I am getting angry. Angry and depressed. And tired. Angry at the state my country and my ethnos has descended to. Depressed at what the future appears to have in store for us. And tired at having to listen everyone else blame Greece for the world’s woes. Sure we the people are responsible for a great part of the attitudes that led us to where we are today, but we are not responsible for the system that allowed the unnamed few to plot the course that led us here, in smoke filled back rooms. You’re going to call me ethnocentric but in reality, it’s even worse than that. I declare myself polis-centric. What does that mean you ask? It means that I am an Athenian dammit! I am an Athenian and I want my Democracy back!
Around 500 B.C., Cleisthenes (elder relative both to Pericles and Alcibiades), standing on the shoulders of Solon, created (through several revolutionary and ingenious reforms) what was to eventually become the Athenian Democracy. He did this to ensure that there would not be future Tyrants in Athens. Tyrants tended to be oppressive, autocratic rulers, (although a few turned out to be benevolent and supported by the populace). In either case, they gained power and generally maintained their position not by constitutional or hereditary means, but through the use of mercenaries or soldiers from another polis. This was deemed unacceptable and several new measures were instituted to ensure that it could never happen again:
The political organization was changed from the four traditional Athenian tribes, which were based on family relations, into ten tribes according to their area of residence, their deme. There were 139 demes divided among three regions. A city region, asty; a coastal region, paralia; and an inland region, mesogeia. Thusly, the Athenians’ sense of belonging to a deme increased . Legislative bodies were established that were run by citizens chosen by lottery, making all Citizens de facto equal and furthermore eliminating any possible effect kinship or heredity could have on their function. The Boule was organized with 500 members, 50 from each tribe. It was responsible – under oath - "To advise according to the laws what was best for the people”. It would propose laws to the assembly of voters, who convened in Athens around forty times a year for this purpose. The bills proposed could be rejected, passed or returned for amendments.
So Athens was ruled by the demes or people, which is where the “demo” part in "democracy" comes from. The second part comes from krátos which means "force" or "power" and that’s power to the people for you. There you go. There was a catch however. While virtually all Citizens were allowed and even urged to participate in the democracy, Citizens did not include women, children, slaves, or resident aliens, including those from other Greek poleis. In fact, only adult male Athenian citizens who had completed their military training as ephebes had the right to vote in Athens. The percentage of the population (of males) that actually participated in the government was about 20%. Also disallowed were citizens whose rights were under suspension (typically for failure to pay a debt to the city. HA!). For some Athenians this could lead to permanent and even inheritable disqualification. Most importantly though, there were no real property requirements for Citizenship. This went directly against the concept of what citizenship was at the time and in other poleis, and even at 20% participation, the portion of the population that took part in the government of Athens was the largest anywhere. The vast numbers of active Citizens required just for Cleisthenes’ system to work, testify to a level of participation among those eligible that greatly surpasses any apathetic version of present day applied “democracy”.
There it is then, the gist of the best type of government there ever was, in a few paragraphs. Just a passing look will show how glaringly far we have strayed from it. We have no sense of belonging inside us. We certainly have no sense of obligation or participation. We let others – strangers – decide for us. We have become fragmented into sub-categories of interests that fight amongst themselves, oblivious to the fact that there can be no winner. We jump at the tiniest opportunity to become micro-tyrants in our job, home, society. Any (perceived) power we may have – however insignificant, we will wield, if it will make us feel superior even for a moment. No beauty of purpose, no nobility of cause can shake us from our resolve to be petty, misanthropic, self centered simulacrums of what a Citizen should be …
“So what would you have us do?” ask those of you that feel that something needs to be done. “And what’s with the (ancient) history lesson anyway?” ”Are you saying we should go back to something like that?” “We don’t have slaves anymore and all this pure citizen crap sounds suspiciously like some master race spiel and let’s not forget about the women being excluded!” No, I am not saying we should go back. The logistics (human and otherwise) of today make it impossible (probably). But – and it’s a big but – the spirit behind that crazy experiment and behind the notion that the people that are making the decisions should be the same people that will be affected by them –ALL the people and ALL the decisions, is not a thing lost to ancient times and it would be great if we could get some of it back now. It is, simply put, this: Responsibility and Accountability. For everything that is wrong in our lives today, you can be sure of two things: 1) it is somebody else’s responsibility and 2) no one will be held accountable for it. And that’s definitely NOT how it used to be.
