Legends of the Past

Tradition, history and myths, the glorious past, our legendary ancestors, their moral high ground and great achievements captivating our minds, forcing us to follow their path. High demands placed on weak souls. It is often the case that those who follow, succeed great men are feeble, flawed and misguided. Great civilisations decline, parish as the people that inherit them are unable to handle their legacy.

National, social and cultural continuity are lost, empires fall. Those that come from humble backgrounds are often driven to make their mark, while the privileged feel empty and have little ambition of progressing what they inherited. So it is natural that those in the top will fall as stock prices do when growth seizes. As they descend they can still behave as spoiled aristocrats and brag about their glorious past but their demise is inevitable. The fallen “masters” are often enslaved by the people they once ruled over. If one looks at it spherically there is nothing paradox about it, everything is part of the well-oiled “engine of evolution”. The ruins of those that fall are the fuel for those that rise.

In their slow and undoubtedly painful process of decline the offspring of once great nations have as only comfort the stories, legends of the past. The question is whether these legends… are a curse themselves. People get trapped pondering about the achievements of the past and miss present opportunities undermining therefore their future. Their complex of inferiority towards their beloved ancestors increases the odds of them becoming underachievers.

Statues and monuments are erected in central parts of our cities not to demonstrate the power and glory of today but to remind how great we once were. The sad, melancholic phases of the statues give the impression that our great ancestors weep observing our current condition. Their wisdom and other great virtues cannot be passed on to us and are for ever lost as the wind blows the dust in our emotional desert.

How sad it feels when all that is good belongs to the past and the future is uncertain.

Ανησυχίες…

Ποτέ δεν θεωρούσα τον εαυτό μου ιδιαίτερα ανήσυχο πνεύμα. Ακόμη και σήμερα δεν θεωρώ πως έχω την υπομονή και τη διάθεση για να γνωρίσω σε βάθος και να αναλύσω καταστάσεις και ιδέες. Προτιμώ να μένω στην επιφάνεια, να δίνω ερμηνείες με βάση τον κυνικό ρεαλισμό μου και να προσπερνώ ότι μου είναι άγνωστο ή δυσνόητο. Η ερευνητική μου διάθεση περιορίζεται στα απλά, τα καθημερινά, αυτά που ζω και είναι μπροστά μου. Τα σχέδια μου είναι πάντα βραχυπρόθεσμα, απλοϊκά, οι στόχοι μου ευμετάβλητοι, το ίδιο και η καθημερινή μου διάθεση. Κάποτε πίστευα πως θα μπορούσα να βασιστώ στις αρχές μου, όμως εδώ και χρόνια παρατηρώ πως το σύστημα αξιών μου μεταβάλλεται διαρκώς, τίποτα δεν είναι σταθερό και όλα επιδέχονται πολλαπλών ερμηνειών. Δεν έχω πια το κουράγιο για να αναλύσω αυτές τις αλλαγές, ούτε έχω τη διάθεση να παρατηρήσω τις άμεσες και έμμεσες επιπτώσεις στη ζωή και στον χαρακτήρα μου. Ίσως αυτό το τελευταίο να με ανησυχεί πολύ περισσότερο από οποιοδήποτε ανθρωπολογικό ή υπαρξιακό πρόβλημα ταλανίζει τον «μέσο άνθρωπό».