Economist-internationalist Christos Alexopoulos, native, with studies in the USA, is coming to his hometown on Wednesday, October 23, for the presentation of his book “Vision Hellas 1821-2040 (published by Papazisi) at Polyedros (20:00). Today, he shares with “P” his fears for the country, his reservations about the political leadership, his proposals for a “better and different Greece. His own.”
-Your recent book comes as a continuation of 10 years ago, “Goodbye Greece, Hello Hellas – Decline and Renaissance of Hellenism 1821-2021”. What led you to write them?
Our experiences always influence us. I remember when I was 15 years old I left Patras, a boarding student in a protestant school and there the others addressed me with the contemptuous epithet of Greek. There was a prejudice, which had passed into Western literature after the Roman conquest and caused our national name to be synonymous with cheat, card player, thief, etc., even in official dictionaries. Since then, therefore, I devoted myself to reading books to become a deeper connoisseur of Hellenism and I would say that all my writings and articles revolve around the Greeks, Greece and Hellenism. I am a Hellenologist. I suggest Hellas instead of Greece, as Hellas historically refers to the Hellenistic era of M. Alexander, where Hellenism was universal, dominant as far as India. If Greece expresses the western-oriented state, Hellas expresses the universal culture. And because I am in favor of the greater Hellenism and not the small but honest Greece, I think that now, when we have an advanced crisis and decline, is our opportunity to make a counterattack again as a greater Hellenism.
-Regarding Greece today, point out, among other things, our lack of education and uninspired leadership. How with this data can we take advantage of the opportunity you are talking about?
Correctly. Look, one was, is and has not been another since, Kapodistrias, the one who had a perception of true Greekness and wanted to create a state independent of the protecting powers based on his tradition. Unfortunately, the Anglo-French did not leave him and with the cooperation of some of our people they murdered him. Since then we have gone down the wrong road. We are prisoners of our geographical location, because we have never been able to gain our self-confidence, power and independence, so our history repeats itself. We are in the center of the world, and we could become a world power. Unfortunately, we have managed to use this advantage to our advantage and the great powers are using it against us.
– Do you consider the Turks dangerous?
The main weapon the enemy can use is fear. We are possessed by a phobia syndrome, after the indelible trauma of the Asia Minor disaster, and since then we cannot raise our heads because we lack self-confidence. If we have any enemy, both in the past and in the present, but also in the future, it is the Turk. We welcome him into our home as a friend, we give him gifts, we try to Europeanize him and we wage war against Russia, which is not our enemy. It is thanks to the Russians than to the Anglo-French that we are today independent. By fighting the Russians, it is like turning them into the arms of the Turk, while we will secure our defense against the aggressive enemy only if we have Russia by our side. Imagine, otherwise, Turkey becoming a nuclear power with the help of the Russians…
That’s why we need a win. Which starts from the perception we have of ourselves. If we believe, like our leadership, that we are Psorokostains, we will remain attached to the Great Ones, and we will survive on any bone they throw at us. We have a leadership, which does not promote the national interest, but obeys the allied and the corporate. He is closer to the foreign patrons than to the Greek people. There is a mismatch between the political system and civil society. Of course every leadership reflects the quality of the people, but an inspired leadership has the task of educating the people and moving forward. Today we have lost our dignity. No one is counting on us and we claim to be a pillar of stability, we have diplomatic capital, strong Greece. No. I am ashamed to be Greek, now, from all the insults I suffer every day and our leaders hide them. All systemic media are controlled, justice is controlled. We have a problem of deficit democracy.
-Your suggestion?
There should be a national salvation council. 50 elite scientists, Ottomanologists, Turkologists, geopolitical analysts, etc. who will draw up the sanitation strategy for the next 30 years. Because our politicians, I am not saying that they are traitors, but out of fear they have not realized that the goal of the Turks is to become a continental state from a glorious people of the sea. That is why on the cover of my second book I mention 2040 as a milestone.
-Sixteen years until then. What message do you want to send?
We have suffered several defeats, several tragedies, Hellenism cannot bear another black anniversary. I put 2040 as a milestone because we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of 1940. The only anniversary we are proud of, since we alone managed to defeat the Italians, a superior power. Therefore, the spirit of 1940 needs to prevail in Greece, a new culture, optimistic, self-confident, with faith in the future, with unity and cohesion. That way, we will be able to deal with the situation, prevent the worst. Instead of appeasement, deterrence.
-What is your dream, Mr. Alexopoulos?
I would like, before I die, to complete this romantic vision that I started as a student, with the official renaming of Greece to the UN. I’ve made it everywhere. In the Olympic Games, on national jerseys, on passports, on identity cards, but at the UN, Greece remains. So, instead of Greece, I would like us to adopt Hellas as a bridge between East and West, as a mediating, holy, neutral nation for the reconciliation of peoples. He’s not some crazy paternal writer saying this. Kapodistrias also said so and he would have realized his vision if he had not been murdered. So it is time, if we cannot find a new Kapodistrian in the Diaspora, at least to implement his vision. And the big idea is to become a Mediterranean power again, to claim – in practice, not in theory – the maritime advantage we have. There is a wealth of both hydrocarbons and mineral metals in the part of the Mediterranean claimed by Turkey. Well, we are rich and we don’t know it, and out of fear we don’t take advantage of the possibilities we have from International and Community Law, to get rid of the hoarse debt, to become independent. This idea may seem utopian, but it is realistic. It takes courage, boldness, determination, self-confidence and assertiveness.
-Really, have you ever thought of getting involved in politics?
No. Because of the education I received in America, I always saw the whole and not the part. I always saw parties as part of the truth and I could not join, although I had interests and ambitions, but as a kind of statesman above parties, if possible. Which is not and I remain non-partisan, independent, alone and always against power and the system, striving for the general good rather than the partisan.
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