Επιστολή στον Guardian – Letter to the Guardian

Dear Editor,

The scope of my letter is a little country; not “the land of the free and home of the brave”, but certainly Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. A characteristic quote by Winston Churchill after the epic winter 1940-41: “Hence, we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks”.

A few more links: There is a plethora of Greek words in the english thesaurus: from democracy to technology, from atom to galaxy and the cosmos, from alpha to omega. The typical textbook on any science or arts will mention Greece in their introduction or epilogue: physics, chemistry, biology, politics, architecture, philosophy, theatre, tragedy, comedy, music, poetry. Greek language is a necessity for those who study classics, mathematics or theology (Bible’s New Testament was written in Greek). The British Museum exhibits myriads of Greek artefacts. Sir Steven Runciman was the most prominent researcher of the Byzantine Empire ethos (East Roman Empire), a historical period least analysed by Westerners. The Greek coastline, 750 miles longer than the UK’s, is full of British tourists. Both nations have long nautical tradition and fought together all major wars. After China and India, Greece was the third country in number of foreign students in 2006; huge support to the UK’s academic organisations and economy in general. British will sing the Olympic Hymn next year.

In parallel, Greece faces a critical problem: chaos with the economy; Greece is diagnosed as being a cacophony within the numismatic euro–zone. That episode may turn catapstrophic for many, including British. PM David Cameron emphasised that the UK won’t contribute to the bailout to Greece. Nobody asked. What we, practical Greeks, ask you, sympathetic and generous British, is more symmetrical, though not panacea: buy Greek products and visit Greece for holidays. You will automatically help yourselves. The same PM articulated it: “A strong euro–zone is in Britain’s interests. A weak euro–zone is not in Britain’s interests”

Yours,

Andreas Stalidis

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