A lost generation

   So, yesterday (or, to be more accurate, last night), the government decided (under the caring advice of the U.N. "if you don't vote it, you're out") to vote the new mnemonium. It will be the third that this country's people will have to endure and it will make the situation even more insufferable. Of course, some people gathered to protest it down at Syntagma square in front of the Parliament but this government is an old fox at breaking up peaceful displays of dispute (plant a few policemen to pose as hooligans among the crowd, turn into a war zone, break it up with tear gas and some water tanks and everyone goes home). 
   Last night it was the Parliament workers' turn to lose their rights. They were to be treated from now on as typical employees and not get any "special treatment" if the new law was to pass. So said the minister of financial affairs. But that caused a riot inside the Parliament itself, which was followed by a strike. The politicians were now afraid for their safety, so the finance minister was forced to withdraw the statement.
   Things got worse last night for the Greek people. Again. From now on, it is law that if you want to go into a hospital, you need to pay a 25 euro ticket. You're not allowed to get sick have you not the money for it. Also, people that have been working in companies for years are about to get sacked and their compensation will be next to nothing compared to the work they put in. And yet, the deputies are still making thousands per month. Nothing ever touches that.
   So what did the people themselves have to say about this? Why does this keep happening? Well, apart from the hundred-something thousand that gathered in front of the Parliament last night (but quickly split), none of the people seem to understand just what is going on anymore. It's more than obvious that the Greeks have given up. Considering they can't change anything since this country is run by a couple of hundred people, they just don't bother with it anymore.
   If the impact that these measures will have on the Greek person's everyday life was comprehended by everyone, there would've been at least a million people in the streets last night. Fighting for their rights. Fighting for their children's rights. Making sure that these laws never see the light of day.
   But it's easier and much more comfortable to just sit at home, on your bed, in front of the pc or the tv and just watch everything get taken away from you, thinking "what can I do about it?". Which is exactly why this has happened to this country. 
   There is nothing left to lose. One of the ministers claimed that if these measures were not to pass, then there would be no meaning to talk about employment cause there would be no jobs left in Greece. HE is the employment minister! Has he recently checked the unempoyment rate, I wonder? Whether Greece stays in the euro or returns to the drachma it's one and the same, since most people can't afford stuff anyway.
   So Greece is only in the eurozone for a few thousand people, who can still afford luxuries like a full shopping cart or medication! Because, yes, those are now considered luxuries in this land. A democratic land in which three hundred people, that have no idea of the side affects of the laws, since they consider themselves above them, get to create them as they wish and force them upon 9,5 million others. 
   People work eight (maybe more) hours a day for 500 euros a month, have no health insurance, get sacked with no compensation, can't afford to even get sick... Especially the young people's faces are full of misery, disappointment, emptyness, helplessness. It's so sad to see an entire generation just give up. They don't even talk about it anymore.
   It's true that Greeks have been selfish in the past. Not just when it comes to politics, but in a lot of matters. Even in the war there were those who dobbed upon their friends to the Germans just for their own personal freedom and gain. Nothing's changed. My personal opinion is that Greece is now paying off a debt that it has owed for centuries. It's just so sad for this generation to have to carry such a burden.

Age has nothing to do with life lessons...

