Looking for a Vision

These are difficult times for Greeks. For many reasons; difficult because they need to readjust their lifestyles, tighten the belt, squeeze the lemon till the last drop. Difficult because it's hard to accept and digest that they and their families are in this situation because of the few, corrupted and greedy vampires that have been slowly sipping their blood in champagne glasses for generations. Difficult because they feel powerless and helpless knowing that there is no viable alternative to those who hold the reigns of power. Difficult because lack of hope and ambition is the worst predicament for any society. Having no vision as to where the country is heading renders its citizens blind, incapable to find their way out of the maze of misery they have found themselves in. The omens are equally bleak. It took more than 20 years and a world war for Greece to recover from the last time its government had to take similar measures in the early 30's and that recovery was partly achieved due to a mass exodus of the country's finest and brightest who immigrated in search of jobs. So any talk for a normalization in the next four years is at least premature, if not ridicilous. Those in the know acknowledge that the future of the nation is peddled with seeminlgy insurmountable issues that will dominate Greek society and impact it in a highly negative way; the gap between the haves and the have nots will widen leading to conflict of the classes, increasing unemployment amongst the youth will be manifested in the form of soaring crime rates which will also lead to more intense xenophobia, racial tensions and discrimination making the country prey to extremist ideologies that already lurk in the deemly lit allays of Athens' central areas. Drug trafficking, prostitution and any form of organised crime will proliferate as more Greeks will enter the poverty line and as the understaffed, resource-starved and demoralized Police force will be unable, incapable or unwilling to enforce the law. Is this a future we wanted for our children? I am not a futurologist, nor am I a trend spotter. But it takes none of those to be able to fortune tell what lies ahead for the nation which is credited for the incubation and development of the principles guiding our modern western lifestyles. I fear for the worst for people with no hope are people who respect no values, people with no vision have no reason to be, regardless of how glorious their past may have been. I only have one hope. To be proved wrong...