As the wise Solón, Pedro Olalla (Oviedo, 1966) affirms: «I grow old without stopping learning». And like Socrates, another such, he is very clear that “a life without reflection is not life for man.” Hellenist, writer and filmmaker, author of such celebrated titles as ‘Mythological Atlas of Greece (Bellaterra) and ‘Grecia en el aire’ and ‘De senectute politica: unarresponsable letter to Cicero’, both edited by Acantilado, now publishes in this same stamp ‘Words from the Aegean (the sea, the Greek language and the dawn of civilization)’. Olalla has had his residence and part of his heart in Athens for years.
– What amazes you the most?
– I would say that the fragility of collective conquests and the fragility of truth. We have seen it, with great prominence, in the management of the latest ‘crises’: the financial crisis, the migratory crisis, the pandemic crisis, that of all the wars of the moment -although only the one in Ukraine is mentioned-. In all these processes, even more than the economy, security, health or peace, what has been shown to be in danger is the truth.
– And more puzzled?
– The high propensity to uncritically accept the dominant narrative. Where we wanted to believe that critical thinking and science were universally accepted, we see doctrine and dogma flourish again. And how the attitude of embracing them seamlessly and belligerently proliferates and is valued; we see with what arrogance everyone who dares to dissent with arguments and evidence is reviled and degraded to the condition of ‘flat earther’.
– How restless are you?
– Quite. I think we all should be. But what prevails is inertia. Sometimes I imagine humanity as passengers on a train headed off a cliff, distracted by their petty pursuits and confident that there is a driver who knows what he is doing.
– Do you live in fear?
– The truth is, no. Many people live in fear who have more compelling reasons than I do. I live with concern, with disenchantment, sometimes with pain. I am concerned that degradation will reach us, that we will lack time to apply solutions. But I try to be cheerful: joy has to be built, day by day, against many things. Joy, in Greek, is an ‘athlos’, a tireless effort.
– At what point are we in what we have come to call Western civilization?
– At a ‘critical’ moment in the etymological sense of the term: in need of judgment, examination, rethinking. We have to become more aware of where we are going, and know if that is where we want to go. However, thought and criticism are losing ground to dogma and compliance. And the West is thus losing one of its most valuable features – one of the few, in the face of many historical sins such as supremacism and predation – and recklessly exposing itself to self-destruction.
Courage
– What is a big mistake?
– We are persisting in wrong behaviors and models, when what is needed is a paradigm shift. In politics, in the economy, in production, in consumption, in work, in the redistribution of wealth, in access to resources… And none of this will be achieved without the courage to question and change.
– What problem would you highlight?
– The real problem of the West and the world is that -with the interested collusion of the elites, the informative and academic nativity scene, and the passive credulity of society as a whole- we have allowed the neoliberal desideratum to become an unquestionable dogma and to devastatingly conquer politics and ethics. For me, that is the real problem; The rest are just consequences.
– Was the invasion of Ukraine expected?
– At the Pentagon, sure. The rest of us – including the Ukrainian people – have been taken a bit by surprise. But, if we value the background -Helsinki Conference, Charter of Paris, commitments not to enlarge NATO to the East, incorporation of fourteen countries from the East and the Balkans into it, the OSCE’s collapse by NATO, installation of missiles NATO anti-ballistic missiles near the Russian borders…-, it is evident that we had been playing with fire for some time.
– How do you see this war?
– With horror and disappointment at the priorities and political incapacity of our leaders. As we can also observe all the wars going on right now: let’s not forget Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Libya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Congo, Mozambique, Somalia, Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, SADR… More than 10% of humanity lives in war, but chaos will continue to be sowed in order to illuminate a new ‘status quo’ tailored to the dominant oligarchies.
– What happens to Putin?
– Those who take us for fools tell us that he is crazy; but I see him as very sane: playing his cards with the same coldness as his adversaries, and -judging by NATO’s interventions in Serbia and Iraq- I would say, even more carefully.
Bands
– And how does Europe behave?
– With submission and with hypocrisy. When you are for peace, you are for peace with everyone; when you are against war, you are against all wars; when atrocities are denounced, all atrocities are denounced; when measures are taken against those who break International Law and Human Rights, they are taken against everyone; when you are in solidarity with those who flee from war, you are in solidarity with those who flee from all wars. If this is not done, you are not for peace, nor against war, nor against atrocities, nor in favor of rights, nor are you in solidarity: you simply take sides with one of the sides. And this is what Europe is doing, with its unconditional alignment and selective solidarity. Faced with the touchstone of the war in Ukraine, ‘civilized’ Europe is missing the historic opportunity to prove that it is who it says it is.