So, I say again: “I want my Demokratia back”. I want to be able to be a part of the decision making process, I want to know that the other Citizens that are involved in that process are equally attentive of it and I want to know that they have the welfare of our land and nation at heart, because if they (we) don’t, we will all share the responsibility of making things right and at the same time share the potential of reaping the benefits of our combined efforts towards a better future. And if I may get a little “politically incorrect” for a second here, you want to be a Citizen of my (imaginary, well governed and administratively sound) country, well you better demonstrate clearly that your life revolves around the betterment of this country you have chosen to live in. And what about the women being excluded? Perhaps the Athenians knew something we don’t know. Women have had the right to vote for about 50 to more than a 100 years now in most of the world. (since 1952 in Greece) and I have NOT seen any signs that this is a good thing. (Women had been voting 20 years in Germany when the Nazis rose to power there and we all know how well that turned out for everyone).
Did I hear someone say “unrealized potential?”
|
Hey Constantin,
The rest of your blog was so on-point that I suspect the jab at women for not having solved the world's problems was just an attempt to provoke a response, so here it is: women have the vote most places now because they are citizens and have the right to vote, not because they are superior beings who know better than men how to run the world. True, men have screwed it up royally, but that's because they've had much more opportunity to. I claim my right, and all women's right, to vote and participate in democracy at all levels--I don't claim women are superior to men and have all the answers (or enough power to implement their answers).
- Rosemary
Very good blog story! Indeed, what's necesary is a complete change of the political culture. And it's not only the politicians who have to change, it's the people, too. Greece has to relearn lessons on responsibility, accountability, transparency and the art of democracy. Especially on the necessity to put all options on the table and to unite a majority behind one choice.
No nation can survive as a democracy if it's divided into countless interest groups which all refuse to accept any compromises. Many popular preferrances simply contradict each other, for instance it's impossible to effectively tax the rich when at the same time the people oppose any firings in an infamously corrupt administration. Greeks have to accept that they can't have their cake and eat it at the same time. It's their responsibility as democratic citizen to make up their minds about the issues and to support realistic policies. Wishful thinking is a luxury the nation can't afford anymore.
Greetings Rosemary
Thank you for posting.
It's true, I was trying to provoke a response.
And yours is full of threads to pick at.
I will not attempt to do that through the cumbersome setting that is the comments thread. All I will say is that for me, women are equal to men.
The are, however, not the same as men.
And if I may expand this just a bit, they are equally responsible for the world's . . . condition but not in the same way.
And on this semi-cryptic note . . .
Hi Gray
Thanx for reading and posting.
You are on point on everything. Greece (or Hellas, as we like to call ourselves) has forgotten important lessons that it once was teaching to the world.
It is fragmented and self contradictory and in need of hard decisions.
However - as I will be exploring on my next post - these are all specific necessities to a problem that may appear to be only Greece's now, but is bound to become general sooner rather than later.
And that problem is systemic - not Hellenic.
Constantin,
If you see threads to pick at, what's stopping you? Of course, men and women aren't the same--that's a given. Whether they have equally contributed to the current state of the world, well that's a pretty unanswerable question, but if we're talking about the current state of worldwide economic/political corruption, you've got more than loose threads in a claim that women have equally contributed to this disaster--have you ever seen credible stats on women's access to wealth? If your argument is based on women's wiles, I'll have to ask you to consider the ways any oppressed group will take indirect action to survive, sometimes referred to as "agency."
Here's a quote from the United Nations' "Women Watch" website:
Women and the Economy
There are considerable differences in women's and men's access to and opportunities to exert power over economic structures in their societies. In most parts of the world, women are virtually absent from or are poorly represented in economic decision-making, including the formulation of financial, monetary, commercial and other economic policies, as well s tax systems and rules governing pay.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/directory/women_and_the_economy_3006.htm
- Rosemary
I really enjoyed this article,
And I largely agree with Constantin for anything that has to do with Democracy. I do not agree about the right to vote for women however, I think, we are way past the point of second guessing this right, women are equal humans beings as men and have every right not only to vote but also lead governments and countries.
I do also think that there are lessons to be learned from our ancestors and the way they practiced Democracy. And maybe in a world where communication gaps are getting smaller by the day it is time to evaluate options.
For instance, the Internet today presents an opportunity for a more participatory form of Democracy. While we can still vote and elect representatives that would function as they do now for Administrative purposes in the Voule (Parliament), Laws and other Issues requiring Decisions could be exposed to the people and the people could Vote via the technological means of the 21st century. I mean almost everyone has access to the Internet through many and different devices today, casting a vote from a SmartPhone registered to a Citizen could be something feasible in the near future.
And thus, a similar Practical Democracy that our ancestors enjoyed, having true access to the decisions made and be able to take govern our own selves as a People (Demos) be part of the decisions which affect our lives and our country could be again possible.
Suffice it for the people to have the same Democratic Spirit and Interest to do so as our ancestors did.
