Every year Hellenism where the Earth celebrates, focusing on the 25thη March, the Greek Revolution as a sacred anniversary of dual importance: the national and the religious. The national, because after about 400 painful, tragic years of slavery, the Greeks finally achieved - in a spirit of unity, solidarity, solidarity, solidarity, militancy and self-sacrifice - elements - virtues that were rare in the past, before and after the Fall, and exactly their absence was what had contributed to the weakening of the nation's political and social cohesion and to the opening of the Kerkoporta, and which were now the catalyst for national upheaval and transcendence - to shake off the foreign yoke, gain national independence and rebuild a free and independent-proportionate state. And the religious one, because on the same cosmogenic day, the Archangel conveyed to the world the most joyful and shocking divine message, that of the coming of the spiritual and moral liberator Godman. We are therefore celebrating two great events - milestones of a universal nature. I will focus, in a nutshell, my thoughts on the first, and the second, the religious, I leave it to the experts…
The first, then, is intertwined with the genuine and healthy human nature and is the framework and the tool of the conscious in this case the search and achievement of the most important purpose and ideal of man: his freedom, the biological (physical, spiritual, moral ) political, social, economic and cultural.
The importance of freedom is unquestionably universal, and this has been demonstrated historically throughout the civilized world. Few exceptions, expressing the Aristotelian observation that some people are born slaves, confirm the rule.
The contribution of the ancient Greek spirit to the development and forging of the concept of freedom is well known. Without Greek culture, without Greek spiritual yeast, free, radical, reformist, inspired and inspiring creative thought, but also the historical example, it is a question of whether humanity would have dared to open new hopeful horizons to wider freedom.
The thought and worldview of other countries and cultures was exhausted within the framework of a form of medieval conception. And it is indisputable that the Renaissance was a genuine creation of Greek free and universal thought, which laid the foundations of modern international democratic society.
If the rest of the free, racist, dogmatic and divisive worldviews did not compete with the Greek one, with the result that our Homeland is constantly on the defensive or in adventures, today an ecumenical society would have been achieved where peace, justice, solidarity would prevail. and the cooperation, great and universal virtues, which were first inspired by the Greeks and He, Aristotle, taught them to Alexander the Great.
And at this point let me, in parentheses, point out as a landmark of universal importance and value, a forerunner of Christianity and the UN, the famous Oath of Alexander the Great in Opi in 324 BC. (Of course, this text is disputed as it is, but anyway M.A. proved his ideas in practice) who mentioned ideas unprecedented for that time such as world peace and brotherhood, the abolition of racial discrimination, etc.
We must not forget that in addition to the important contribution of Greek thought to antiquity and the Renaissance, which created the framework for development and progress in key areas of human activity, the modern political "gospel" of nations, the Charter of the United Nations in 1945 as well as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (ODDA) in 1948, drew valuable information from the inexhaustible and unique spiritual and life-giving sources of Greek culture. In particular, for the drafting of the ODDA, the French law scholar and philosopher RENE CASSIN (Nobel Prize) was the protagonist, nurtured by Greek philosophy!
However, free and universal Greek thought was envied and undermined by representatives of lower civilizations, who still envy and undermine it. The great Greek painter, Hatzikyriakos-Gikas had said: "Foreigners envy us because they owe us a lot from the culture we gave them and they can not return it to us."
And it is a tragic irony that today our nation is endangered not only by known enemies, but also by parastatals, warlords, for-profit networks that operate in traditionally friendly and allied countries, as a result of global inhuman competition and the transformation of ideology. TRADE!
However, the value and necessity of national freedom and independence, in which both individual and collective and the implied human rights are experienced, individually and socially, in all areas, remain the most important office and ideal.
The Greek Revolution is the essence of the eternal national culture and education that expresses the whole spectrum of eternal human and universal values and ideals that were born and forged in this sacred land and acquired a universal dimension both as a philosophy and as a practice. It is theoretically and philosophically related to the American and French Revolutions, with the reasonable indication that the institutional yeast of these Revolutions belongs to the world of the values of ancient Greek culture, regardless of whether the Greek Revolution followed in time.
It is no coincidence that leading foreign intellectuals from the first moment of the Greek Revolution stood by the Greeks in one way or another and some sacrificed or sacrificed many and important things for the hard and unequal struggling and anxious Greece at that time, (But when not Greece was struggling and anxious;). And it is no coincidence that leading representatives of art and the Letters of the civilized world (Hugo, Bryant, Kits, etc.) were inspired by the Greek Revolution and created monumental works.
With the above remarks, I believe, it emerges that the Greek Revolution is not simply a national act, no matter how important it is. It is the culmination, the end, the birth of a long, painful, but also shockingly transcendental conception and pregnancy in the sacred womb of an entire people, a nation (and not the blow of the magic wand of the goddess Athena) of all prehistoric and historical histories. cultural heritage, their natural continuity and their inspiring mental, spiritual and biological processes in order to establish the supreme, inviolable and indestructible value of freedom and the interconnected and inherent goods of it, peace, democracy, prosperity and the rebirth of an entire people - and not only - in them.
