A rare window of opportunity

Escapist tendencies are perfectly understandable in anyone who is involved in public life in Greece, and especially if they are in a post that entails serious responsibilities. To put it bluntly, this is not an easy country. The state is riddled with people like the stationmaster in Larissa involved in the Tempe crash and the Fire Service officials on duty during the deadly Mati wildfire. The issue is not only about the individuals, so much as the fact that they are rotten beams in a structure that's always on the verge of collapse. Beams constructed by politicians from across the political spectrum, either to accommodate cronies or to control the distribution of power.

It all makes for an intolerably toxic atmosphere. In the meantime, protest rallies are swelling again and city streets are too often clogged with marches. Fewer and fewer people agree to enter into politics...