When Greeks Bear Gifts: On Economy, Philosophy and Freedom | Dr. Jose Yulo | April 1, 2010 | Ignatius Insight
When Greeks Bear Gifts: On Economy, Philosophy and Freedom | Dr. Jose Yulo | April 1, 2010 | Ignatius Insight
http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2010/jyulo_greeksgifts_apr2010.asp
"To say that
private men have nothing to do with government is to say that private men have
nothing to do with their own happiness or misery; that people ought not to
concern themselves whether they be naked or clothed, fed or starved, deceived
or instructed, protected or destroyed." —Marcus Cato The Elder
"Didst thou
forget that man prefers peace, and even death, to freedom of choice in the
knowledge of good and evil." —Fyodor
Dostoevsky
A particularly
insightful student once queried after a class had ended: "How did Rome become
Italy?"
It was an innocuous enough question, seemingly answerable by tracing the fall
of the empire through time to the myriad intrigues of the Renaissance. However,
what lay at the core of this student's curiosity was the rather stark departure
from the turgidity of Cato, the eloquence of Cicero, and the vision of
Augustus, evidenced by the more modern Italian state known primarily for its
focus on sybaritic aesthetics.
How did Rome, whose charge as Virgil would remind its citizens, was to rule
over the nations with arts such as "crowning peace with law ... and taming, in war
the proud" replace the "ave" with the "ciao?"
A similar,
though perhaps less lighthearted analogy, can be made of the current state of
affairs in 21st century Greece. In keeping with the comparison, how
did a small conglomeration of city-states known for warring so fiercely for
their independence against foreign invasion and domination morph into a
consolidated nation that now is more noteworthy for its civil strife? There has
been much analysis of the economic factors leading to Greece's current dilemma.
This piece is
not an attempt to further elaborate on them, but rather to illumine the
historical and philosophical relevance of such a cultural transformation as has
been indicated above. However, to lend some context to this perspective, a
brief recap of a few of the facts would prove useful.
Greece, after a
considerable period of time promoting unrestrained spending and cheap lending
practices, has found itself over $413 billion in debt, an amount that is larger
than the country's economy. As such, this debt will be 120% of its GDP in 2010
with a deficit of 12.7%. This would essentially mean the nation would have
great trouble borrowing future funds and perhaps impact the larger euro
currency as Greece is a member nation of the EU. In response, the Greek
government has begun a series of drastic cuts to its own spending, combined
with the high taxation of fuel, tobacco and alcohol.
The Greek
citizenry has responded in kind. Street clashes and demonstrations between
young Greeks and police have been punctuated by tear gas and wrecked
storefronts, while broken off pieces of marble balustrades were implemented as
projectiles. In number, somewhere up to 60,000 protesters staggered Greece's
transportation system, grounding flights and rendering public travel inert.
Making matters
worse, hospital workers and broadcast journalists joined in on the walk-outs,
protesting both the deep cuts in spending and elevated taxation currently put
into play. The chants emanating from the din were a mix of angst both ancient
and modern. Some declared "no sacrifice for plutocracy," reviving echoes of
Thucydides' account of the stasis in Corcyra during the Peloponnesian War.
Others demanded "no more sacrifices, war against war," which would have
bedeviled the forgotten, though vaunted logicians of Hellas.
Perhaps more
timely were the calls for "real jobs, higher pay." It is, of course, a unique
conundrum, belligerently demanding that someone give you a well-paying job. It
must be asked, who exactly is the object of such a request? Not to be outdone,
a group of 200 Greek uniformed police, coast guard and fire brigade officers
assembled at a location adjacent to the protests. Complaining of lowered wages,
the officers related to their civilian countrymen, claiming, "we are all
shouting out for our rights."
It may be safe
to assume that the aforementioned object of this collective clamor is the Greek
government itself, if for nothing other than being the source of these recent
cuts in pay and higher taxes. However, the latter two calls for well-paying
jobs and rights speak to a vast chasm between this generation of Greeks and
their illustrious forefathers. This chasm can be best understood by noting how
both of these groups, separated by the ages, view the most Hellenic of all
ancient ideas, that of freedom.
