Skip to main content
Read page text
page 281
itself by becoming the financial centre of the Middle East. Refugees from Beirut poured in and raised real estate prices spectacularly. The Greeks failed to draw the dividends of their neighbours’ calamities. They lacked the flexibility, or opportunism, to elasticise their economic laws in order to admit the flow of capital which could have benefited them greatly. The Pasok government, so the businessmen say, is too full of ideologues and academics (many summoned from abroad by the ex-professor Andreas) to be prepared to pot the sitting ducks available to it. The Socialists have been hampered by their scruples on one hand, their greed on the other: determined to tax the rich as vigorously as they can, they know that Greek millionaires have always been resourceful in evading whatever nets have been spread to trawl their wealth. The means adopted have succeeded only in punishing the guileless. The charges on ostentatious wealth, such as yachts, have driven the shipping magnates to foreign harbours. The descendants of those who devoted their fortunes to the war of independence now summer in Turkish ports and enjoy their courtesies. The Roumanian-born Greek next to me on the flight home said that Pasok had closed down the country. A gourmet of fiercely anti-socialist purpose and passion, he regarded the Greeks with exasperated affection. In the video business, duplicating, dubbing and packaging material for the Middle Eastern market, he would not have them anywhere near his plant. He disliked Arabs and would work for them only so long as they kept out of his way. He respected the Israelis for their demanding competence. He had seen a good deal of suffering and cruelty; it had left him hostile to all ideologies. With no wish to trade on the infirmities of the destitute, he could not abide being in India, where his partners had seen the chance to make millions from the cheap labour in Bombay. The beggars had turned his stomach; although he had no large plans for their redemption, he could not live among them without seeing them, as some entrepreneurs did. He did not propose to stay in Greece after the business was sold (he hoped to make a million within a year or two), nor did he fancy the US. He favoured London where, he said, one ate extremely well. While homegrown rich Greeks have less open disdain for their compatriots, their cosmopolitanism announces a need for more admiration than their small country can offer. They are wary of the laos whose welfare Andreas is eager to cherish and whose votes are his confidence. The Greeks are divided, undisciplined, obtuse, and unreliable, qualities mirrored in their leaders. They will always find a way to survive, if sometimes at the expense of others. The Greek is a fiercely loyal family man, as well as tyrannical, selfish and unfaithful. Even someone like A., who does 270

itself by becoming the financial centre of the Middle East. Refugees from Beirut poured in and raised real estate prices spectacularly. The Greeks failed to draw the dividends of their neighbours’ calamities. They lacked the flexibility, or opportunism, to elasticise their economic laws in order to admit the flow of capital which could have benefited them greatly. The Pasok government, so the businessmen say, is too full of ideologues and academics (many summoned from abroad by the ex-professor Andreas) to be prepared to pot the sitting ducks available to it. The Socialists have been hampered by their scruples on one hand, their greed on the other: determined to tax the rich as vigorously as they can, they know that Greek millionaires have always been resourceful in evading whatever nets have been spread to trawl their wealth. The means adopted have succeeded only in punishing the guileless. The charges on ostentatious wealth, such as yachts, have driven the shipping magnates to foreign harbours. The descendants of those who devoted their fortunes to the war of independence now summer in Turkish ports and enjoy their courtesies. The Roumanian-born Greek next to me on the flight home said that Pasok had closed down the country. A gourmet of fiercely anti-socialist purpose and passion, he regarded the Greeks with exasperated affection. In the video business, duplicating, dubbing and packaging material for the Middle Eastern market, he would not have them anywhere near his plant. He disliked Arabs and would work for them only so long as they kept out of his way. He respected the Israelis for their demanding competence. He had seen a good deal of suffering and cruelty; it had left him hostile to all ideologies. With no wish to trade on the infirmities of the destitute, he could not abide being in India, where his partners had seen the chance to make millions from the cheap labour in Bombay. The beggars had turned his stomach; although he had no large plans for their redemption, he could not live among them without seeing them, as some entrepreneurs did. He did not propose to stay in Greece after the business was sold (he hoped to make a million within a year or two), nor did he fancy the US. He favoured London where, he said, one ate extremely well. While homegrown rich Greeks have less open disdain for their compatriots, their cosmopolitanism announces a need for more admiration than their small country can offer. They are wary of the laos whose welfare Andreas is eager to cherish and whose votes are his confidence. The Greeks are divided, undisciplined, obtuse, and unreliable, qualities mirrored in their leaders. They will always find a way to survive, if sometimes at the expense of others. The Greek is a fiercely loyal family man, as well as tyrannical, selfish and unfaithful. Even someone like A., who does

270

My Bookmarks


Skip to main content