Violence begets violence

There is just one video and one photo that I want to publish in that post. It is just 30 seconds. For people who don't understand Greek, the translation of the sentences is given.

"Get out of the Square! Out!

... 

Don't hit me!"

Image from reuters as presented in www.newsit.gr

A solitary swallow

Odysseus Elytis (2^nd November 1911 – 18^st March 1996) [1] was maybe the greatest Greek poet. In 1979 he was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature [2]. Some of his poems were set to music by Mikis Theodorakis, another Greek great persona.  As I said, in a previous post I am not the best in literature as I found sometimes the content of the poems a little bit “strange”. Nevertheless, there are artists who created real masterpieces, like Elytis did. For me, the best collection of poems ever written, is Elytis' “Axion Estin” (or translated in English as “It is truly meet”). One of the best poems included in this collection, and my favorite, is the one with the name “A solitary swallow”. For me this poem is a hymn to revolution. Take a look at the following lyrics [3]:

A solitary swallow

and Spring’s great worth is found.

It takes a lot of work

to make the sun turn round.

Their shoulder to the wheels

it takes a thousand dead.

It also takes the living

to offer up their blood.

Elytis declares in this poem that the arrival of a new era can become reality but the cooperation between people and unfortunately their blood is needed.  It was written in 1959 but it is far from outdated. The video above is this poem with music (singer: G. Mpithikotsis, music by M. Theodorakis). I strongly advise you to read the whole poem or the whole “Axion Estin” collection (in English) here.

[1] http://portal.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathextra_6_17/10/2007_208375
[2] http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1979/elytis.html
[3] "The collected poems of Odysseus Elytis", Jeffrey Carson, John Hopkins University press, 1997, p. 148

Money: Target locked.

“Ma'am, I know you've done your homework and so you know that money isn't a big part of my life, but at the moment I could buy Mt. Auburn Street, take the Phoenix Club, and turn it into my ping-pong room.” [1]

What’s the goal of the education? Is it the obvious one: gain knowledge? Or the hidden one: gain money? From my point of view: Both.

We spend almost the one fourth of our lives studying (in most cases studying hard). I know that teenagers in Greece, and I suppose in all the countries of the developed world, sacrifice the most carefree years of their life carrying heavy bags, listening to “I-know-everything” professors and living without any kind of free time activities.

When I was younger, my grandmother said that this process is necessary in order to build a good life, create a family and have the resources to grow your children wealthy. Resources? She never made that clear, and unfortunately I can’t ask her to make it clear now. Did she mean money or knowledge? Is knowledge, including practical skills, culture, experiences enough to create the circumstances under which life is considered to be absolutely fabulous? A bunch of questions and here are my thoughts on that:

No, knowledge is not enough. We study to gain money, too. Actually, we study to find a job to earn as much as we can. It is a clear trade. Since the age of 22-25 we pay to buy the goods and then we sell those goods to future employers, trying to have the biggest profit. Of course, the sold knowledge remains to our possession as it is an intangible good. And we can sell it again to hit a better salary. However, it still exists. Knowledge remains in our brain. It helps as to organize better our lives, to make better decisions, to live a life that fit our needs.

I believe that this educational pain is worth doing. It is not only a way to refine the working environment but the whole life.

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[1] Quote from the movie “The social network”. In the movie, Mark Zuckerberg said that as part of his apology when he was sued by the Winklevoss brothers for the paternity of Facebook.  Sometimes knowledge is not enough, you need to be lucky, too.