Sunday, February 19, 2012 worldTreNds

iNTelligeNCe/ kostas tsapogas

Greeces Identity Crisis

Athens Most of the outside world views the current Greek drama played out on the streets of Athens, the boardrooms of the European banking elite and the halls of the Greek Parliament as the bursting of one of the global economys weakest links. A closer inspection, from inside the calamity, reveals a crisis that reaches to the core of Greek identity, which was gradually distorted by its continuous disconnect from reality dating back to the second half of the 20th century. The international financial crisis was indeed the detonator that punctured the Greek bubble. But the foundation of the meltdown lay partly in the unlimited sense of entitlement felt by many Greeks, partly based on the countrys role as the cradle of Western civilization, which led to a denial of reality. Though its culture is ancient, Greece is actually one of the younger nation-states in Europe, established in 1830. Its early tumultuous years were fraught with heavy-handed meddling by foreign powers. This interference culminated in the American-supported military dictatorship from 1967-74, and this history has fed the Greek peoples bitterness and their propensity for righteous indignation. Decades of rampant populism greatly inflated its citizenrys Mediterranean cavalier attitude toward civic responsibility. Back in 1981, a few hours after the first general election won by the Socialist party of Andreas Papandreou, I was traveling down a one-way street when a young bearded man on a moped drove aggressively toward me. After my disapproving look, he unleashed a tirade: Forget what you knew up to now. Now the people have come to power. As part of the people, he considered himself entitled to ignore the rules of the road. It could be laughed off as nave juvenile behavior, but this mindset permeates Greek society. Kostas Tsapogas is the former foreign editor of Eleftherotypia, an Athens daily that is currently seeking bankruptcy protection. Send comments to intelligence@nytimes.com.

Whimsical russian TV bucks Putins Grandiosity

MOSCOW We live in a normal country, Ivan Urgant, a popular television personality, recently assured Russian viewers. The setting did not exactly support his point, since he was standing in a mock courtroom on a popular daytime show called Fashion Verdict, which essaY prosecutes women for dressing badly. Fashion Verdict has a dizzying format part makeover show, part show trial but like a lot of Russian television its a whimsical, overdone adaptation that somehow suits the national spirit. A Russian crime procedural has a bribe-taking hero; a coming-ofage sitcom is set in the last days of the Soviet empire; middle-aged busybodies bully the bachelor on a dating show; and contestants on the Russian Jeopardy game show dress in shiny wizard robes. Television over the last 10 years has mirrored the countrys economic recovery, reassuring Russians that they live in a modern, and normal, country. Yet change is in the air. Protest and opposition to Vladimir V. Putin , the prime minister, is sneaking onto the news. And with elections coming on March 4, Mr. Putins relationship with television is like a marriage that seems fine until minor differences look irreconcilable. Television is Mr. Putins medium, and he takes his macho stunts seriously. Whether its hunting for tigers or scolding lazy bureaucrats in staged meetings, Mr. Putin does it all with a straight face. That kind of grandiosity grates in a TV universe that is playful and self-aware. Lets Get Married! is a dating show that brings a jolt of Slavic fatalism to romance: the bachelor has his choice of three eligible and comely young women, but first he must listen to the advice of a panel of older women. Also, for no better reason than a flair for excess, the bachelor and his prospective brides sometimes wear theme costumes: he as Aladdin and they as a harem of belly dancers. The shows fans generally dont have glamorous lifestyles, or a lot of dating prospects. But the cheeky, knowing tone assumes that viewers can enjoy nosy Russian yentas and laugh at themselves. Theres plenty of humor on Russian television, though not much political satire. But some of the harsher realities of Russian life creep into even escapist entertainment. One of the most popular procedurals of all time is Glukhar, which finished its last season at the end of 2011. It is about a police inspector, Sergei Glukharyov, who is a loyal son, hard worker and talented detective who occasionally accepts bribes. Kseniya Sobchak, the socialite daughter of Anatoly Sobchak, an early reformer and Putin ally, who died in 2000, was a defendant in 2009 on Fashion Verdict, on which she was accused of dressing provocatively and too expensively. Ms. Sobchak has since become a face of the Twitter protest movement. This month she began hosting a weekly talk show on Russian MTV. Her tweets and appearances at antiPutin rallies get attention, mostly because of the unusually close historical ties between her family and the prime minister but also because she is famous for being famous. Since so many young viewers have defected to the Internet, television audiences tend to be older in Russia. They make up Mr. Putins political base, and his campaign courts them with class warfare, using state-controlled news programs to paint anti-Putin activists as privileged urban elites out of touch

ALESSANDRA STANLEY

petros giannakouris/associated press

acts of civil disobedience are common in greece. Finance Ministry employees in athens blocked a government building.
Public employees are also prone to flout laws they disagree with. Last month, an official at the University of Thessaly refused to send eight computers to two campuses to be used in voting for governing councils, as stipulated by the new law governing Greek higher education. In a letter to his superiors, he said he based his resistance on personal moral grounds and on his conscience as an active citizen, and refused to cooperate with the implementation of what he called this despicable law. Acts of civil disobedience like these are an everyday occurrence. In this case, the university official had the support of the University Employee Union, which said that it is the right and obligation of every Greek citizen to resist by any means against anyone trying to forcefully overthrow the constitution, though this law that tries to reform Greeces outmoded university system was passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The institutionalized propensity for defiance illustrates why change is difficult to implement in Greece. The Greek economys crash radicalized those devoted to the notion of resistance. But there is another group, mostly silent throughout this catastrophic period, that now dares utter the word reality. With the increasingly frequent mention of this word, the possibility for change is finally in the air in Greece. Unfortunately the bailout program imposed by the so-called troika of the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank insists on an approach that almost guarantees a recession. The deals punitive terms are sabotaging the fledgling transformation of Greeces collective identity. It allows those who continue to resist reality to create confusion by joining up with those who, though they know something needs to be done, resist the recipe for economic disaster. On February 12, the world watched flames and smoke rising from buildings set ablaze in the center of Athens during protests against the austerity measures that were approved by Parliament in exchange for more rescue financing. The spectacular acts of a few hundred violent demonstrators eclipsed the actions of the up to 200,000 on the streets who peacefully rejected, not the need for change, but the disastrous policies imposed from abroad. Some Greeks are ready to accept hardship and a steep decline in living standards. What many reject is the hopelessness for a better day forced by the troikas demands. These responsible Greeks are caught between the radicals who call for resistance to any change and the troikas suffocating prescription. Given some space to operate, these reasonable factions in Greek society might be able to alter the paradigm and implement the reforms the nation needs to move forward. But it is a painstaking process that needs breathing room to develop.

Shows humor and exaggerations suit the national spirit.

with real Russians. But that hasnt prevented evidence of Mr. Putins newly shaky standing from finding its way onto TV screens. Some of the celebrities whom viewers know best have turned against Mr. Putin. Alla Pugacheva, the countrys most enduring pop diva, is supporting one of Mr. Putins opponents for president. Russias silent majority isnt so silent anymore. Let Them Talk mashes up stagy, violent disputes with self-help advice. Its cheaply exploitative, of course, but its also a master class on tackling taboo subjects. It doesnt criticize the government, but it also exposes social problems that are rarely discussed aloud, giving voice, for example, to people with severe handicaps who tend to be shunted off to institutions. The Soviet past is never out of the picture for long. A new Russian sitcom, The Eighties, takes a wistful look back at the Mikhail Gorbachev years, when change was in the air but not yet on the streets. Its a timely flashback: it summons an era when many Russians first began hoping that they would someday live in a normal country.

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