Today, however, after 200 years of life of the modern Greek state, after the majestic but dramatic achievement of national freedom and independence, with so many tragic and incomparable sacrifices in human lives, etc., if we attempt a reference to the sacred this Case, with what it, as we have said, represents, for our national course, evaluating the efforts, struggles and achievements of the later generations (except the Epic of 40), I believe that every objective and prudent Greek should be melancholy reflecting and comparing the achievements of those heroic fighters and martyrs of the nation, with those of modern leaders and the people. Where is it, what happened to that wonderful, insurmountable militancy, the passion, the zeal, the transcendence?
And why the famous and vivid Greek "war virtue", which in addition to dealing with the Ottoman barbarism of 400 years, was perpetuated in other critical turning points of our history, such as the Balkan Wars and the heroic Epic of 40 - and which is necessary when endanger the Holy and Holy- not to be transformed into peaceful virtue, first reversing the famous Latin saying SI VIS PACEM PARA BELLUM (if you want peace prepare war) - which humanity has experienced for centuries and continues to experience constantly and tragically - in SI VIS PACEM PARA PACEM (if you want peace, prepare peace) and to have made our Homeland an ecumenical temple of pilgrimage like ancient Greece, of course not for the barbarians, but for every civilized and peaceful person and beyond of course chauvinistic and racist tendencies, characteristic foreign to the humanitarian, ecumenical, peaceful and liberal spirit of Hellenism? But what can be done by the international organized profit circuits that invest in conflicts. Peace does not sell!
Therefore, the deeper messages-lessons of the Greek Revolution are timeless and of universal value and importance and focus briefly on the following as purpose: freedom, independence, peace, democracy, justice, meritocracy, prosperity, progress, and as a means: unity, harmony, sympathy , solidarity, meritocracy, justice, militancy. (Some, such as meritocracy and justice, acted as a catalyst both as a purpose and as a means, and this is of particular importance). These messages solidly establish the edifice and compose the genuine texture of Democracy. However, when they soften, then cracks appear as in the case of Byzantium, but also in our recent history (division, occupation, civil war, civil war). Especially today, when the infamous globalization abolishes national borders, and not always through democratic processes (see MA, Balkans, etc.), but creates new with often invisible power lines, deadly barbed wire of social exclusion and humanity to turn into a huge HUMAN MINE, where some powerful privileged, "strangely happy" according to Demosthenes, "mine" and exploit their fellow human beings in every way, the messages-lessons of the Greek Revolution are very timely and useful.
If, therefore, freedom, in its broadest and deepest sense, as experienced in the Greek Revolution and expressed by our national poets Dionysios Solomos and Kostis Palamas, can still today, within the framework of the European Union and the UN, be message to teach the dangerous phenomena of neo-barbarism and neo-imperialism, let us try, by thickening the lines of national struggles and contributing to the ultimate goal of achieving universal freedom, as expressed in the Charter and the Universal Declaration of of Man, who, as I mentioned above, were founded on genuine Greek philosophical and political principles, then the vision of a universal FREEDOM and peace can be achieved. Otherwise, new Kerkoportes threaten us and a new, more tragic Middle Ages awaits humanity.
Another crucial and important message derived from the meaning of the Greek Revolution is that when the Homeland is endangered by internal "enemies" conscious or not, "agents" of foreign, anti-Greek interests, who undermine, not by military means, but by moral decay, debauchery, debauchery, bigotry, division and social fragmentation, the healthy tissues of our society, state and nation, as happened in Byzantium, then peaceful social resistance and revolution is imposed, mobilizing the whole Hellenism, because the overt fascism we face is more dangerous than the obvious! Crucial is the role, internationally, of Non-Governmental Organizations and in particular organizations that are supposed to serve the people if they want to have a genuine reason for ethical existence.
Why, there is a pervasive impression that due to the general climate of social exclusion and entanglement that reigns globally, ideals have acquired selective value and sacrificed moral and meritocratic criteria, and this proves the weaknesses of human nature and institutions as they operate internationally today. the well-known dramatic or even tragic results for many, but also for the institutions themselves;
The question, then, is how we can, in the artificial "flood" declared by some strong materialists, but weak morals, internationally competitive, speculative, belligerent, anti-democratic circuits and where the Darwinian rule prevails or prevails. also "the one who saves himself to be saved" (not in the biblical sense), to survive unscathed our national and individual dignity, freedom, peace and prosperity, but also our humanism.
