Greece in 2024
In the new year, the profound ethical and philosophical issues that have consciously or unconsciously preoccupied humanity since the beginning of the century will continue to present pressing dilemmas and questions. The individual nurtured by the principles of Western civilization has been rattled in recent years by sweeping changes. In our country, 2024 marks the culmination of a 20-year journey: from the takeoff of 2004 to the downturn of 2014. This economic, political, social and psychological fluctuation has left and continues to leave scars and gaps, occurring in an internationally precarious environment that significantly impacts citizens’ daily lives.
Nevertheless, the Greece of 2024 bears no resemblance to the Greece before the Covid-19 pandemic. The year 2019 seems distant, and no one yearns for it, even less so the entire decade of the 2010s. Beyond any successes of our country in recent years and the stabilization of daily life, the prevailing sense of insecurity and concern remains strong. This manifests in two directions: one extends far, concerning the global trajectory, and the other pertains to the path and hierarchies of our society. At times, one form of concern reinforces the other, acting as interconnected vessels.
The major issues of our time, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, have more to do with the transition to a different perception of the broader social and cultural environment. As uncertainty prolongs and intensifies on the global stage, rifts deepen within societies, leading to divisions and divisive patterns. In our country, as almost everywhere, two major movements coexist amid rifts and divisive cleavages: On one side, there is the current of the internationalist agenda, emphasizing identity politics and inclusion, with a deliberate detachment from the cohesive patterns of national and identity characteristics. On the other side, there is the current dedicated to reclaiming and asserting national values and cohesive identities through tradition and its recognizable distinct functions. The world has experienced similar turning points in the 1920s and 1960s. The imperative remains synthesis. The world is changing.
