"Drink"*
It is undeniable that our Motherland (and other countries as well) is facing a new fascist threat, perhaps worse than that of WWII, because the current one is more insidious and leads to a slow but methodical enslavement without even firing a shot through the economic, social and moral genocide.
The exodus of the "castle" has already begun with victims of the most vulnerable strata of the people: unemployment has hit red, a new wave of immigration has begun and the bleeding of the workforce, especially brains, while a climate of fear and insecurity prevails that touches the borders of terrorism. About 25% are unemployed graduates, young people, in general, avoid starting a family because of the economic misery that prevails in the country and look for anti-social solutions, the country is shrinking demographically and socially fragmented, suicides are increasing by leaps and bounds as well as mental illnesses, while the crime and drugs have reached dramatic proportions.
At the same time, the solution of our national problems falters and is ineffectually entrusted to foreign profit-making offices. The reason: corrupt, defeatist party and guild circles of power and profiteering worked horribly and the castle fell from within. Faced with this "warlike" climate, the serious threat to our Homeland, what is the literary world doing and what should it do? The famous quote by Varnalis is relevant, "cowardly, fatal and unwieldy, we are waiting, perhaps, for some tama". Unfortunately, civil and post-civil syndromes and angulations still divide and fragment writers. Although some efforts have been made by prudent writers, with genuine unifying, patriotic intentions, for -finally- joint cooperation of all serious literary bodies, they have not yet succeeded.
The factionalism continues and those who dare to denounce unorthodox tactics are treated by serious-minded, inquisitive leadership circles. Furthermore, proposals for a collective publishing effort by the above bodies are negatively viewed by proteges of powerful publishing houses who have reduced "whoever pays, shows and sells" to a supreme art and science.
Great literary artists remain invisible apart from those who belong to party or guild mechanisms of promotion and dominance with Hollywood, competitive methods of building "models" and "protagonists" who "sell", while the collective promotion of the Greek literary world should be pursued, on merit.
Also, serious literary magazines face a problem of survival outside of the "happy freaks" with opaque government etc. grants and subsidies at the expense of meritocracy and ethics. So, is it high time for a mass reaction and resistance of all responsible writers who care about the future of the Motherland, overcoming narcissistic et al. dissolving tendencies, to go down to the squares together with the people, whose problems must be listened to and to be expressive, inspiring and leaders and not tails?
Wouldn't a pan-Hellenic writers' conference - as soon as possible - initiated by EEL in collaboration with the other serious organizations as well as serious literary magazines for constructive proposals to get out of the general crisis, be of great use?
* The famous of Pericles : begin, make a new beginning
photo irinashutko, https://pixabay.com
