Creation, production, the unhindered private business activity within and beyond the borders of the country, the freedom of movement of goods, people and capital, personal freedoms in general, the freedom of speech and the press, the formation of associations and unions to safeguard worker rights and the creation in general of interest groups are conquests of the democratic post-dictatorship era, which were enriched and expanded with our participation in the European Union, as required and enforced by the so-called Community acquis.
This is an acquis of urban values and beliefs that existed in the hearts of the Greek people since interwar period, but it was later abused or restricted by repressive regimes and undemocratic, narrow-minded forces that dominated for a while and wanted to keep the Greek people detached and isolated.
Our participation in the European Union gave a boost to the Greek bourgeois liberalism, carrying waves of cosmopolitanism and freedom in the country and to our people.
Today once can say the European acquis is also a Greek acquis.
The Greek people and especially the younger generations have the same European experiences, they are away of European life and culture, they understand the advantages and abilities it can offer and that is why they are defending it en masse, despite the doubts generated by the financial crisis.
Lately forces and people have emerged who either do not deeply understand this relationship, or they are not in the position to comprehend the degree of which these bourgeois values and beliefs have been integrated in Greek society. One cannot explain otherwise the ease with which they dispute this framework of values and claim to be prepared to limit its scope.
Indicatively, in the past few months, those power have praised everything State-run and at the same time loathe, to be polite, everything private. All the attention has been focused on the ruined – and in many ways responsible for this crisis – public sector and nobody cares about the private sector, which has managed to survive without resources or help, on its own.
We cannot also ignore the fact that in the name of an avowed political morality, the young and otherwise unstable – governors are prepared to control the media; either by establishing state media – which we all know are destined to turn into sources of bad propaganda, or by slandering and enforcing exhaustive and harsh measures on free and private media.
They ought to be aware though that the aforementioned bourgeois values are non-negotiable for Greek society. The freedom of choice is now its conquest; it cannot be suppressed, nor controlled. If such an attempt is made though, it will be the basis for developments that those defined by the propagandist Plekhanovian falsehood cannot imagine.
Antonis Karakousis
Originally published in the Saturday print edition
