Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I know what you're thinking, but this post isn't about
that, I promise.
It's interesting how people who are "innocent" tend to look younger... not innocent in the "culpability" sense of the word, but rather naïve "but in a good way," if you know what I mean. It's true though, they tend to be less furrowed of brow, less furtive of eye, more open of visage in general. Whether this is a good thing or not, I cannot say - as nature would have it they tend to be the first victims when something goes wrong. Personally, I find it not "sweet" but rather more tiresome and (if I had my way) would have them all shot - but I suppose that's why humans generally aren't allowed to eat their young. (And perhaps too, why I have yet to become supreme ruler of the universe.
)
Anyway, with all this nonsense about Greece on the telly recently (I said this wasn't about
that, and it's not), I've been doing some reading on 20th-century Greek history and happened upon a few articles pertaining to the
Greek Dictatorship of 1967-1974 (and also
this more reflective piece by a Greek commentator).
Basically in the same way as The Americans are largely innocent of their own
history of fascism, as these things are not taught in schools, I happily admit to my own naïveté of CIA activities in Greece in the middle of last century, all of which seem to be rather well known, and dating back apparently, to how Greece was "managed" after the 2nd World War and the American interests therein.
Apparently not finding any willing takers in Italy (at the time), the CIA turned to Greece to nurture their own fodder and someone welcomed them in.
"Learn something new every day," as they say.
I would even claim innocence as regards
why the CIA would even care about Greece, given that (echoing Nikos' own contemporary feelings) there really aren't enough of them to get too excited about, economically or otherwise. Outside of Turkey though, historically it does represent Western Europe's interests on the foothills of Asia (so tread their footfells there, so tread the powers-that-be elsewhere).
Like any small nation (Ireland enjoys its own similar complaint : "Take our 800 years of oppression and shove it up your...") the inhabitants of Greece might have a small justification for their endlessly quarrelsome antics - "Nothing's our fault, we're all pawns" - and it's true, superficially. As chess games play out, the importance of the small pieces rarely is known until the end-game begins. Unfortunately for Greece, that end-game seems a long way off in the future, yet the inhabitants seem to feel it lurking in their hearts-of-today.
Like any notion of innocence and the counter-tell of darkly desirous mien, I wonder if there is some inkling of wisdom in nature's cultivation of the naïve and wide-eyed as to become pure victims for history's sake? For what other good are youthful looks and wanton waywardness, if not to distract the eye while other forces commend us onward, afoot, unbeknownst to the greater good?
* * *
Ok, I promised myself I wasn't going to do this any more, but reading up on
Georgios Papadopoulos I had to give it one last try. They just seemed to have
so much in common, given Nikos' revolutionary past and all, he needed to wear his national service uniform one last time to see if it still fits.
Never trust Google to translate things, no doubt they are saluting poultry.
I'm thinking maybe "σε x2 εμπιστευόμαστε" is better? (And for what it's worth, the badly painted/ill-fitting backdrop is intentional, as the original photo of the generals was itself almost comically doctored, so it made sense to leave it deranged, exposed/alpha-channel contrasted, and colourless - much like the legacy of the dictatorship itself.)
(I promise that's the last of the "Where's Waldo" series, I need something else to amuse my boredom, like a real job. Unemployment is for chickens that lay no eggs.)