The Greek Parliamentary Elections of 2009; a mirror-image of the present “Political Culture”* of the country. (Part A)
Before examining the various socio-political dimensions which derive from the whole political setting of the Greek Parliamentary Elections of October 2009, I would like to refer to a modern political term which is used at times to record “empirically” and “schematically” those socio-political components which reflect the “political psyche” and “trends” of a society or a country. This modern political term is “political culture”. First of all, we have to mention that the term “polical culture” was created by American political scientists such as Lucian Pye,Sidney Verba and Gabriel Almond during the 1950s, when the United States of America was the most powerful “capitalist” country by “leaps and bounds”,with spheres of “economic”,”political” and “military” influence in Europe, Asia,the Middle East,Africa and South America.
We left “Olympic Airlines” for our “epilogue”,because I believe that it represents the business venture of Aristotle Onassis which mostly reflects the “one-dimensional” and “ruthless” personality of this greek shipping magnate(Neanderthal), but also the “fixation” of modern greeks to mythologize that which is “mediocre” and “false” in society.Examining various facts concerning “Olympic Airlines”,we become aware of the great “chasm” which exists between “modern greek myth-making” and “modern greek realities”(at all levels),as well as of the enormous “hypocricy” and “amorality”* which Onassis exercised in his life,since he always pretended to be a “down to earth” greek,who adored the greek culture(ancient and modern),who valued highly his “greek ethnicity” and was deeply in love with the natural beauties of Greece.I believe that all modern Greeks today have the “habit” of expressing this type of worship for anything which is greek;how authentic and real this feeling is,only “they” themselves know!!!
In essence,Onassis initiates his shipping activities in the beginning of the 1930s in Argentina,when he buys with his first money 2 old steamboats,which he names them “Socrates” and “Pinnelope” in honour of his parents.We Greeks,are always “first” in these acts of “superficial family sentimentality”!!But Aristotle Onassis soon realises,that the “big money” in the future ,will come from transporting “oil” by the various ocean lanes.As a consequence ,almost all his next moves in the shipping sector would be acquiring oil ship-carriers and transporting oil,especially from the oil producing countries of the Middle East.During this same period(1930s),he bought 10 merchant vessels from a Canadian company for 120,000 american dollars.At the same time,he registers all his ships in Panama(not in Greece),where the tarrifs and taxes are much lower than those of Argentina.In 1938,he builds his own oil carrier at the shipyards of Sweden,the “Ariston”,with a volume capacity of 15,000 tons (p.2.