Saturday, June 25, 2016

It's All Up to the Mykonians


Jeff—Saturday

Perhaps there’s just something in the air…or the water, but the raging populist drive reflected in Thursday’s Brexit vote and the US Presidential campaign seems to be taking root on Mykonos.

A half-dozen times this week different Mykonians lamented to me on their island’s future. That’s not unusual.  I’ve been hearing similar complaints every year for over thirty years. Some say it’s only natural. :)  This time, though, the complaint was specific, with each one expressly saying, “We’re turning into Las Vegas.”

That gave me a chill.  No, not because of my own memories of times in Las Vegas, but because those were practically the very words I’d used to describe the potential fate of the island more than three years ago in Mykonos After Midnight (no cover shot this time). 


Here is dialog from that Kaldis book #5 among Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis, his colleague Yianni Kouros, and Lefteris, a local Mykonos businessman.  I’ve edited the conversation slightly so as to avoid a plot spoiler.

[It starts off with the local, Lefteris, saying,] “Can you imagine [turning] … Mykonos… into the Las Vegas of the Mediterranean?”

“And that’s a good thing?” said Kouros.

Andreas rubbed his forehead.  “Don't you think the island has gone about as far off in the ‘nightlife direction’ as the Mykonians can take?”

“Maybe, but it has only profited the handful of locals who control it.  Look, I love this place as much as any Mykonian.  I grew up here and raised my family here.  But I'm a realist.  There is no going back to the old days.  None.  All we can do is try to protect the future, make things fairer so that no longer will one man get rich and another go to jail for doing exactly the same thing just because one has connections and the other does not. 

“If we'd commit as a community to turning our island into a worldwide entertainment destination, a Las Vegas on the sea, it would become a year-round tourist attraction, and not just a place for partying kids in the summer.”

Lefteris turned his hands palms up and shrugged.  “But none of that is ever going to happen...The big boys here have all the juice and the big boys elsewhere don’t want Mykonos to [succeed].  And you don't have to look very hard to see how nasty some of them are willing to play.”
….
[When alone with Andreas, Kouros said,] “Las Vegas may not be a bad comparison for the way Mykonos could end up.  I hear it's surrounded by desert filled with never to be discovered bodies.  Mykonos has the Aegean.”

“Let's hope it doesn't go that way.” 

“What's to stop it?  If all it takes is money to do whatever you want, those with the most get to call the shots,” said Kouros.

Andreas put his arm around Kouros’ shoulder.  “If you’re right, there's nothing you or I can do to affect the end of that story; it's all up to the Mykonians.” 

***
So, to those Mykonians now concerned and complaining, I suggest that perhaps some constructive guidance can be found in the words of U.S. Representative and veteran civil rights leader, John Lewis, offered in his speech Wednesday announcing his and his colleagues’ determination to occupy the floor of the United States Congress until that government body addresses common sense gun-control measures.

Here are relevant excerpts from Representative Lewis’ speech, modified as indicated for local consumption.


“[You] were elected to lead, [fill in position]. [You] must be headlights, and not taillights.  [You] cannot continue to stick [y]our heads in the sand and ignore the reality of [what is happening to our island]… [T]his is a fact. It is not an opinion. [You] must remove the blinders. The time for silence and patience is long gone.

We are calling on the leadership of the [island] to bring common-sense … legislation [and enforcement] to the [fore]… [You] came here to do [y]our jobs.  [You] came here to work. The [Mykonian] people are demanding action.”

As Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis once said, “It’s all up to the Mykonians.”



—Jeff

24 comments:

  1. I agree 100%, Jeff. But I'm discouraged that the populist revolt always seems to be headed in the opposite direction from what seems to me the sensible one. Brexit is a case in point.

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    1. Agreed, which is why I think the appropriate method is to confront seminal matters head on rather than be sidetracked by wedge issues, demagoguery, and shrouded agendas.

