50 Years Ago Today
RIGHTS: The Greek public is quite familiar with the names of the 10-15 English communists and fellow-travelers who were deeply moved, as they wrote to the government to say, because the former leaders of the ELAS [resistance army] and the Democratic Army had not yet been released. Throughout the entire war against the rebels, the same English people signed petitions three times a week to the United Nations General Secretariat with anti-Greek messages in favor of the dynamiters and rebels. But, one might ask, since they are so interested in the rights of the people- the phrase used in their telegram – how is it that they have not recalled the rights of the Greek population of Cyprus and how is it they have not been deeply moved by the people’s elementary right to self-determination. STOCK MARKET: There were more transactions in the official stock exchange in the past week than the previous one: 935.6 million drachmas, compared to 240 million the week before. The demand for gold sovereigns fell, but the price remained stable at 226,400-226,600 drachmas, where it closed that afternoon. BELLOU: Sotiria Bellou is appearing at the Rossignol every evening. These almost tectonic changes are, of course, far from irreversible. The launch of the military campaign against the Taliban regime by the USA will put the durability of the anti-terrorist alliance to the test. Some of the new parameters, however, are already visible: After the September 11 disaster, our world has become smaller, more interrelated. The myopic logic of national isolationism and regional blocs, as well as the unfettered optimism of those who thought that the invisible hand of the free market alone could guarantee a fairer world order, are history. Governments and peoples understand that the great issues of our era call for political solutions. These solutions have to be jointly implemented by the countries which lie on the same side of the great dividing-line of our times. This is not the dividing line between different civilizations, but between the human civilization and barbarity. What is true of individuals is also true about the modern world: Anything that does not kill us makes us stronger.
