“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” - Salvor Hardin
A very full day today all around Athens, finishing a few jobs, tying up some loose ends and going to the post office for the umpteenth time. The neighbourhood of Exarcheia was one of those lovely ones in the past that was immediately adjacent to Omonoia Square and was full of life, university students, bars, cheap but good restaurants, intellectuals, antique shops, bookshops, full of character and with a bit of a left-bank-of-Paris feel to it. Walking through it today makes one very sad.
The Exarcheia of 2008 has been taken over by anarchists and the so-called “koukoulofóroi” (hooded men) who go out on rampages, destroy property, loot and burn, clash with police, besmirch every available wall with graffiti, and make the residents and shopkeepers live an existence full of fear and apprehension. While on most days it is fairly safe to walk through here, when there is a “demonstration” in progress one should avoid this place like the plague. One is likely to be involved in street clashes, breathe in tear gas and even be arrested, while the “hooded men” remarkably never are. This is a disgraceful state and talking to the locals in the area one is overwhelmed with stories of frustration, anger, rage and disempowerment. It seems that the police is unable to put a stop to these demonstrations, more and more destruction goes on and on and may locals have been forced to abandon their property and move away.
When one walks through the are on a good day, it is surprising as it appears like any other neighbourhood (with the exception of the graffiti and visible signs of the clashes, here and there as far damage to property is concerned). Still there appear to be some semblance of normality as there are many bookshops and publishing houses in the area, some bars, some other shops. It is a great pity and I deplore these acts of vandalism and destruction. I would quite happily send such people to gaol with hard labour included so as to teach them social skills and how it is much harder to build something up than to destroy it.
One of the bookshops in the area that gets targeted and damaged every now and then belongs to a member of parliament by the name of Adonis Georgiades, who also has a publishing house. A couple of days ago his shop was once again attacked and torched with enormous damage to the books and fittings. It is the tenth or eleventh time one of his bookshops has been destroyed. I may not agree with the politics or ideas (extreme right and nationalist) of Mr Georgiades, however, I deplore these attacks against his property. As Heinrich Heine once said, "Where one burns books, one will soon burn people." This was already proven true, one only has to remember the Nazi book burnings as one example…
This afternoon we met our friends and played some cards, having a coffee, chatting and generally catching up. Then, dinner out in Monastiraki. We went to a very famous taverna called Bairaktaris, right on Monastiraki Square. It was very crowded and with the fencing up for the renovation work on the square it was rather claustrophobic. The food was disappointingly average to bad, the service indifferent and the atmosphere very much geared to towards the tourist trade. However, we enjoyed ourselves as the company was compatible and we chatted merrily on, despite the adverse circumstances. We were truly epicurean in our meal tonight because as Epicurus said: “We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink...”
The trip is drawing to its end, slowly yet inexorably. We shall be catching the plane to go back home on Monday and then back to work on Wednesday. On Thursday morning I am flying to Brisbane for work.
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