Greek Cleavages
A quick weekend trip to Athens has brought to the limelight many of the traits/characteristics of what it is to be a Greek today. Political and ideological polarization undoubtedly prevails to the point that national symbols such as the flag and the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the uprising at the Athens Polytechnic have become instruments of partisan design. Witnessing a small gathering of Golden Dawn stalwarts in front of Parliament on a Friday afternoon (15 November) made me reflexively cringe. More troubling was their taking for their own use of the national flag as an instrument for their protest; in a way soiling it for the rest of us proud citizens of a proud nation. This past weekend also marked the honoring of the 24 fallen of the Polytechnic uprising of 14-17 November 1973 that culminated in the eventual fall of the military junta and the return to democracy in Greece in 1974. The annual pilgrimage to the site and the accompanying music by Theodorakis and L