Banking on a new generation

By Alexis Papachelas

I imagine that somewhere among us is a 30-year-old who in a few years’ time will be able to lead the country forward, in the direction it deserves. I often have the sense that our present politicians are but transitory figures and it will take a new generation to get Greece once and for all beyond the period that started after the fall of the junta and turn it into a proper European country. I am not underestimating the role of those who are tasked with handling the country’s fate today. Once the history of this time has been written in a calm and unbiased manner, it will be appearent how important it was for Greece to stand on its feet and remain within the European fold.

The 30-year-old I am imagining will be free of all the stereotypes, hang-ups and miserly obsessions that are part of the DNA of the “Metapolitefsi” generation. The events of December 1944 will be interesting as a historical study to that person, not an excuse for passionate nostalgia or calling for a rematch, nor an occasion to stir anti-communist hysteria. That person will not be hostage to historical obsessions, party divisions and other outdated syndromes. There is little more depressing that hearing a young person spout the stalest ideas that the pantheon of cliches and phobias of this period has to offer rather than expressing new, interesting ideas.

The 30-year-old in my mind will be able to explain clearly why the country needs investments and will herald the end of the silent war waged by the central state, local authorities, bureaucracy, unions and sections of the justice system against entrepreneurship. He or she will have the real gift of rhetoric and will be governed by reason rather than setting off a battle cry at even the...