The message that isn’t being heeded
The road to Langadia in the mountains of Arkadia in the northern Peloponnese winds through several villages that are full of movement and life. Domestic tourism and the customary pilgrimages to our roots lend the area a veneer of normalcy. The reality becomes evident after Langadia, however, on the road to Ancient Olympia: one village after another and not a single local to be seen going about their day. Greece is a different place here: forgotten, remote and empty. An abundance of houses stand as testament to the vibrant past of the Greek countryside, but their deserted state speaks of the nonexistent present and, more worryingly, a bleak future.
The last census of the Greek population confirms in numbers what we see with our own eyes. Even though its findings are usually discussed in the context of how parliamentary seats are distributed, the bigger picture we should be looking at is that the Greek countryside is dying. Take Arkadia: In the past decade, its population declined by 10,000 – the size of a small town – to 77,000.
I know it’s not easy to reverse the inexorable trend and get people back to the country’s towns, villages and hamlets. But the issue is not just about the migration from the periphery to urban centers, but also about the shrinking population in general, including in cities. That’s where it becomes apparent that the problem is bigger and deeper than it first appears.
Sure, the economic crisis left little leeway for policies addressing the underlying social and economic issues driving the demographic decline; but now, with crises becoming the new normal and no longer serving as a valid excuse to sweep such a serious matter under the rug, it is imperative that something is done to deal with the demographics. Myriad experts have been sounding the alarm, warning of the impact the steadily declining population will have in areas that are already regarded as ticking time bombs, such as pensions and the economy. I would add another area, and that is national security, because Greece cannot be safe or strong without its people.
So, I invite politicians of every stripe to think about these things the next time they sit there calculating whether their constituency is losing a seat, and to add one more factor to their calculation: that at this rate, they may not have any voters at all.
