Greek Mentality

The latest trend in Greece is discussions about the fact that there is no development, or rather evolution, in the field of competition. As Greeks, we remain static and stoically suffer the consequences, while in the same time we admire any single individual or company who manages to succeed in any venture they attempt. What is annoying in the previous statement is the fact that very few Greeks realize the effort invested and the risks taken for any venture to succeed – be that the attempt of an already established organization or the new, fresh, untested idea of a single individual. In my opinion, there can be no motion in the market - either foreign or local - if the necessary mentality to support it doesn’t exist or isn’t cultivated. And how can one expect from Greeks to advance when they are not ready to invest, risk, or sacrifice anything in the attempt to achieve anything? And how can one expect that from any Greek, when the society they live in forces them to behave so conservative and risk-free that their only dream is to become an employee of the state and achieve permanent employment, even if that means lesser revenues for the rest of their life, even though they may worth more.

In such mentality, which exists for at least 60 years now and which is so firmly established in the minds of the youth, it is inevitable to face stagnation. It is inescapable the fact that very few organizations with available capital will take the (high) risk to invest in Greece when they know in advance that there will be no workforce available to work with or no mentality to back up the effort. And we still haven’t reached the government side (the all-to-blame factor in Greece for better or worse). Getting there is devastating. Any attempt to analyze the state functions (red tape, normal bureaucracy, funding, tax system, corruption, etc.) is almost tear-breaking. And I state almost, because there are some very few, minuscule areas where due to the high level of knowledge required and the high level of technological expertise needed, the usual suspects have been resentful to get active and apply their usual channels of operation, thus allowing correct functions.

But for how long? How much more can we take? As individuals, as state, as families, as organizations, as visitors, as tourists? How much more pray tell, because my opinion is that we will get fucked, buried, resurrected, get fucked again and buried before we realize what we suffer...