Think: Practical Political Philosophy

By Antonis Anastasiadis

A contemporary book of social-political and philosophical content which depicts all the social-political occurances of the modern society. What was it like and what should the human society be like? What do the social political terms: Society, State, Citizen, Member Of Parliament, Democracy etc mean? How do they function and how should they? Is there corruption and degrading and in what form? Does real freedom exist? Does the citizen really function? Where are we heading to and what do we expect with the contemporary social political systems?
Such issues and a lot more are mentioned in the present book, analyzing according to order and mentioning concisely the whole process of man’s evolution with regard to his social political involvement since his socialization.
In this book, the reader will definitely find his own thoughts. The books ambition is to en-force and activate them. Some others, however, may be partially or completely differentiated. Those will provoke comparison, contemplating and redetermining old solidified beliefs. However, all of them, following various routes will tend to questioning and the pursuit of a more ideal society. The reader will definitely recognize a lot of practices which occur in the contemporary international society and others which used to exist in the past. The reader is asked to question themselves and find answers, choosing the most appropriate to his mind.
In an age of political indifference, levelling, selfishness, apolitical behaviour on the part of the smashing majority of the citizens and political arrogance on the part of the supposed politicians, this book aspires to lead to the citizen’s politicized behaviour to the greatest extent. Solutions do exist! All it takes is that we for once shout with all our might: "Yes! I shall save humanity!". It may sound utopian but it is not at all. Indeed, we sometimes do need to search even in the realms of utopia until we find a truly considerable aim in our life. Provided we do not get captured there.
The present writing does not aspire to offer formulas, solutions and answers. It aims to tempt and provoke reactions. It does not believe in authenticity so you will not find aphorism, regulations or dogmatic principles. Any quote of intellectual people since ancestry, wishes to cause questioning and become a reminder of perpetual pursuit.
The aim of this book is definitely not to develop a complete political system. In some cases, some personal views are presented, some others are adjusted to the already existing political system and some directions or even “visions” appear. But that’s just it.
As the book moves on, the reader will experience constant stirring and enforcement of those which they already have in their reflections. In essence, this book means to push, to empower, to stir and remind everything that already exists within the reader so that they question themselves, meditate and react in accordance with what is demanded. The aim is - to the extent that it can happen - to agitate the stagnant water which causes the stench of the contemporary human society.
Everybody recognises that this stagnation this attitude to downplay crucial issues, the reliance, and the indifference poison our everyday life and do not help us in our further humanization. On the contrary, we are sliding downwards, slowly but steadily to our dehumanization in the familiar way of mithridatism.
Is it about time we reacted, became politically active and asserted the human society we truly deserve?
Is it the right time to demand our rights in an atmosphere of respect, self-respect and inter-respect? Our actions shall prove it!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Feb 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781910714683

Book preview

treatise.

CONTENTS

Prologue

Introduction

Introductory Remarks

Think Citizen!

Think People!

Think Society!

Think State!

Think Regime!

Think, Democracy!

Think, Parliament (Legislative Power)!

Think Government (Executive Power)!

Think Justice (Judiciary Power)

Think, Journalism (Press, the 4th Power)

Think, Prime-minister!

Think Minister!

Think, Member of the Parliament (MP)

Think, Mayor!

Think, Politician!

Think International Society (UN)

Think, Earthling! (Think, Fellow Human!)

A few words about the author

Notes

Prologue

The book you are reading is a typical socio-political book, with clear targets, as set by the author himself in the Introduction. In fact however, the reader who will relate to and engage with the text will realise that it is a pure and authentic vision of a man for a society – body politic infused with all the HIGH IDEALS that turn the bipedal creature into a Human Being: truth, democracy, freedom, justice, love, peace, respect. The author directs a vibrant call to each one of us to become cognizant of his role as Citizen and Human Being as part of the local, national and global society and act accordingly. It is therefore a socio-political treatise, which, while addressing the reader’s thought and logic-as its title suggests-it will be impossible for the reader to comprehend completely, if one does not allow the sensitivity of one’s soul to connect with the deeply-rooted, pure and humanistic social sensitivity of the soul of the author. It is a treatise of the mind extracted from the heart.