– And the United States?
– The United States – its hard core – is the one most responsible for the disaster. What would the Pentagon and NATO have done if Russia installed nuclear missiles in Cuba, Mexico or Canada? I doubt his response was any more lukewarm than Putin’s. Since before the end of the Cold War, the United States wants Russia out and Europe below. The fall of the Soviet Bloc has reconverted NATO’s mission from military guarantor of the Western bloc to an armed wing of the US republican, capitalist and globalizing doctrine. This war is one more episode.
– What should Europe do?
– What we should all do at this point of deterioration of the planet and threat to human existence itself. Let go of spurious and short-term interests, and attend to what is important and peremptory. Promote collaboration and solidarity on a global scale. Work because fundamental rights, justice and resources exist for everyone. And this is not achieved by behaving as a lackey of the US hegemonic system, but rather by trying to keep cool, offering Russia, China and all the countries of the world avenues for collaboration on a fair basis, and opening true paths for peace and world prosperity.
– How do you perceive the citizen who informs himself from afar?
– I believe that the citizens of the EU are exposed in a toxic and ominous way to the dominant discourse. When has it been seen, as a retaliation and boycott, to ban the retransmission of foreign information media! Misrepresenting the facts in the crude way that is now being done or sinning in such a serious omission of information! Did we ban CNN when the US entered Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya?
– What are we playing for?
– Everything. We have been playing everything for a long time. Our democratic achievements, our fundamental rights, our freedom as individuals, our freedom of expression, our political sovereignty, our access to basic resources, our access to truthful information… The possibility of knowing a different world than the mere product of abuse and the lie.
– What is the most urgent today?
– Become aware and learn to organize ourselves. That is the premise to bring about the profound structural changes that the world needs. We must learn to use our human potential wisely and in solidarity.
– How can reading ‘Words from the Aegean’ help us?
– Ugh! After what we have been saying… talking about a new book seems frivolous!
NO CRITERIA
“We have consented that the neoliberal desideratum has become an unquestionable norm”
AWARENESS
«Thought and criticism are losing ground against dogma»
BLOCKS
“I see Putin playing his cards with the same coldness as his opponents”
INFORMATION
“Did we ban CNN when the US entered Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya?”
LIFE ATTITUDE
«I try to overcome discouragement by trying to learn to laugh and philosophize at the same time»
– What teachings does it contain?
– Some of my previous works dealt more with ethics and politics: ‘Words from the Aegean’, on the other hand, aspires to be a book about ‘logos’, about the Greek language as the raw material of our thought and as a metaphorical reading of the world. And, as language and culture always go together, exploring the formation of the Greek language leads us to explore, in very remote times and in the space of the Aegean, the formation of that culture from which we come. And it is a book written in a poetic way, from experience and from the field, although imbued with a scientific attitude and Socratic wonder.
Happiness
How do you know what is truly important?
– Is not easy. What is important is usually close to what does not seem so. What offers help, joy, is often important. Perhaps the best guide is the sensation that our own experience leaves in our consciousness.
– What myth is your favorite at this time?
– For me, the most fascinating thing about the Greek myths is precisely the whole: the cohesion they have given to culture, their magical power to integrate the natural, the divine and the human. In our time, I think we should not forget Antigone’s attitude: that of discerning between law and justice, that of questioning the laws when they fail to meet the superior values that inspire them and that give them reason to exist. I believe that today, more than ever, all citizens have the duty of Antigone.
– Where do you recommend we travel?
– Inside. That of oneself and that of others. No external journey is profitable if it is not accompanied by another internal journey.
-How to overcome discouragement?
– I try trying to learn to philosophize and laugh at the same time.
– What ongoing scientific research arouses your interest?
– All, in principle. But what interests me most is the interaction between the sciences. That interaction has a great presence in ‘Words from the Aegean’.
– Do you distrust artificial intelligence?
– Only when it is in the hands of those who lack the natural.
– What has the pandemic taught you?
– That health was not really the first thing.
#Pedro #Olalla #West #recklessly #exposing #destruction