Geographic phenomena
Over the past few days, local television channels have engaged in the shameful activity of spreading panic in the area of Neos Cosmos with a murky story of a rape, managing to scare the local inhabitants more than they would have scared the invisible criminal. «They are only doing their job» – this is what they know; this is what they are keen on; this is what they make a living on. In a few days, they will find some other neighborhood to beleaguer, some other primary school to conquer with their television cameras and then they will level their sadistic questions on school kids who will be forced to panic retrospectively and, perhaps, for the rest of their lives, only to conclude that the world is monopolized by evil, therefore, the only way to feel safe is in living like jailed pets. In order to facilitate the spread of fear, the Athens Municipality has, for days now, left many streets in Neos Cosmos, both central arteries and side roads, without any streetlights. And yet… Once upon a time, the mayor had pledged to upgrade Lambrakis Hill – which is allegedly the criminal’s theater of activity – with swimming pools and underground parking lots… and yet. It has often been reported that the mayor gets in his shiny car along with his official guests, and if he happens to see a burned-out bulb, calls up his maintenance services and orders them to instantly replace it. And yet… A month ago, millions of bright lamps illuminated the vulgar display in Syntagma Square, but there was not even one for the Neos Cosmos neighborhood, bedeviled as it is by an extreme geographic phenomenon – it lies a bit more than five minutes away from the distant center. And yet… For weeks now, political parties and television channels have been fighting over mayors and prefects. They have been skirmishing over who is more suitable for Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, not on the basis of his or her interest in the city but rather due to their fame and ambitions. In the meantime, the prime minister announced that the municipal elections will be another «fight between light and dark.» In the name of Athena, could he possibly mean that we should finally light the roads of our new, modernized world?
