Hotspots and Cold Winter Days

The EU Summit on the subject of the Refugees is over. Germany is happy and when that happens on the flip-side of the same coin someone must necessarily have fallen short in the deal. It does not really take a genius to understand who that someone was, all you need to do is to take a close look at the picture that was taken after the Summit portraying the Heads of European States and you will have the answer. The resigned image of yet again Greece's puppet Prime Minister was negatively dominating the photo, with his body-language revealing once more that the beating must have been intense. No matter how you do it, there is simply no way of upgrading an average peasant brain to a level of an effective Head of State. There aren't enough hours in the day to teach him the proper and condensed version of speaking correct English, to familiarise him with diplomatic etiquette and to have him take important decisions all the same way. Greeks need to understand that next to shaping a leader you also need to be born with leadership material, otherwise there is no recipe to get you there. And I don't think that anyone believes that our PM is cut-out of that stuff. It does raise serious concern about the collective intelligence of this nation, no doubt, but are we really that oblivious to the repetition of the same mistake over and over again? And why is it that I refuse to believe that what we export at the level of our political staff's image is by far lagging behind our true abilities as a nation and as individuals? And I do take major offence, when I see the PM of my own country conducting himself like the true amateur he is, even when he receives Heads of States of other European countries when they visit, when his posture is pathetic at best at the sound of a foreign national anthem, and when he fails to grasp on the fact that even the selection of the right delegation of by-standers is conveying seriousness and an impression of how well you understand your office (I believe that only in countries that are ruled by dictators one would have the Minster of Defence be present during the visit of another country's Head of State).

On a relevant note, his only ability probably -also the most exercised one- is the ability to distort the truth and to manufacture his own version of reality. How else can someone explain the massive dilution with which the country's overly sensitive political agenda is being addressed? Only months back we witnessed the total ineffectiveness of this Government's economic diplomacy, which has taken the country to the verge of catastrophe. These days it is the total ineffectiveness of the Government's diplomacy on immigration issues, despite the fact that this time around you have all the leverage you need to argue a strong case. With the absence of a clear strategy being the most prevalent impression, we attacked the economic agenda like a bunch of delusional peasants, who thought that they can reverse the course of Europe, while having absolutely no strong hand in this game. In politics zero leverage means disaster. What is only worse than that is having zero leverage but the audacity to think that you dominate the game. And in the same context what is fatal in politics is having all the leverage in your arsenal go unused. We all pay the price of this delusion and we will for a few more decades. The actions of this government have erased any sound hope for a better life from the younger generations, and yet this government claims the higher ground of having saved the country from worse. The total lack of strategy, which on an executional level translates inevitably into shortsighted and random actions of policy have irreversibly sealed the fate of this country and condemned it to life-long dependence and obedience. The Varoufakis' of this land, the Tsipras' of this country and the endless chain of shameless individuals who treated this country as their own property seems to never end. The sadistic demonstration of incapability on all levels is just too provocative to let go and to not demand for some type of restoration for damages. In other countries the definition of treason is far narrower that the irresponsible actions committed by these individuals, and yet they travel the planet in jet-setter format like contemporary prophets who see their true calling in advertising their immorality and personal philosophy. Take lessons of effective leadership from your enemies. They prosper because they understand the game. You are doomed to decline if you don't understand it and you only accelerate this decline if you act like you do understand it.

Another word of advice. Globalisation is the age of communication. It is imperative to understand language when you conduct policy. The rather poor image of the PM at all events, whether the meeting with Obama, the interview with Bill Clinton or any other public statement for that matter show the world that he doesn't have the skill and ability to communicate. Make no mistake you Micky Mouse image-makers out there, you may conclude that Greeks are stupid and they don't see the shortfalls of their non-leader -and you may be right- but the world is bigger than just Greece and the rest of the world is not required to blind themselves to the fact of a puppet leader. It just pains extremely these days to be Greek. And while someone must be clearly profiting from the dismantling of this country, I suspect it is the same person who also holds the pen and writes contemporary history. The grand puppeteer must take extreme pleasure in playing with our brains and our emotions. This modern form of torture will inevitably search for an outlet as the pain is excruciating. Mankind has always reacted to all forms of suppression. If this means that some of us need to retreat and regroup in order to survive, we will. If some of us need to go dark and operate outside the system in order to reduce the pain, we will. If some of us need to start the war on morality and justice, we will. Make no mistake - the best warriors in history are not the ones that were violently inclined by their nature - but the ones that were bothered in their peace.