The logo of ELAS, the new party founded by former left-wing prime minister Alexis Tsipras, is displayed on giant screens ahead of next year's elections in Athens on Tuesday. [AP]
In our turbulent time it is alarming that new parties are born and the political debate is held in an ideological framework which has no relation with the challenges that we must face. The symbols, signs, slogans and references to old movements and myths may provide a sense of continuity and hope for a return to simpler times, but this is like our dressing up as heroes of old to wage battle with current problems.
However much we pretend to be the successors of the old left and right, however much we believe that these labels will attract people who share the same fantasies, the symbols and “recipes” for old policies serve no useful purpose; even worse, they create the illusion that something is being done.
The dangers are immediate and existential. The international environment is unpredictable, making our neighborhood even more dangerous. International law, rules of behavior, and alliances are undermined to the point of irrelevance. High prices, the housing crisis, the demographic bomb and the already significant lack of employees in key sectors stifle the economy and society. The public administration’s inefficiency (despite recent improvements), endemic corruption, the lack of respect we show each other, push industrious young people to seek a better life elsewhere.
