The ERT Factor and what it symbolizes
The closure of the public broadcaster, ERT, in Greece and the ensuing debate reflects the reality of the country today where the public space has been so totally politicized by all the political parties, including those in the opposition, and their powerful unions to the point that their collective vested interests have converted the public good that ERT is supposed to represent into one more public enterprise that existed to propagandize in favour of the powers that be and as another vehicle of the patronage system that so effectively was put in place by the political parties representing Greece's representative democracy since the return to democracy in 1974....where patronage equates with providing jobs and political favors to relatives, party diehards and others that needed to be included in order to keep the system and the ensuing vested interests in place....the financial and economic crisis has brought about the biggest challenge to this self perpetuating system as it bei...