   Before I begin, I would like to specify that this concerns a personal matter. It is in fact something that has happened to me recently and that gave me another important life lesson. One I thought I knew but soon came to realize there is a world of difference between saying you know something and actually having the knowledge of it.
   I won't go into detail just to protect the other person's name, but I will say this: even though sometimes we may be older than others, that doesn't really say anything about us. Yes, we are supposed to act more mature and more responsible, but life is so unpredictable that you just don't know what's waiting for you around the corner.
   So yes, this does indeed involve me and another person of a somewhat younger age. A much younger age actually. Not that that has anything to do with it, just to throw some salt on the wound. A few years back, during some classes I was taking (and let me tell you, I've been taking those classes seriously and vigorously), I came across a couple of children of a higher level than I was. And, along with everyone else in those classes, even though we competed, we started to learn more about each other and become friends. I began to make other friends in these classes as well. Until I felt part of one big family. And you know how it goes with families, some people you're closer with, others you're not, but they're all there. And you subconsciously miss them if they're not. This is kinda what I began to feel in time.
   Along that big family came those two children of the same age. Twins, I think. One boy, one girl. They showed me a lot of respect for the effort I was putting into these classes and they were growing quite fond of me. It gave me some confidence as well. That if others are believing in me, then I should believe in myself a bit more. I felt capable, stronger. All because of a pat on the back, a joke or a "good work!". (You wouldn't believe how far a little recognition can get you!) And I was responding to it, of course. Trying to give back the strength they had given me. Not just them, but everyone. I felt great at that time!
   But, as they say, it was just the calm before the storm. During one of our exams for these classes, I found out something that I just thought was too hard to accept. This man, this horrible person, and one of the people responsible for countless futures lost, unimaginable tragedies, suicides, poverty, so many others suffering (and I could go on for a while), this guy had come to see our exams! The reason? To watch his two children, the ones that were spurring me on and pushing me forward, the ones that I considered my friends and part of my new family! I passed the exam, but it didn't even matter to me. I felt angry, bitter! I didn't know what to believe anymore. I quickly tried to erase them from everywhere (Facebook, my life, etc.) and not have anything to do with them. 
   Some sound advice and some days to think made me realize that this was a big mistake. It didn't matter where they came from, all that mattered was who they were. That's what everyone around me said when I asked them. It wasn't their fault that they were born there. I tried to accept that, I tried to understand that they were too young to comprehend anything that's going on around them, to imagine the difficult life they must have because of who their father is and just forget about the whole thing... But the damage was already done. On both sides...
   Deleting someone from your facebook profile and then sending them a friend request two days later always raises questions. So you can imagine that I was asked about it when I did it. And, as a loyal fan of speaking my mind, I told the young girl everything when she asked me. What I got in return for my honesty was viciousness, mean looks, and not a single word out of her mouth for about four months now. I don't blame her really... "I-didn't-know-who-you-were-so-then-I-hated-you-for-it-but-now-I-changed-my-mind-and-I-like-you-again...", sounds kind of a lame excuse. But also, she was kinda hurt because she thought she had found a friend in me.
   Since then I've been having a bit of a mental torment. This especially cannot be helped when you have nothing to do, so you sit around thinking about stuff. On the one hand, I have the children of a man because of who I and many others are without a job, without money, without dreams. I've ended up hating this country because of the likes of him and I'm forced to leave. And those kids have a great life thanks to all the sacrifices that our people were forced to make! We weren't even asked about it! (Even though the people are as much to blame for this situation as the politicians, but I think I've analyzed that in a different post).
   On the other hand though, there's two great personalities, two fun kids that have never acted like they're higher above anyone. That have worked their butts off to prove that they're not just daddy's little kids, but something on their own. That have had to carry a burden since birth of about 9,5 million people cursing their father's, or even their whole family's name. And yet, even at such a young age they have the courage and the maturity to realize it and turn the other cheek, to smile at their hardships, to be kind, polite, happy and independent.
   It took me a while but I understood that I don't have the right to even look at that little girl anymore. I had ten years on her and yet, she made me look like a ten-year-old. I hurt her feelings but her maturity in handling the situation made me mad at first, so mad in fact that I even held a grudge. I was being foolish. The lesson I got from that 15-year-old girl was that it doesn't matter if a person is born in an alley or in Buckingham Palace. All that matters is what's inside of them.
   Yes, her father was yet again last night (one of the ones) responsible for who knows how many people to lose their jobs and get little to no compensation for it. Yes, I was mad, like the rest of this country. But that's another story, for another topic. A lesson hard learned.
   For what it's worth, and if you ever read this, I'm sorry...

Where do idols come from...

  As children we all have people that we look up to. People that we idolize. People that we admire and that we wish we could be like them. Since we're only young it's sort of like our duty to receive positive inspirations and when asked about what we want to do with ourselves give a response in the likes of "I want to be a doctor" or something. It's not like anyone takes our musings seriously anyway, but to us these first impressions are dead serious.
   For a child to receive a positive inspiration is easy. He could just see his mother or father working and say "I wanna be like them when I grow up". The difficulty comes when the child starts to grow. When the child gets older and it begins to understand and better perceive it's surroundings. That's when it's "inspirations" need to be steadier than ever.
   It's easy for an idol to crumble. And when that happens, when a child loses faith in what it believed in (or, even worse, if it finds out it was a lie), it can be difficult for it to believe in people again, let alone idolize or find inspiration. This especially can't be helped with the teenage generation when everything appears much bigger an issue than it really is.
   The only answer to this is for the children to be able to have faith in their idols. No matter the difficulties they need to be able to look up to them and communicate with them. A healthy parent-child relationship is exactly what is needed for the next generation to be able to steadily take it's place. 
   Eventually those children grow up to be the ones that will be admired. It is the previous generations duty to guide them, help them out however they can and show them the way so they can eventually become strong people. People with confidence that know their path in life and will use all their previous experiences to their own benefit.
   But, taking a good look at today's generation, one can't help but feel a little sad. At the legacy left to us by our predecessors and by the one we will leave to the ones that will come after us. Children of rich families unable to communicate with their parents and turning to drugs and alcohol. Poor children not able to create a future for themselves or that are forced to leave their friends and family behind to go abroad. And the situation is only going to get worse.
   At the end of the day, all we have is each other. And we need to let each other know as often as possible. Because knowing you'll always be welcome, no matter how much has changed... That's what having a home is all about.