It was November 9, 2016. The day after the US presidential
election.
The phone went unanswered, the beeps and dings ignored. The
TV was silent. I don’t remember when I finally got up that day, got dressed,
tried to function. What I do remember is the sudden inexplicable need to get
out of the house, walk, wander, escape.
I ended up on Πνύκα hill (Pnyka,
Pnyx). In 2015 especially, (the height of the Greek financial crisis) I would
often retreat to this hill. It is opposite the Acropolis – a mesmerizing view.
Walking up to Pnyx hill, the noise of the city below would fall away and
suddenly I’d find myself in a sort of ancient wonderland.
Pnyx hill was, in ancient times, where the Athenian assembly
would meet. It was the democratic embodiment of the right of citizens to speak
– to discuss and debate matters of the state. It was one of the world’s first
parliaments. It is where statesmen and
orators debated political issues of the time – Pericles, Demosthenes,
Aristides, and Themistocles.
What would they say if they were here today?
I closed my eyes and listened. Maybe the voices of the past
were rooted in the energy of this place and would somehow give me a sign. But I
heard nothing. All I could manage to do that day was sit and stare at ruins.
I walked back down the hill, back onto the street. I felt
like everything around me was falling apart.
Reality was the new Greece of capital controls and dismal decline, and now
another new frightening reality was only beginning to unfold in the US.
Walking down towards Thisio, past a row of old neoclassical
homes in various states of deterioration, an old man with a cane was slowly
making his way down the hill. Talking to no one in particular, I heard him
wistfully declare “Αχ, Αθήνα! Που’σαι παλιά Αθήνα;” (Oh Athens! Where are you, old Athens?)
The world was certainly changing, in a constant state of
flux. We were all feeling, perhaps, nostalgic for better days. And in the years
that followed, we all (no matter where we came from or where we lived) seemed
to collectively sigh and ponder: What’s happening? What happened to my
world?
The more I thought about it, the more disillusioned I
became. Does my vote even count anymore? In Greece’s 2015 referendum vote (yes
or no for bailout conditions, which was interpreted as yes or no to remaining
in the EU), although 61% voted no, the government basically overturned the vote
and it was yes to harsh austerity conditions.
In the 2016 US presidential election, although Trump lost
the nationwide popular vote, he had the electoral votes to win the election.
Russian interference in US elections, vote tampering… Why did I even bother
making the effort to send for my absentee ballot and vote?
Each time I traveled back to the US, I thought of the old
man in Thisio and his lament echoed in my ears, as on each trip an increasingly
unrecognizable America unfolded before my eyes.
Where is the place I once knew? What is it becoming? As time went by, I felt more and more
removed from this new American reality.
On November 16, 2016 – about a week after the election and
my stunned retreat to Pnyx hill, President Obama stood on the Acropolis. On his
last foreign trip in office, he came to Greece, to the birthplace of democracy.
It was originally planned that President Obama would deliver his speech from
Pnyx hill, but due to security concerns it was moved indoors to a newly-built
cultural center.
Of course, President Obama said all the expected things in
his speech about values, truth, justice, and upholding the democratic ideals that
were born here.
But watching the live images of President Obama on the
Acropolis was like a gut punch. The irony. He was a leader who upheld the
ideals of democracy with dignity and eloquence. What indignities would
befall us in the coming years? What was President Obama really thinking as he
toured the ruins? Did he feel as hopeless and disheartened as I did?
And now, three long years later, my Athenian life is
punctuated with hearings, testimonies, lies, truths, corruption, tweets, rants,
disbelief, disgust… as the impeachment trial drones on in the background on my
TV screen.
Last week, on November 16, facebook showed me my ‘memories’
– my posts from November 16 of previous years. Three years ago, I had posted a snapshot
of President Obama’s motorcade that I took as it sped past the main road near
my house, and later I had posted a photo of President Obama on the Acropolis.
I looked up President Obama’s speech from that day and read
it carefully. He talked of ancient Athenian democracy and pointed out that:
To have meaning, principles must be enshrined in laws and
protected by institutions, and advanced through civic participation. And
so they gathered in a great assembly to debate and decide affairs of state,
each citizen with the right to speak, casting their vote with a show of hands,
or choosing a pebble -- white for yes, black for no. Laws were etched in
stone for all to see and abide by. Courts, with citizen jurors, upheld
that rule of law. Politicians weren’t always happy because sometimes the stones
could be used to ostracize, banish those who did not behave
themselves.
I went back further still, turning to the ancient voices of
the past. To those whose ideas shaped what would become our modern democracies.
From the philosopher
Aristotle (384–322 BC):
“Yes, the truth is that men's ambition and
their desire to make money are among the most frequent causes of deliberate
acts of injustice.”
From Demosthenes (384-322 BC), the Athenian statesmen & orator:
“To become
successful without deserving it encourages the fools to make evil plans.”
I read many quotes from the ancients and I realized that if they
were here today, they would still be saying the same thing. And they wouldn’t
at all be shocked and surprised. In their time, the statesmen who they voted to ostracize
were accused of bribery, getting too friendly with the enemy, and dishonesty.
Sound familiar?
Ambition, greed, idiocy, corruption, narcissism are human traits
that are timeless. Whether you are living in 350BC or 2019AD, these qualities
in people, citizens, statesmen, leaders, CEOs, TV & movie moguls, managers,
parliamentarians, presidents – are not bound by time, place or circumstances.
As long as there are humans on this planet, we will, time and time again,
experience the fallout of these destructive personal qualities.
Among my favorite quotes is this one. From the philosopher Epicurus (341–270
BC):
“Only one principle will give you
courage, that is the principle that no evil lasts forever nor indeed for very
long.”
Whether the ballot is a pebble, a show of hands, a piece of
pottery, an absentee ballot, an e-vote – you have to weigh your decision, raise
your voice, and cast your vote. The outcome may cause us to feel joy, vindication,
optimism, heartbreak, anger, disappointment or just plain lost.
But if the system is imperfect, it’s up to us to fix it. I still
have hope and remember that yes, we can.
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Ostracon – a piece of pottery used, in ancient Athens, as a
ballot. Citizens would write the name of the person they voted to be banished,
or ostracized from society
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