things from its former Eastern bloc neighbors,
said Alexis Papachelas. Greece drives off potential
foreign investors, belittles its allies, and takes its
membership in NATO and the European Union
as an inalienable right. It still has not enacted
vital economic reforms—despite multiple bailouts
and loans, not to mention threats from creditors.
Contrast this behavior with that of Albania, or
Macedonia and other ex-Yugoslavian countries.
Since the collapse of communism, they have
embraced capitalism and political reform and
are succeeding at both. They see Europe and
the U.S. as natural allies, and “aspire to become
members of all the closed international clubs we
have belonged to since the 1950s.” What’s the
difference between us? These formerly communist
nations “reject the failed leftist model because
they actually experienced it, while we maintain
it as an artificial chimera.” Somewhere in our
psyche, a socialist workers’ paradise is still felt to
be achievable, and that’s why we won’t dismantle
our bloated bureaucracy or make our labor laws
more business-friendly. One can only hope that
“at some point the competitive Greek instinct and
pride will kick in.” When we see ourselves lagging
behind Macedonia, maybe then we’ll get serious
about reform.