Lina Tekeoglou

Literature, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki

Introduction

Imagine a child many years ago! He is working barefoot in the fields, bent over mother earth exposing his bare back to the burning sun. What might he be thinking and what are his feelings? Is he looking at the end of the field where a sweet rest and a glass of cool water are waiting for him? No! He is not looking at the end of the plot; he is looking far, far away. He is simply….dreaming. He is dreaming of a world more just, more humane. The child enters adolescence and he keeps on dreaming, searching for innocent, ideal worlds and societies. He is searching in dreamland, fantasy and utopia. He is forced back into reality and there he goes again. As he grows older his mind matures, acquires knowledge, he can appreciate the difficulties of all that but…he insists on searching for the beautiful world that humanity can discover and that is certainly there, somewhere. He has entered fantasy quite a few times, the crossed the borders of utopia now and again, he returned to reality and there he went again. He has been looking and will keep on looking for it.

Is he perchance the only child who is dreams of a better world? Has this been going on for this particular timeline? How about children before him? How about those who will follow? Yes! Most children at any given time are given to dreams during their age of innocence. Before this particular child, and after him, millions of children have dreamt of a beautiful world, a society of justice. What then? Why isn’t something changing? Is it perhaps because as the child is developing, the surrounding adults kill every single dream of his, consciously or not, through the socio-political, economic, religious and cultural ‘processes’? Could it be that those few who remained children and kept on dreaming and fighting for a utopia are entrapped by and isolated from the wider brutal, unloving and undreaming human society? Is anybody listening to them? Does anyone understands them?

Growing up in a society, one comes to gradually understand the true human society, full of ugliness, injustice, potential and…beauty. As he ‘sees’ the assorted indecencies, the injustice and the detachment - as defined by him – he settles down on his own take of the world. As a result, he will make a choice at a certain point: will he follow the easier, wide road followed by many who reinforce those indecencies? In this case, will he simply condone them by his indifference, thus contributing to the more general stalemate of humankind on this planet? Or will he opt for the winding and narrow path, that of effort, thought and reflection, thus contributing to the defence of beauty and justice?

Each one of us is faced with two choices: one either follows the easy road of complacency, acquiescence and indifference, or the difficult road followed by those who think, reflect and remain alert. Every road meets many crossroads and every crossroad has many gradations of importance, thus creating a multivariate and multiform puzzle of moral values and characters. And this is how we lead our lives, along with injustice and justice, ugliness and beauty, good and evil. It would seem that most follow the easy way, either because of convenience, ignorance or self-interest. And while during our current time and place, ‘evil’ would seem to prevail and be in abundance, the accumulated energy of many centuries of ‘good’ manages to maintain a balance. And the struggle continues. As a result, human society finds itself under an ongoing battle between good and evil. Light and darkness are eternally fighting, and although the fighters of light are fewer, light always manages either to win or maintain the balance. Perhaps this provides the necessary energy for progress and development. Yet, today we find ourselves at a difficult juncture of our historical path, where the fighters of light are needed more than ever. They must surpass themselves, because darkness seems to have acquired greater power than ever before.

The fighters of light are here therefore to fight against the fighters of darkness. One must take a stand as to who one will fight along. There is no third way. Indifference is complicity and involvement with the fighters of darkness.

Many wicked and ill-thought indecencies are particularly bothersome and harmful, some being inhuman and cruel while others antisocial and unjust. To all that the person who opted for the difficult road must react for the benefit of the society as a ‘Citizen’ active within it. But many times he feels he is gagged. Other times, he cannot come to terms of what seems to be amiss and what he can do about it. He therefore, and every other ‘citizen’ like him, search to find whatever they consider wrong and unjust. They then seek methods of treatment and reinstatement of the beautiful, the virtuous, the just and the truthful. The problem lies precisely on this point. One easily feels that ‘something’ is amiss. It is not hard to find out what this ‘something’ is. It becomes a bit harder to home in on it and identify it, if of course he keeps functioning as a citizen. But when he comes to know it, it then that difficulties start and his internal fights and conflicts take effect. Should he share this with someone? Who? How? What should he do? What consequences will his actions bring about? Will his intervention be effective? This might appear simple but it is in fact the hardest stage of the entire process. Should he opt for ‘convenience’, that usually means indifference, or ‘conflict’ with the system, a choice that usually means pain and deprivation.

