by the correspondent in Athens
The Greek writer Petros Markaris is publishing a new novel about Commissioner Charitos and the new head of the homicide squad, Commissioner Antigone, always with The ship of Theseus and «my beloved Elisabetta (Sgarbi, ed.)». She is titled The violence of failureor». But in mid-April he will already start writing another one. He says he is “very worried” about a phenomenon that is alarming the government, families and analysts in Greece: physical aggression in schools, even in the most extreme cases.
What is happening in your country?
«I am very shocked, violence among young people is exploding. It starts from school and then spreads everywhere. It is a problem that is becoming gigantic, teachers report. There are arrests every day. One just a few days ago, in the Kypseli school where I went to give a three-hour lesson. Everything went very well, when I found out I didn't want to believe it.”
Do you believe that the phenomenon is linked to the very strong crisis that Greece has gone through?
«Young people are more lost today than they used to be, that's for sure. But it's not just a problem for us. I think the origin lies in families, where both parents work, children grow up alone and develop the mentality of strength. The more you use force, the more successful you become, they believe. In my time, and also in that of my daughter, who is 43 years old, society was held together by a system of values. Today the value is only money, it's disastrous!
The country's recent history has been marked by its relationship with money.
«The Greeks are more disillusioned and this has two causes: everyday difficulties due to the explosion of prices, which makes us furious, and a typical Greek mentality, for which the others are always responsible. As Sartre said, “hell is other people”. Very widespread here. But what future do we want there to be if parents, instead of encouraging their children to get better grades, go to school and attack teachers? A problem which, I am told, also exists in Italy.”
What is the government doing?
«Very late, but he has finally decided to create a safe place outside school, where students can talk about what happens. Because the victims never speak, neither at home nor with the teachers.”
What is the origin of extremism, which has repercussions, at a completely different level, also on politics, as we see in Europe?
«Ah, it's very clear to me. The decline of humanistic studies. Today, everyone only thinks about technology, the economy, which translates as “money”. It is the humanistic studies that give the values. A friend of mine who is a German Studies professor at the University told me “Petros, before I had 120 students a year, today it's a lot if I have 40″. We don't understand that we are running in the direction where we will have a job for six months, but then someone will come along who will do it for much less money than you.”
The economy is growing, but the Greeks are disillusioned.
«Everyone is uncertain and unsure about what will happen tomorrow. Not in a month, but tomorrow. There are enormous difficulties with prices in supermarkets, I said. Every day, everything costs more, so it drives people crazy. The government tries to contain it, but it doesn't work.”
Your prime minister, Mitsotakis, however, seems firmly in command. The opposition does not gather much support.
«From the point of view of those looking at it from the outside, it's true. Mitsotakis is a perfect Foreign Minister, he travels a lot, including in Europe, he is a friend of Von der Leyen. I look at things from above, from Lycabettus, as I always say, I see the Greeks suffer and think that the opposition will be worse, at least we know what he is doing, that's why they vote for him.”
What do you think about opening the country to private universities?
«There are all over the world. The question is how not to allow private companies to lower the quality of public ones, for example by absorbing qualified teachers.”
And what about Mitsotakis' rapprochement with Erdogan?
«That is the real move that I appreciate from the prime minister. Instead, I am terrified of trusting artificial intelligence. It seems very dangerous to me, even in economic terms, and it cannot be governed.” L. tor.
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