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  2. To my Bro from your cockeyed optimist Sis: This is pretty much the only way I can bear to think about the world situation these days--Brexit, Trumpism. Isis. The Pulse attack. It all looks to me like a backlash of white/male dominance against the strides the planet has made toward Acceptance Without Exception. It is strong and scary in the extreme. Let's pray we are witnessing the death throes of oppression. I REFUSE to give up my little kernel of hope. I have seen progress in my lifetime that I never thought I would live to see. I cling to that.

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    1. I'm all for optimism, sis, but perhaps you can explain to me why I see so many non-males in full strident fervor rooting for the same extremes? I fear the root cause is not so easily explained.

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    2. Bro, to underscore my comment: I said "white/male," by which I meant "white and/or male." The females in the nasty backlash are white, some of the males are too, but many are not. I myself, considering my Italian and Sicilian ancestry, would not be considered white in many places. People of my persuasion were not considered really white by those of Irish descent my grammar school. And I fear my whiteness would be called into question these days by many of those Brexit YES voters, also in Sweden, say, and--I am sad to say--by many Italians north of Rome. My own uncles, brothers of my mother and American-born descendants of an important Neapolitan baron, called me "siciliana" (owing to my paternal ancestry) when I was a child and reminded me that there is "nothing between Sicily and Africa but water." I am NOT saying that all whites/males are oppressors. Not at all. Just that those who are making their bigoted statements so loud and rudely these days are either one or the other or both.

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    3. Sis, I understand where you're coming from with this, but on the subject of Brexit, at least, I believe the reason runs deeper. I say that because over here on Mykonos I've heard many Brits in favor of Brexit openly speak in terms of cutting off the flow of "blond refugees," a code phrase for the former Soviet satellite Slavic nations (notably Poland)--a group they blame for much of the UK's woes.

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    4. Oh, how ultra superior those British tourists on Mykonos must be, that they can hate other blonds! They must belong to the most exclusive club on earth. In the UNIVERSE!

      Formula for a hate statement: We are ________(stated in with convictions of superiority). We don't want any ______ people living near us.

      Fill in those blanks with colors, religions, nationalities, cultures, sexual preferences, economic status and you have the seeds for one group's excuse for subjugating, raping, killing another.

      All such statements are hideous to me.

      And the most pervasive conviction of superiority and the one that causes the most oppression and pain on this planet is the assumed superiority of men and the consequent subjugation of women.

      Social, political, and economic entropy on this planet seem at the moment to be increasing at a terrifying rate. If we allow ourselves to stick the blame for that on one group or another, and allow our fear to fuel our hatreds, group against group, we will doom our species to a long and excruciating period of pure hell.

      Tolerance and Acceptance Without Exception is the only medicine for this madness.

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    5. I don' think anyone who regularly follows this site would disagree with you on the horrid nature of prejudice, but to attribute the hard felt (wrong-headed) emotions to "ultra superior" tourists is to miss the point that Donald Trump has not. IT'S WIDESPREAD. The important thing to do is recognize if as not confined to some neat little prejudice, but out there lurking among otherwise decent minded people and find some way to address and combat it. At least that's how I see it.

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    6. What do you think is the underlying cause?

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    7. If I knew the answer to that question I'd be King of Europe. Or Queen.

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  3. As Kouros implied, where there's money to be made, those with the money will usually find a way. While I wish the best for Mykonos, about all I can suggest is enjoy what you've got while you've got it, know what you've got before it's gone, because the only constant is change. Fortunately, as AmA implied, along with all the crap also comes progress. Unfortunately, they take turns overtaking each other.

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    1. I take it you don't put much faith in the wisdom of the Citizens United decision, or Charles Wilson's observation, "What's good for General Motors is good for America."

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    2. I put great faith in greed and self-pleasure, you can always count on them (just not their results). I try to focus on other, more positive, aspects of the human condition. But I suspect you suspected that.

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    3. On that subject, my friend, we're in total agreement.

