About
Of Greek origin. Unlike Hummus which is middle-eastern (you see? you learn something new every day).
A background in Law and Economics. Left successful civil service career, working competition cases for the OFT, for dodgy one as actor.
Runs the Sturdy Beggars Theatre Company.
Unashamedly “lefty” sensibilities.
You may contact me at alex@sturdy-beggars.com
I’ll admit I may have seen better days, but I’m still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut. (All About Eve)
36 Comments
leave one →
Great job. As always, great post today.
Thank you for directing me to your blog via facebook. The post was great.
Would you be interested to conduct an interview with me. The main topic will be the protests on the Syntagma square in light of other European protests, and of course the Arab Spring. Further, I would like to talk about the (possible) need to increase direct democracy.
You can contact me at eggert@democracy-international.com
Best,
Vanessa
Dear Vanessa,
That email address is not working.
May we reprint this blog in full in our online newspaper (going to press today Monday June 20, sorry for the pressure!) We too are extremely angered by what the banksters have done since 2007 and worse how they continue to get away with it. Thank you.
As long as you credit this blog and link prominently at the top of the article, absolutely.
Thank you very much and done http://french-news-online.com/wordpress/?p=6464#axzz1Pu2sbif4.
i would like to get in touch with you. short interview possible via skype? i have to publish my article on wednesday evening. contact me pls if you’re interested (asap). thank you so much. kind regards, s
I thank you very much for the article on “Democracy vs Mythology”. I have sent it to ALL my friends. May God bless you!!!!
Beautifully and (for the most part) objectively written — fantastic. It reminds me of the style of writing in “Inside Greece” by Nick Malkoutzis.
A couple of points I disagree with:
a. Nurses and GPs may be in a worse situation nowadays, as are all Greeks, but the practice of asking for money under the table has been going on for so long, that it seems ridiculous they would now blame the crisis.
b. Things in Syntagma are, in fact, quite democratic and impressively so. However, it’s not as ideal as you may imagine it. There’s an abundance of food (apart from the wonderful effort the actual “Indignants” have made to feed –for free– those who stay there), with the presence of hot-dog and souvlaki stands all over the place; and the things people are saying when they take the mike are sentimental and rhetorically fascinating, but rarely bridge theory with practice.
c. Historians’ opinions vary about how bad the Greeks had it during the Ottoman occupation. While I see your point and agree that we are a people who have dealt with dramatic situations in the past and can draw inspiration from them to resist now, the mention of a cultural oppression during that time seems to take away from the validity of your argument.
I hope you realize my suggestions are made in the spirit of improvement.
Again, I thought it was a great article. I wish everyone saw things the way you do.
kalimera apo thessaloniki. sygxaritiria gia tin poly kali douleia! einai ena apo ta blogs pou prow8w stoys non-greeks to give them an idea of what goes on here. eimai actively involved stous ‘aganaktismenous’ tou leukou purgou kai stin epitropi gia logistiko elegxo -tin ele. 8elw na sou milisw gia kapoio 8ema kai 8a protimousa na min afisw edw post alla na ta poume mesw email. kikkerjen@gmail.com Jenny….
))
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13773099
Hi again ! Just in case your greek is a bit rusty -I’m writting to you from Thessaloniki and the camp of Los Indignados. Your blog is one of the few I keep forwarding to non-greek parties and I want to thank you for the good job
I am also part of the Committee that is checking the -or aspires to, Greek Debt. In any case I need to speak to you on something where i think you may be able to help us. i think it’s better if we communicate via email. my email is kikkerjen@gmail.com thanks
Excellent !
Great piece on Greece, the protests and the EU. New Labour were in power for 15 years and did nothing to get the UK out of the EU, and are no better than the Tories or Liberals. Miliband or whoever is PM next will do nothing about it either. Party politics in the UK is deceitful. The false left/right paradigm is the Hegelian Dialectic in action. A wonderful lady called Niki Raapana has analysed this beautifully for us. Naturally, not many people have heard of her, but I recommend her work to all who care about our future. Also Brian Gerrish and the British Constitution Group.
