I was watching Have I got news for you last Friday night and found the last objectionable interview sketch of Jeremy Paxman to Pavlos Geroulanos, the Greek Minister for Culture and Tourism. I don't know what Paxman had in mind -one can assume he knows what he is doing-, but his remark was so simplistic and offensive than even comedians Paul Merton and Ian Hislop got surprise, which might not be an easy thing to achieve.
I think Paxman has already spent too much time in the BBC. I can imagine one got a distorted impression of oneself eventually. Why is it you have become so shitty, Jeremy? Would you have the guts to talk like that to your Queen, the old lady? Hm.... .
I am not considered myself prudish nor would like to be a sanctimonious. On the contrary, I feel that if you get your cheek slapped, you should slap back, twice and stronger if you can. That could make fair what it is not. Jeremy Paxman must be paid with the same coin. I encourage all visiting him to do it. It might not be easy, but it cannot be very difficult. He has proved himself to be a good ofense giver; let us see if he is as good as a taker.
Here we have our friend Jeremy who, after working 34 years in the BBC -a network proud of his equi-distance and moral relativism in analyzing political and social issues, in the name of objective information-, chucked out the garbage of dishonesty to all Greeks in the face of one of their Ministers, based on a feeble argument. Why? Because only 345 declared to have swimming pools in their houses in an area where 17,000 were actually recorded. Is that sharp journalism, Jeremy?... Sharp shit, I call it.
It occurs to me that perhaps there is a law (laws are the Powerpoint of bad politicians, the rustic baton of authoritarians: they are nothing without them), a law that gives public benefits to all with incomes less than 30,000 euros a year and, perhaps, one can imagine, there is another law demanding taxes and stuff to those having a swimming pool. Could it be? At the end, who wants to pay taxes? Who will say "no" to money? Do you think people are stupid? There are weird cases still -I am one of them-, but not too many. You are not one of them, I am sorry. Do not get confused, Jeremy, the same would happen in Britain or France or German or the United States, as indeed already happened. We are not that different from each other. History proves it. We are not better than apes. The chimpanzees and us have a common ancestor, did you know that?
Let us remember, why not, the extreme inhumanity -it was not any riot or protest- in the very London in August. Kind of nice, huh? Following your deep, profound course of reasoning, what would you have to say about the British then? I can help you: "why is it you British are so uncivilized?".
If I were the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Greece I would have replied: "Mr. Paxman, let me answer you: we Greeks are as much dishonest as you British are greedy. You are proud of centuries of Piracy in the seas and Colonialism on shore (Here, a pause). C'mon Mr. Paxman, you are more than that, I presume. I will give you answers if that is what you what, but let us talk seriously. Or would you prefer to talk about the Elgin marbles, for example, in your childish style?".
I said it before and I say now. Greece should leave the Euro and the case must be judged: the guilty should spend a long, long time in prison. But, let people of Greece alone! How many of them do you think, Jeremy, were aware of the scam of their Government? Do you think they knew?
I find it hard to believe.
(PLEASE, LEAVE YOUR COMMENT).
I think you are finding that the truth is hard to deal with. The practices within Greece effectively encourage habits that we would consider dishonest - hence the Greeks are dishonest. Further the strikes by the Greeks simply shows that they are unwilling to accept and deal with their problems. They have been living the life and now they have been asked to pay the bill and they simply don't want to. Sure kick them out of the Euro but you will only worsen the problem - then the Greeks will really suffer - so your solution is a prime example of a knee jerk reaction based on emotion rather economic common sense.
ReplyDeleteLastly I think some of your rationale is staggering. It is a classic case of saying look at others this makes us better. What Jeremy has said is valid but I am sure similar statements can be made about others but again it doesn't invalidate his comments.
I hope your other comments are a little more educated.
Hello, John:
ReplyDeleteMy point is not that "similar statements can be made about others", but to point out that such statements (i.e. Paxman´s statement) are not true, very feeble and childish and aimed to provoke knee-jerk, emotional reactions in the interviewee, as you say. My point is that anyone visiting Paxman should be ready to play the game and counter-attack in the same way.
Dishonest practices of rich, ruling burocrats (Greeks, Europeans, Americans or British) do not make a whole country dihonest. Again, Paxman´s comment seeks a notorious reaction, public humiliation or a water-cooler conversation, perhaps, but do not belong to any solid rationale, in my view.
My point about dishonest practices and its consequences is a different one.
First, if you don´t punish corrupt politicians or do not prosecute the crime of forgery, fraud or false writen declaration, you will encourage such things to happen, because it is free of consequences. Second, if you don´t expel Greece out of the Euro, it is not only the population of Greece who will suffer, but others might as well (some of them, quite unfairly). The purpose of Economy is to find the best solutions out of all, the benefit for the majority in the long term (providing some people will suffer in the short term, inevitably). And third, people suffering is still people, they can improve, adjust or think: they are not cows. Why not expel Greece out of the Euro, put the responsible in prison and circulate the money directly into the country to avoid catastrophe, boost the economy and help people out. Tough task? I am sure. But there are people out there whose job should be to work out the details.
Thanks for your comment.