OPINION

Beyond the drama

In an extremist Islamic environment, an adulteress would be stoned to death. In a Christian fundamentalist one, the cuckold would shave his wife’s head. In modern societies, public persecution is milder in character. But the spectacle-loving public shares the same primitive feeling: a secret relief that what is going on inside their own homes also happens to the most respected families. It’s a safe bet for the media and their voyeurism-driven tactics (whose appeal grows when victims represent a power that proves to be more vulnerable to «secrets and lies»). There was nothing unusual about the IKA chief’s secret affair. In love, the rules of the game are the same for all social classes. The only difference lies with the savoir-vivre and the codes. Guilt, inhibition, envy and revenge make no discrimination. After all, humans are by nature not monogamous. Maintaining a contract (wedlock) that has emerged historically with the purpose of securing reproduction and property can be an anomaly. There is nothing in this relationship to allow us to treat Yiannis Vartholomaios with sacrilege. After all, societies are judged for their liberality or conservatism and for their stand toward people’s relationships. However, we must draw a clear line between the keyhole that breeds our conservative reflexes (the least important issue) and IKA itself (the most important). And since IKA is here to serve a population that is twice as strong as Albania’s, there can be no shadow over its recruitment process. From the very start, IKA has been involved in murky dealings with business and other interests. Its huge clientele renders it vulnerable to corruption. The state must clear up the mess, even if that has nothing to do with the current drama.

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