In what has now become a joint project between Golem XIV’s blog and mine, and with the help of very dedicated people in Thessaloniki, we have been able to translate more posts / news-items into Greek. Any help with spreading this in cyber-space is welcome.
http://whistleblower-gr.blogspot.com/
Thank you,
WhistleblowerIRL
Where are you… no wisdom for over 6 weeks… your disciples are waiting (of course, for those who say you’re not the Messiah, I say You are, and I should know. I’ve followed a few)
brilliantly crafted alex.
Loved these articles
Hi, I’ve recently finished a feature documentary and am looking for new topics that need to be brought to a wide audience – particularly one centred around the current financial crisis. The problem with financial docs is how to make them accessible to the wide audience who need to see and understand them. Are you still in London? Would it be possible to meet for a coffee to discuss and look at how Greece’s problems might be covered in a documentary format?
Great blog, best wishes, Paul
Why would you want to ruin all the good work you’ve done in this blog by admitting to a Spurs season ticket? Are we expected to take you seriously now?
Haha. You were never supposed to take me seriously.
Apparently not. What kind of economic insight can we expect from someone that has decided to waste a significant portion of their disposable income this way? (what is it, 50 years now that you lot have received some kind of proper ROI from your season tickets?).
If ROI is silverware, very little. If it is entertaining matches, quite a bit more than an Arsenal fan during the many George Graham 1-0 years.
Thanks Alex, for great posting this year. Have an excellent Christmas and good luck for an even better 2012.
Hi Alex.
I found your Huffington Post article: “Some Racism, It Seems, Is Acceptable” and then your blog here and felt compelled to comment.
I teach Greek kids at a Frontistirion in Germany and totally agree that these uninformed generalizations have a nasty way of turning into racist comments. And although the taxi driver probably just thought he was being funny, I can totally relate to your reaction. Sometimes there has to be limit.
The Greek schools here are shutting down and now all my kids are having to sort themselves out in the German school system and surprise surprise, they are facing a lot of resistance from the German teachers, who don’t want to let them into their grammar schools, because they assume they won’t be able to handle the workload.
Unfortunately if parents don’t fight for their child, they get sent into the lowest school level and this means many of my extraordinarily clever pupils will not have the chance to go to university, in Germany, or in Greece.
I also get constant uninvited commentary from Germans who want to vent out all their frustration to me and assume that since I’m American I must think the Greeks are lazy too. Then it’s up to me to defend my many friends and acquaintances who hold multiple degrees and multiple language certificates and still are out of work.
So this is long enough now! I just am happy there’s someone else out there arguing much more eloquently than me, to a much larger audience! Keep up the good work!
best,
Rachel
Thank you, Rachel. In the end we have to believe that the truth will out.
i’ve used your evening standard scan in my article on these bye-laws and the ‘global war on camping’. (http://london.indymedia.org/articles/11614) i hope you don’t mind – i DID credit and link you.
i’ve been following and writing about the right to protest, especially around parliament, for many years, and it’s always great to see other people pick up on the subject too. it always surprises me how little people care generally about these rights. i’m sure you’ve heard the one about the boiling frogs!
I like your blog.
Re the lefty bit, you do understand that left and right or rather left versus right is just an artificial Rothschild/Vatican construct, with the sole aim of dividing in order to rule the sheople. The only thing that separates Fascism from Communism is its location – one being national and the other international.
This bald assertion is of no use at all in the necessary task of securing collaboration between people of the “Left” and people of the “Right”. It is an assertion that brands its author as “Right”.
The Truth is always right.
That said, nothing is left.
Left? If it’s not The Truth, it can only be lies and The System (Matrix) is based upon lies – an illusion and the illusion includes the mythical left versus right political game – and used very effectively to keep the deluded proles (voters) occupied.
Hi there
my friends and I did a film about Greece for the Greek American Association’s 48 hour film festival
we made the finals
and we’re 2nd place for the people’s choice award
i was wondering if you mind clicking like on youtube (that’s how you vote) and then as everyone to vote on it
thank you soo much
Natalia
Brilliant post about Louise Mensch. It’ll be worth a play in the future.
Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your piece on Cameron’s ‘drowning not waving’ speech. Keep up the good work.
Thank you.