because this question should not exist. Rude, intrusive, a truism, and just unacceptable, questions like this make my blood boil.

Other gems include:

"Don't you think this is not the way to do this?"

WTF? If I did, don't you think I would be doing it differently? I mean, seriously people, get a grip.

In general, I guess my point is that sometimes people really, really don't speak to offer any new information to the conversation, or the world. Sometimes people are just self indulgent idiots who speak only to make themselves sound clever or simply be a bit judgemental, for the fun of it.

One day, I will find a good way to respond to all of that, a way that summarises today's post in a way, but I guess until then a "fuck you" would just have to do.