Nero burning Rome

I spent the last two days greedily feeding on information from the homeland. I wonder if the self-exiled émigré has the right to comment on what is going on back home, or is he just the passive receiver of pictures of extreme violence with only permission to despair.

Thousand miles away, in a country that draws its national identity from the pride of being the place where democracy was born, these last two days democracy died a thousand deaths. A police officer was fed up with being called names and attacked with stones all the time by random youths. A mere boy was shot dead, just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong moment. A country was in shock.

School children attacked local police stations with stones and oranges to protest for the killer state. “Come out and kill us we are only 15 years old!” People went on the street to demonstrate armed with their pride. But so did anarchists, armed with clubs, fire bombs, knives and anger. And the riot police attacked the wrong group.

The émigré is too far away to feel the real flow of events. The anger and despair remains the same. Friends from across Europe exchange their views: - I am proud people still protest in my country, at least we are still citizens – You know that shop I got your Christmas present last year... it’s burned – Did your father park the car in a safe place? – Someone should catch these anarchists there is nothing left standing… - the government is useless, the police is useless… How can we save this country? – Do you think we should go back and do our best or just stay here and be happy we are saved?

Questions scaring the hearts of émigrés. No conscience is clear, of those who stay or those who have left the sinking ship.

These anarchists, burning and robbing in the name of democracy found asylum in the grounds of universities. Greek universities are symbols of democracy and freedom of speech, a refuge to all those who want to express opposition. This freedom will no longer be abused as the universities for the first time since restoration of democracy allowed the police to go in. Democracy died one more time in a fake attempt to be saved.

And university buildings are burned; the statues of the muses are headless.

It is the right and duty of citizens to protest when an authority sworn to protect the people abuses its power. We all cry for the boy. But we also cry for the abuse of the protest itself. Police targeting peaceful crowd and letting groups spreading terror to keep on destroying people’s property and what is more, peoples faith in this state.

As if they were not hopeless enough. Abandoned in a difficult life with no hope of improvement.

Political parties keep playing their blame tennis, hoping that one of them will miss a shot.

Émigrés, just like everyone, are trying to make sense of all this. Are trying to find where the blame lies, and how if possible, to make this lost country a better place.

Do you have to burn Rome to the ground to build it again?