February 18, 1954
INTELLECTUALS: (From a column by Emilios Hourmouzios) (…) What do our intellectuals do when they are not creating?… They organize unions and clubs in order to have a roof over their heads that they do not need but which only useless officials use in order to organize spectacles, such as silly «tributes» and cheap celebrations, carnival dances and taverna evenings! (…) There are four literary unions that are all stagnating. (…) Why there are four of these unions and not just one, or even two, is another story that would be very entertaining if it were not so desperately sad. It is because some writers, behaving predictably like children in times that were crucial for the nation, signed a few childish telegrams and manifestos. This then came a collective «mea culpa,» which resulted in the formation of the second union, which eventually broke up to form a dozen (Ed. note: The «Group of Twelve»), which never actually managed to consist of a real dozen, but only nine or 10… Then came the leftovers (…). The Athens Academy itself is nowhere to be seen, and when it is, does not promote values, only mediocrities.