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  4. The Brexit vote is dismaying. Behind it is so much xenophobia, hatred, racism. It is directed much at immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa, many Muslims, but the far right is also opposed to Eastern European migrants.
    I read a comment from a right-winger complaining bout Rumanians and Poles using the National Health Service.
    This kind of hatred led to the murder of Labor MP Jo Cox, aged 41 and mother of two young children, by a white supremacist. She advocated for immigrants and diverse communities.

    The far-right parties in Europe are cheering on the Brexit. Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic National Front is cheering and calling for France to do the same.

    It's pretty grim out there. Some of the good folks are out marching for unity. And 3 million have signed a petition for a revote. But there's got to be lot done to push back the ultra-right.

    Jo Cox had said that she feared the atmosphere in Europe was permeated with the same hatred that existed in the 1930s.

    Hope that the forces of good and unity get moving -- and in large numbers.

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    1. This is a play with many acts yet to follow, all the world as it's stage and key parts still to cast.

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  5. I would like to apologize for being British. You may have noticed the Scots voted overwhelmingly to remain. Then Trump landed at his golf course at Turnberry and praised the audience for voting to get out of Europe (and they hadn't of course, they were all Scottish!). The twitter feed that followed was extremely insulting but very, very funny. As I write this, an MP is taking the call for a revote to parliament... we have a constitutional rule about % of the margin and a turnout being lower than 75% of the electorate. Farage brought this to our attention in case the remain vote won by a small majority... so here's hoping. The words hoisted and own petard come to mind.

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    1. Please don't apologize for being British. Or having been born a member of any group. It is what is on your mind and in your heart that we care about. We all need to be so proud and happy, so comfortable with who and what we are that we don't have an identity crisis (and turn defensive) every time we encounter someone who isn't "one of us." Welcome to the human race. So beautiful, if we don't snarl.

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    2. As Sis Annamaria said, Alan, no need to apologize...especially after all the delicious tweets your countrymen (at least until Scotland has its re-referendum) descended on your illustrious golf guest following his bass-acwards praise on the vote.

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  6. Omigosh, there are so many good people in England, Scotland, Ireland. I keep reading good tweets on crime fiction blogs and twitter feeds that are anti-xenophobia, anti-racist, pro-inclusion and about building unity. So I have hope.

    Also, after looking at the voting breakdown in England, a fact is that younger people voted to remain in the EU, a majority of those under 45 and a higher percentage the younger the age.

    Also, in some cities like Liverpool and Manchester, as a neighbor from England pointed out, the majority voted to remain.

    And good for Scotland!

    I'm worried about the far right as is every thinking person in Britain, especially after what happened to MP Jo Cox and the taunting and threats occurring now to immigrants.

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    1. With a nearly 50-50 Brexit vote, I'm tempted to ask whether the glass is half-full or half-empty?

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  7. Richard Branson on TV this morning with an impassioned plea for a re vote ....The tide is turning but I am not sure in what direction. The idea of Boris Johnson as PM-(he has guaranteed Nigel Farage a place in his cabinet) is making a lot of people stop and think. They should have been more careful what they wished for.

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    1. I'm back in the States for two weeks and anxious to see if the reality sinking in over in the UK has any effect on potential US voters considering a similar Guy Fawkes sort of act of political petulance come November.

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  8. Have folks read the voting breakdown? The Independent did charts showing the results by nationality, religion, etc.The vote among whites to Remain in the EU was 46%. Among Black people, it was 73%, Asians 67%, Muslims, 70%, Hindus 70%, Chinese people 70%.
    This is pretty stark.

    The UKIP turned the vote into a campaign against immigration and it unleashed the same bigotry that's going on here with Trump spurring it on.

    Now, immigrants are being confronted with remarks like, "We voted you out. Why are you here?" Incidents of physical abuse of immigrations have risen.

    One hope though is that young people voted to remain and are angry are their elders for voting to leave. The majority of those under 45 voted to remain, and more so, the younger the age. Those 18 to 35 voted 57% to remain, those under 25 voted 75% to stay. They want a multicultural society.

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