As understood by
the ancient Greeks, freedom involved the comprehension of different, though
complementary dimensions to its nature. The first, a state which can be
referred to as "freedom from," involved what most casual observers would
associate with the word "freedom". If one was not under the outward control of
another human being, or of an unfriendly neighboring state seeking aggressive
dominion, one could be said to be free from these potential burdens. Modern
Western societies, themselves seldom feeling the great weight of past
generations' struggles for their own freedom from aggression, usually stop at
this level of meaning. It is taken that these freedoms, which were in the
distant past valiantly won, can now be enjoyed by subsequent generations.
The enjoyment of
freedom, however, would stand as incomplete without what the Greeks would
regard as the next step in the comprehension of the term.
Hypothetically,
if one is free from outside control, the dilemma is no longer having too few
choices, but rather having an infinite number of choices. It is here that
freedom takes on its new manifestation as "freedom to." Possessing a menu with
unlimited pages is at first exhilarating, but eventually quite daunting. The
Greeks were quick to realize that simply having a multiplicity of choices did
not mean all choices are of equal value.
This lesson is one learned every fall
in college campuses throughout this country, though not necessarily in the
classroom. Young men and women discover they are free, sometimes for the very
first time, from their parents and the levels of conduct expected at home. This
newfound freedom leads many to partake in as much alcohol or drugs as are
available in their environment. Oddly, they may find one day that this
partaking becomes as regular as, or more so, than their nightly studies.
Inevitably, they discover freedom unchecked leads one to freedom's opposite, a
soft form of slavery.
The Greek
"freedom to" carried along with it the unlikely paradox, which held that true
freedom was always limited freedom, with these crucial limits coming from
within the individual. It was the truly free person who could see all options
as being available, yet like Plato's just man, choose those which are genuinely
and wholly best.
As a nation
heretofore providing all the subsidies and controls requisite to its chosen
economic perspective, Greece has by definition limited, by design, the economic avenues
available to its citizens. This was done with the gradual removal of risk from
their citizens' psychological portfolios, rendering them free from worrying
about the many volatile possibilities present in a freer market system.
However, when the state can no longer provide what it has to this point
promised, a greater insecurity and resentment ensues. The Greek citizenry has
been learning of the dilemma inherent in state-given "rights"—that which
was once given by human rulers can at some point be taken away by the same.
There is in this
current Greek crisis a very strange twist in the understanding of freedom. The
protesters from every stripe who march against their state's newfound and
unwelcome frugality do not appear to be clamoring for their government to
suddenly dismantle the economic paradigm that has led to this boiling point. On
the contrary, the unrest seems to be directed at re-invigorating the old model
of control and risk aversion.
In bizarre
contrast to their ancestors who fought on the plain of Marathon and the pass of
Thermopylae, the current-day protesting Greeks do not clash for their freedom
from an outside aggressor. Rather, in uniquely Greek irony, they fight for
their freedom from
being in a position to exercise their freedom to choose their own distinct futures.
Sophocles in the
Antigone called man the most strange and dreadful of all things. It is only man
who wars both for the thrilling cry of independence and for the cold comfort of
dependence.
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Jose Yulo, Ed.D. teaches courses on philosophy, western civilization,
United States history, and public speaking at the Academy
of Art University in San Francisco. He has a Doctorate in Education
from the University of San Francisco, with an emphasis on the philosophy
of education. He also holds a Master's degree in political communication
from Emerson College in Boston, as well as a Bachelor's degree in the classical
liberal arts from St. John's College in Annapolis, MD.
Originally from Manila
in the Philippines, his research interests lie in Greek philosophy, the
histories of Greek and Roman politics and warfare, and the literature of
J. R. R. Tolkien. He has written several articles for IgnatiusInsight.com.
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