Observer
October 2, 2011
Let me say that our system of government does not copy the institutions of our neighbours. It is more the case of our being a model to others, than of our imitating anyone else. Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.
That was Pericles, as relayed by Thucydides, speaking to his fellow Athenians in 431BC. Things have moved on. Athens is being told by other governments, and by the financial-market traders who are the successors of the traders in the ancient agora (marketplace), that others in general, and Germany in particular, are a model for Greece. The firm message is: beware of Greeks bearing debts. It is the Athenians who should imitate others.
The passage from Thucydides is in the celebrated funeral oration. Huge efforts are now being made to avoid the need for a funeral for Greece's membership of the eurozone – and, indeed, for the eurozone itself. And the question is: can the pro-euro minority who nominally have the power win the support of "the whole people" for a financial rescue operation whose prospective size seems to be magnified by the week?
Now, to the extent that Greece has been guilty of all manner of malpractice, her critics have a point – a very good point. Certainly the citizens of the fount of democracy should pay their taxes; and it is perfectly understandable that northern Europeans, while looking forward all year to their Mediterranean holidays, should resent subsidising those members of the European Union who want a free ride.
More
No comments:
Post a Comment