Looking into the world of the jobless
Unemployment is not a new thing in Greece: Official jobless figures currently stand at 11 percent, with an estimated 25 percent of young people aged up to 29 believed to be unemployed. What appears to be a new development is the fact that those unlucky enough to lose their jobs are unable to find a new one. Last Sunday’s K magazine featured a focus on the world of the unemployed – a world whose existence we are aware of but whose reality most of us ignore. «Unemployment is one step away from the grave,» according to one jobless 50-year-old who manages to scrape together 700 euros a month by doing three different jobs. Another 39-year-old managed to earn 2,500 euros a month in 2003 by working overtime and not taking his vacation time. The case studies startle the reader as, in most cases, the unfortunate citizen was once a breadwinner with a family to support and hopes for the future. Now, all they all have is an endless series of problems and anxieties. The same goes for Bruno Davert, a father and conscientious worker in a provincial French town who loses his job in his late 30s and decides to wreak his revenge by going after, and killing, candidates going for his job. Davert is not be a real-life case study – he is the star of a new movie called «The Ax,» by Greek director Costa-Gavras – but he is part of an accurate depiction of a very persistent social problem…