Even if the world and the country are flooded with all sorts of mercenaries of disorientation, deception, and extortion, who share free and generous optimism and promises of an alibi for the weakness and helplessness of those in charge to resist any anti-social, anti-social, anti-social and anti-social they voluntarily go blind in the face of the troubles that will follow. We must therefore be vigilant and mobilized and united in freedom, justice and meritocracy and with racing but realistic optimism.
The constant messages from what is happening and what is happening internally and internationally leave no room for complacency, arrogance, discord and narcissism, which unfortunately haunt and undermine our society. And as then, in 1821, we achieved unity and solidarity and sought, to some extent successfully, genuine friends and allies, let us do the same at the lowest possible cost, but first and foremost we must strengthen the internal national mental, political and social shield and this is not achieved with shabby establishments.
Why, at last, let us be honest and frankly telling the truth - because it saves - and admit that because of passions - masters of egomania and archomania - sacrificing unity, law and meritocracy as well as mistakes and "crimes" of interest and passion of internal factors, exploited by foreigners, we reached the national contraction starting with the two tragic divisions, the loss of the Northern Epirus and the danger of de-Hellenization of the Northern Epirus, the Turkish military occupation of part of Cyprus, the independent state and the EU despite the dozens of UN decisions, and the constant Turkish threats and challenges, Imia, the cold sale of the most Greek and glorious name of Macedonia with the shameful and treacherous Prespa agreement, but also the other humiliating situations - social and economic ruthless speculative circuits, the partisanship of society, the dramatic demographics shrinkage, the bleeding of brains and the workforce, the widespread corruption of institutions, especially the media and NGOs, the widespread insecurity due to criminal acts throughout the Territory, the serious unemployment of young people in particular, the "first" in work and traffic accidents, the future, the visible danger of de-Hellenization of the Diaspora, starting from the Greek language, the "language of the gods and Muses", the general decline.
In conclusion, I would also say that one of the key messages of national, especially, importance of the Greek Revolution, on the occasion of the arrogance and narcissism of power as well as the unworthiness and social exclusion that have been institutionalized, overtly or implicitly, and threaten social harmony and peace, is that in a genuine democracy the relationship between citizens and the state is not a one-way street, but a two-way street. One-way streets only characterize totalitarian regimes. Why, if we consider and reflect on the sacrifices of the first-Heroes of 21 (Kolokotronis, Nikitaras, Karaiskaki, Makrygiannis, etc.), and world-renowned political Leaders such as KAPODISTRIAS, without whom our country might not have won the national its independence or was in a much worse fate, and what the Homeland, in the sense, of course, of the official state, of the "paradoxically happy", offered them, we should be melancholy, mourn and apologize on our knees! The same is true for other modern great Greeks, who were wronged and some were forced to emigrate and to be distinguished abroad, contributing significantly to the development of foreign countries, which have successfully reduced brain trafficking to science, while our country has become the tail of many sectors with reasonable negative effects (demographic shrinkage, brain hemorrhage, astyphilia, rural abandonment, degradation of primary production, etc.), whose dramatic consequences are seen by those who do not go blind and will see more dramatically in the future if there is no reaction.
By the way, I would like to mention the important proposal of the internationally renowned Professor Kyriakos Varvaresos-in the 50s- for the decentralization and creation of rural towns, as well as the famous UN program (TOKTEN-Transfer of Technology Through National Expatriates) - in the 60's, that if they had been implemented our Homeland would have been in a much better fate!
The deeper we therefore understand some truths and learn from the mistakes of the past, the greater the hopes and optimism for a better future. This is another message of the Greek Revolution. On the contrary, as one great leader said, peoples who have not been taught their history are doomed to experience it again.
And, in closing, I would say, as a last message, national but also universal, of the Greek Revolution, and in relation to the famous John Kennedy: "Do not ask what the homeland can do for you, but what you can do for your homeland ", and in variation: K.You say what you should and can do for your Homeland and your Homeland will do what it should and can do for you! I think the same can be said for each country and its people and finally for the UN and its Member States!
AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS IN THE GREEK REVOLUTION:
- George Jarvis, New York, 1822. He learned Greek, wore a skirt, fought heroically in many battles and was repeatedly wounded. He was known as "Captain Zervos". Jarvis probably comes from Zervos.
- Jonathan P. Miller (captain), Vermont, 1824. He also learned Greek, wore a fustanela and fought fearlessly in many battles, including the Exodus of Messolonghi.
- Dr. Samuel Howe Boston He fought bravely for six years as an ordinary soldier and Chief Surgeon. In 1829 he founded a medical center in Aegina and a school for the blind in Corinth. In 1866 he organized aid for the Cretan Revolution.
- George wilson, Rhode Island, who fought and distinguished himself at the Battle of Nafpaktos.
- James Williams, African-American, from Baltimore, who fought in the Navy.
- Estwick Evans, New Hampshire, who left his wife and children and came to fight for Greece.
- John Allen, Capto
- William Townsend, fought heroically and fell fighting in the battle of Palamidi.
