A veteran parliamentarian was lamenting on how as of late the situation has taken a dramatic turn. Parliament recently became a two-sided arena. Outside the Parliament the usual suspects unsuccessfully attempted to invade the House, but that did not cause any real concern.

Overthrowing the State is tending to become a usual phenomenon.

Ahead of a rally, protest etc, everyone can estimate what will happen in the streets, squares, shops, public and private spaces.

However, as it would seem, it is not easy to predict the actions of some inside Parliament. On the outside, groups from the far left are torching the city. On the inside, far right “rebels: are offending parliamentarianism, democracy and the polity in general.

The Greek Parliament has experienced dark times in the past, with exchange of harsh language and gestures, even the use of force. The fights in Parliament though always seemed to have their limits.

Why is all this happening? In a lecture at a famous university of the East Coast in the USA, a professor gave an unexpected interpretation on the acts of those in power, which seemed like utter nonsense.

Why did the Greeks abandon their positions at Sangario during the Asia Minor campaign? Why did Napoleon fight at Austerlitz? Why did Hitler invade Russia in the winter?

These are historic enigmas or mysteries which cannot be rationally explained.

All historic enigmas, small and big, the professor added, can explained simply as thus: “They were merely fools!”. The answer, obviously, is timeless.

Stavros P. Psycharis

Originally published in the Sunday print edition