ATHENS, Greece—In Greece, a country where most people have a good temperament and an outgoing character, a good conversation is never far away.
One happened to me recently when I spoke with a taxi driver.
The driver, named Michael, had a playful attitude, a belly, and a mustache. But beneath his apparent happy attitude, he seemed serious and concerned.
Michael told me he is worried about a newly proposed tax law for taxi drivers. (Since economic crisis in Greece reached its peak, budget cuts and tax increases have been a daily occurrence.)
Michael’s story showed that he is a big fighter for his height, and I wondered why Michael didn’t have an ancient Greek name. He really looked and acted like some historical Greek figure, ready to walk into a symposium and discuss politics and social issues.
“Me, as you see me,” he said, “I made all taxi drivers sign a petition, sign a petition before the new airport opened, in order for us, the taxi drivers working for travel agencies, to have a parking lot at the airport.”
“The parking spaces that I managed to achieve, only few people remember it and respect it. Most of the taxi drivers don’t even know it, they think that the airport had the idea for the parking lots,” he said.
I replied, “So I was correct when I thought you act like an ancient Greek and should have an ancient Greek name!”
He laughed.
Throughout history there have been so many examples of ordinary Greeks who would fight for justice till the end.
But a unified response from our country is much tougher. In the past, even when the Greeks were unified, there was always a traitor.
In one famous Greek story, 300 fearless Spartans who warded of tens of thousands of Persians, were in the end defeated because of one traitor. Socrates was killed because a small number of people didn’t like his ideas.
In the most recent case, a famous Greek general, Kolokotronis, freed the Greeks from the Turks only to be killed by Greeks afterwards.
“Greeks need to be pushed in order to act,” Michael said.
“With what motive?” I asked.
“Their self-interest,” he replied.
I asked him what he meant by that.
“In the parking case I mentioned to you, or any other case or even future cases, people act only if their self interest is involved,” he said.
“But what is self-interest anyway?”
“When you want your own good,” he said
I asked him how one could know whether wanting one’s own good would affect others interests.
He said, “It doesn’t have an effect, because you do it for your own personal life.”
“But what if everyone thinks this way, what will the result be?”
He paused, thought, and continued, “Corruption!”
I thought to myself, wanting only self-interest and not caring about the good of the whole society would definitely lead to an economic crisis.
In Greece, many citizens avoid paying taxes or find ways to pay less. Their self-interest leads them to make use of their contacts to do jobs for which they don’t have a license for, making the service they provide rather poor.
Government officials taking money and using it for their own sake instead of for the country shows a dead-end for the country.
I asked aloud, “But if all of us in Greece are complaining about corruption, what can we do to solve the problem?”
“I think it will never be solved, it would be too difficult, because people will still think in the same way,” Michael said. “I do hope for a miracle, though.”
I said, “If everyone stops thinking about self-interest and starts thinking about the whole, the effects would be wonderful. If everyone realizes that self-interest is in fact wanting the good for everyone—then the country might stabilize again.”
“What do you think?” I asked Michael.
“It sounds good, but difficult.”
But as the ancient Greeks said, in the end, the seemingly bad will turn out to be good.
One happened to me recently when I spoke with a taxi driver.
The driver, named Michael, had a playful attitude, a belly, and a mustache. But beneath his apparent happy attitude, he seemed serious and concerned.
Michael told me he is worried about a newly proposed tax law for taxi drivers. (Since economic crisis in Greece reached its peak, budget cuts and tax increases have been a daily occurrence.)
Michael’s story showed that he is a big fighter for his height, and I wondered why Michael didn’t have an ancient Greek name. He really looked and acted like some historical Greek figure, ready to walk into a symposium and discuss politics and social issues.
“Me, as you see me,” he said, “I made all taxi drivers sign a petition, sign a petition before the new airport opened, in order for us, the taxi drivers working for travel agencies, to have a parking lot at the airport.”
“The parking spaces that I managed to achieve, only few people remember it and respect it. Most of the taxi drivers don’t even know it, they think that the airport had the idea for the parking lots,” he said.
I replied, “So I was correct when I thought you act like an ancient Greek and should have an ancient Greek name!”
He laughed.
Throughout history there have been so many examples of ordinary Greeks who would fight for justice till the end.
But a unified response from our country is much tougher. In the past, even when the Greeks were unified, there was always a traitor.
In one famous Greek story, 300 fearless Spartans who warded of tens of thousands of Persians, were in the end defeated because of one traitor. Socrates was killed because a small number of people didn’t like his ideas.
In the most recent case, a famous Greek general, Kolokotronis, freed the Greeks from the Turks only to be killed by Greeks afterwards.
“Greeks need to be pushed in order to act,” Michael said.
“With what motive?” I asked.
“Their self-interest,” he replied.
I asked him what he meant by that.
“In the parking case I mentioned to you, or any other case or even future cases, people act only if their self interest is involved,” he said.
“But what is self-interest anyway?”
“When you want your own good,” he said
I asked him how one could know whether wanting one’s own good would affect others interests.
He said, “It doesn’t have an effect, because you do it for your own personal life.”
“But what if everyone thinks this way, what will the result be?”
He paused, thought, and continued, “Corruption!”
I thought to myself, wanting only self-interest and not caring about the good of the whole society would definitely lead to an economic crisis.
In Greece, many citizens avoid paying taxes or find ways to pay less. Their self-interest leads them to make use of their contacts to do jobs for which they don’t have a license for, making the service they provide rather poor.
Government officials taking money and using it for their own sake instead of for the country shows a dead-end for the country.
I asked aloud, “But if all of us in Greece are complaining about corruption, what can we do to solve the problem?”
“I think it will never be solved, it would be too difficult, because people will still think in the same way,” Michael said. “I do hope for a miracle, though.”
I said, “If everyone stops thinking about self-interest and starts thinking about the whole, the effects would be wonderful. If everyone realizes that self-interest is in fact wanting the good for everyone—then the country might stabilize again.”
“What do you think?” I asked Michael.
“It sounds good, but difficult.”
But as the ancient Greeks said, in the end, the seemingly bad will turn out to be good.
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