Misunderstanding the Uncertainty Principle
The tone leans toward the populist. The voice, from its usual high pitch, is already sounding a bit hoarse, meaning that by the end of the election race it will be gone. There is nothing wrong with his ego though: He makes endless promises (even though there is absolutely no reason to believe that any of them are possible) and is applauded, because when someone speaks in a hegemonic manner in the first person it always draws the adulation of the crowds. One shoulder is always slightly dipped and the other raised a fitting pose for an orator. And the stereotypes insinuating a working man?s background come thick and fast.
It comes as no surprise, therefore, that such a populist stereotype became the focus of Antonis Samaras?s speech in Aegaleo. It also comes as no surprise that various websites and media hailed it as being the most important part of a speech that consisted mostly of platitudes (which PASOK?s Evangelos Venizelos hastened to add to).
?They can keep dreaming,? the head of New Democracy said in reference to ?interest groups that want nothing to change in Greece.?
No, he didn?t name any of these ?interest groups? because they are all quite useful before an election, so it is best not to antagonize them openly, not to mention the fact that their members vote and a good number of them — the unions at least — are influenced or guided by ND unionists.
The idea is not unique to Samaras. All public speakers, even when vehemently advocating a complete ?purge of the system,? can only refer in general terms to the damned; they remain nameless and faceless, and under this anonymity can continue doing what they do without a care in the world.
Who knows? Maybe Werner Heisenberg?s Uncertainty Principle has been misunderstood to mean that nothing ought to be clearly defined. How many people are asleep and who they are is unknown. What is known is that they dream. Some dream of coming first, like Venizelos whose party hasn?t even clinched the second spot. Some dream of power, like Giorgos Karatzaferis of Popular Orthodox Rally, who despite his party?s demise is talking about what he would do as prime minister. Some dream of washing away sins, like Samaras, who seems to believe that the muck produced by the PASOK government helped clean the also dirty ND. He also seems to believe he will take the election, with a majority, when his party is 10 whole points below the 33 percent scored in 2009.
But, of course, everyone can dream.
