I have avoided all this time, for about two years, to comment on what is happening in my country... Greece's economic nightmare has reached all over the world and though there is a lot to be said about its causes, the accuracy of the information distributed as well as its completeness and the interests it serves, the fact remains than the world knows we are actually living in a Greek tragedy, straggling to maintain the last shreds of dignity we are left with... Tragedy... nothing "better than shoes" there... hence my silence about it...
But today I decided to break the silence and write about something that is, in my opinion, fundamental in this crisis Greece is experiencing and does fit in the concept of this blog: A tree is better off in the woods I think. If the woods are burnt, one tree alone will not survive... Same, a person is better off in a society... that's why we actually started forming those... societies that is... our ancestors were not forced to start living in groups, they merely realised it had advantages!
But, regardless of its advantages, a society cannot go on functioning for a long time if its people only think of themselves... society is a plant we all have to water! The good news is that, aiming for the common good IS better than just taking care of ourselves for the simple reason that when the society prospers, the people prosper, every one prospers. When individuals prosper individually, eventually societies fall... and people follow... And surely I am not a sociologist but I bet you many of them would just agree with me...
What we are experiencing in my country, and in the western world generally at the moment, is not only an economic crisis, it is a crisis of values. And that is the reason why it is so deep, so serious... We have gone too far, in my humble opinion, thinking of ways of making only our little lives better and ignoring our societies, is some cases not only ignoring but intentionally harming them for our own selfish gain... for the hefty Xmas bonus, for our next luxurious holidays, for the big house, the fast car... and now we are just reaping what we sowed... And the only thing that can take us out of the s**t we are in, is solidarity, is to start thinking as a group again, start aiming for the common good, stop thinking as individuals... needles to say that I think this is "better than shoes"... needles to say it is difficult... but then again, the "good" is always difficult, it is the "bad" that is easy... time to finally choose wisely!
But today I decided to break the silence and write about something that is, in my opinion, fundamental in this crisis Greece is experiencing and does fit in the concept of this blog: A tree is better off in the woods I think. If the woods are burnt, one tree alone will not survive... Same, a person is better off in a society... that's why we actually started forming those... societies that is... our ancestors were not forced to start living in groups, they merely realised it had advantages!
But, regardless of its advantages, a society cannot go on functioning for a long time if its people only think of themselves... society is a plant we all have to water! The good news is that, aiming for the common good IS better than just taking care of ourselves for the simple reason that when the society prospers, the people prosper, every one prospers. When individuals prosper individually, eventually societies fall... and people follow... And surely I am not a sociologist but I bet you many of them would just agree with me...
What we are experiencing in my country, and in the western world generally at the moment, is not only an economic crisis, it is a crisis of values. And that is the reason why it is so deep, so serious... We have gone too far, in my humble opinion, thinking of ways of making only our little lives better and ignoring our societies, is some cases not only ignoring but intentionally harming them for our own selfish gain... for the hefty Xmas bonus, for our next luxurious holidays, for the big house, the fast car... and now we are just reaping what we sowed... And the only thing that can take us out of the s**t we are in, is solidarity, is to start thinking as a group again, start aiming for the common good, stop thinking as individuals... needles to say that I think this is "better than shoes"... needles to say it is difficult... but then again, the "good" is always difficult, it is the "bad" that is easy... time to finally choose wisely!
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