‘Pretentions to poshness’
As a Greek national living abroad, I am amazed someone local (Tasoula Karaiskaki, Oct. 19) put across with such acuity the sad state of Greek mentality today. I only regret the bitterness and the sadness that comes across so strongly – being an optimist I can only hope that the wake-up call will come soon to this young generation of big babies who take everything for granted. It is incomprehensible to me how parents today can render their children so materialistic when their own upbringing was so different. There is indeed a loss of our good old family values, a loss which is much more drastic than what I personally have witnessed in other countries. There is a definite trend toward this attitude to poshness in many of our neighbors but perhaps the media have kept a certain standard and do not propagate such a mentality as in Greece. Bring back the quality programs we used to have on national TV, encourage youth to travel and see how things are done in other European countries and I am sure we would see some changes. Such articles should always include either a suggestion for improvement at the risk of being once more a product of our over emotional, non-productive society. (The problem is Greeks in Greece just dream, talk, complain and actually do nothing.) ELENE BRUGGISSER, via e-mail.
