greece-10-understand-survival.pdf

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Greece Today

Spirit of Rebellion

Personal freedom and democratic rights are sacrosanct to Greeks, and

a residual mistrust of authority and disrespect of the state is integral to

the national psyche. This spirited characteristic has recently been evi-

dent, with many Greeks resisting Prime Minister George Papandreou’s

economic reforms to help curb Greece’s soaring national debt.

In June 2011, as the world watched to see whether Mr Papandreou

could achieve a majority vote in parliament for his austerity measures

and the next EU/IMF bailout, the streets of Athens were red with riot.

The vote went through and the rescue package for the ailing economy

was put in motion. The drama is far from over though, as the cur-

rent leadershipnavigates between incremental recovery and further

recession.

The Winds of Change

Greeks are steadily increasing their awareness of the issues regarding

local environmental degradation – cue recycling and a cap on sprawling

tourist developments.

Another hot potato of debate is immigration, with an infl ux of

people from Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa and Albania fl ooding into the

country, despite Greece having the lowest acceptance rate of any EU

country for asylum requests. Not surprisingly these new arrivals disap-

pear as ‘illegals’ into the fringes of Greek society.

The Church

Seismic faults have begun appearing in the once unblemished image

of the Greek Orthodox Church after a number of scandalous stories –

from sexual indecency to narcotics – emerged in recent times. However,

Population: 10.

million

Percentage of

women: 50%

Life expectancy:

80 years

Inhabitants

per sq km: 82

Tourists: 15

million

Dos & Dont’s Essential Reads

» (^) Do cover your arms and legs
when visiting a church.
» Do ensure your holiday
insurance covers you for moped
accidents.
» (^) Don’t pick up any loose stones
at archaeological sites.
» (^) The ‘Odyssey’ (8th century
BC; Homer) Plagued by
Poseidon, Odysseus struggles to
return home to Ithaca.
» Zorba the Greek (1946; Nikos
Kazantzakis) A spiritual bible to
many; one man’s unquenchable
lust for life.
» (^) The Magus (1966; John
Fowles) Creepy mind games set
on fictional island Phraxos.
» Falling For Icarus: A Journey
among the Cretans (2004;
Rory MacLean) A travel writer
fulfills his ambition to build his
own plane in the land of Icarus.
GREECE USA UK
population per sq km
≈ 30 people