The Athenian democracy of old, that is the time of Pericles (495 – 429 BC) was a direct democracy (yes women and slaves were excluded but all citizens voted to pass all legislature). To the best of my knowledge, no direct democracy of that scale has existed in Athens or anywhere else since that time. The 'democracy' that Greece and the West practices today is a representative democracy, made up of a small group of people who simply need to be voted into office every 4 years or so, and thus hijack the name 'democracy' claiming it as if somehow their political entity is equal to that of the ancient Athenian Democracy. I don't know which democracy, Constantin you want back, but the one from antiquity has not been practiced for over two thousand years, and the one we have today is a shame. Today Greece goes one step further away from democracy by having a new leader of the nation who was chosen by elected MPs yet who himself is not elected! With the blessing of EU 'democratic' states seems the Greeks should never been offered to hold of all things... a referendum, because obviously in hard economic times democracy is not good for the global markets.
Yes, I do hope one day democracy returns to Greece, but in its ancient direct form, no more political parties, no more 'representatives', but rather every citizen having the right to vote on all laws. Of course if that never comes to past, one can always opt for my ancestral political system, that which was Athens greatest rival, Sparta.
To whom it concerns;
This was an extremely disappointing end to an interesting article. Alluding that perhaps the Athenians knew some reason that women voting would not be a good thing? This question alone, the fact that is was written and also that it was not challenged by the editor displays an almost unconscious yet fundamental absence of respect for women.
Your later words regarding equality in response, lead me to believe that you don't really understand what this means or what it should mean.
As for the reference to the Nazi's coming to power? if you had any actual information to offer regarding the actual and not assumed gender participation in these preceding elections, you may have been able to make an informed observation as opposed to a throwaway baseless remark.
I am reminded of Sundays Ostrich illustration on page 4 of the Athens News and wondering why you seek to provoke by looking in the ground and trying to create a debate regarding women voting when if you took your head out of the ground, the more obvious question to ask might be regarding the gender of leadership.
"We all know how that turned out", might also have been said about the gender of Greece's leaders to date who have now created an impression of Greece as Liars, dishonest, corrupt, incompitent .. in the eyes of other European countries. How many generations will now pay the cost of their behaviour?
Did any one gender of leadership in particular bring such shame, anger and dispair to the Greek people? or perhaps you would avoid the primary issue again by examining how many women voted them in?
Your depression, tiredness and anger might better be served by addressing those responsible and not by making a cheap provocation to relieve your own frustration at the expense of women.
Unrealised potential is also what heppens when your own energy is misdirected, as it was in this article.
A very dissapointed reader of the paper and website,
Carol
I think it is very strange that the greek covernment is hurting the people by bringing the social security down.
They are members of a social party, aren´t they?
In Holland they have a social alternative.
The government should talk to the SP, (social party).
Their program is the alternative solution for the crisis.
Try the site SP.nl and contact them in english.
Your government should take an example for the SP.
Power to the people.
(the program is : less defence, more taxes for the rich people and the banks, more buypower for the people to stimulate the economy. The age to retire must stay 65, no less health-care. etc etc.)
Greetings everyone (especially those that are upset with me).
It. Was. A. Joke!
Governments are (mostly) elected by the people. People have the governments they deserve. If any one country's government is not getting the job done, then the people that elected that government are responsible for that.
For example, the people that elected G.W.B. (TWICE!!!) to the White House, are responsible for the worst US president ever, two wars (both unfinished by previous US governments - one of them G.W's Dad's) and a destroyed economy. Undoubtedly and statistically (and unfortunately) , HALF of those people were women.
My (obviously misguided) joke was meant to point out that since women came to be voters later than men, and on a platform that included the attitude :"men have not been doing so great by themselves - let us show them how it's done", then maybe they would be wiser to the average politician's spiel. Alas, it hasn't happened.
That women are equal to men, is an axiomatic statement. Furthermore, in a country that now has as its capital modern Athens and in which women carried ammunition on their backs and up snowy mountains, so that their men in arms could repel Italian and German troops during WWII, it is easy to make the argument that women are as tough as men. Unfortunately, in the twisted and corrupt game that is politics, and in making the most of one's vote, women, in my humble opinion, have been (as close as can be)the same as men. And we all know that they only have two faults: Everything they say and everything they do...
Happy Holidays Everyone!
PS@ Carol: Trust me, I am not depressed. I have a doctor's note that says so...Well, not an actual written down on paper note. He just told me so.
As for tired and angry, I just finished typing this long-winded and (I am sure) full of generalizations and simplifications reply, and a)I haven't even broken a sweat and b) there's not even one G@d D@mn curse word in it.
A great piece except for the dumb joke!