When the citizen dares to report the wrongdoing to those responsible for it, their reaction is many times violent and aggressive. Oftentimes it is hypocritical and petty. Pain is caused by pointing to the wrongdoing or the incidence of injustice, premeditated or not. Their defence will typically comprise shouting, cussing, and violent attacks in a general contempt for the citizen. Citizens therefore gradually stop caring at some point. Consciously or unconsciously they are trying to avoid the painful conflictual process. When the Citizen starts shying away from this conflict, when, in other words, he stops expressing his opinion, he also of course stops being a ‘citizen’. He divests himself of his rights and allows himself to be transformed into an isolated (idiotic) subject, whose primary purpose in life is to secure a nice time – what he defines as nice time – actually serving the ‘system’. Yet, some other people choose conflict.

Some others however insist on identifying and castigating the ‘wrongdoing’, ‘the unjust’, ‘the evil’, or more simply, register their opinion about it. Those are the active citizens. It does not mean that they are always right, but it does mean that they are willing to take a stance, to remain active and vigilant, to ‘exist’ in society and to be in control of their lives up to a certain point. They necessarily come into conflict with the system and the majority of the subjects / servants. They suffer pain every day but every day they support society by adding a pebble on its edifice. In fact, they are the only useful elements in a society. The rest are either useless or harmful, as Thucydides emphatically stressed.¹ However, there comes a moment when they feel that their voices are ‘muzzled’. It is the ‘gagging’ that every affected individual enforces on his surrounding environment to escape ‘pain’. It is the ‘gagging’ that the current corporatist capitalist society that deliberately creates many ‘dialects’ shrewdly enforces. It is then that citizens – the true Citizens – search for alternative solutions to make their voice heard.

One of those is the reporting and publication of their thoughts in any way possible via the electronic or printed media or via the publication of a book, and so on. The book at hand therefore is an effort at ‘de-gagging’ and dissemination of the thoughts of a person. Every one, depending on one’s skills and self-awareness will be a judge of its worth. Provided we keep a common perspective as regards the content and the substance of each word concept. Let there be small differences, as long as there is a shared common initial departure. This initial departure might exist when the real connotation of the word concept does not escape us.

Because sometimes the real connotation of the word concept may escape us, I thought I should enter the word concept in the form of a footnote at the start of every unit. For this reason, I used the Dictionary of the Modern Greek Language by George Babiniotis, 3rd edition, Lexicology Centre, Athens, 2008, thus setting up a common conceptual linguistic departure and perspective. This is by no means a panacea but at a time of thousands of technical jargons, linguistic confusion and lack of communication, the dictionary gives us a ‘perspective’, a common ‘concept’, so that we may communicate. From that point onwards, each and every one must discover for himself the hidden meanings of a profound word meaning, so that he may approach the ‘substance’ of the concepts and of virtues. No one can suggest it to him, since all that are controlled by one’s moral standing.

As can be understood, the more profound the meaning of a word is, the greater the subjectivity of its interpretation among people becomes. This is not a bad thing. As long as this is becomes a process in the pursuit of truth and not of a negative antagonism – as is typically the case- or to buttress some sort of dogmatic scepticism or pseudo-progressivism. Besides, who could objectively claim to know what is ‘good’? But the wider meaning of good is one thing and it is quite another for someone to commit a crime and still fail to comprehend that this is an example of injustice.

So what am I in pursuit of? Ideal justice? Ideal Democracy? No! I seek this basic observance of a common reference point as regards the connotation of the word meanings we have agreed upon, albeit the small and expected deviations amongst ourselves. In other words, I seek the observance of the law, of rules and regulations, of justice and moral virtue. If there is a great divergence of meaning amongst people, then this means that some people failed to seek or care about its true content. They opted for ignorance, and instead invested in the unfertile and negative antagonism, the foolish and harmful negative relativism. It is ignorance therefore that causes lack of communication and not so much the very concept of the word. I seek the ongoing reflection and exploration. As a result of this, it is shown that my position is mainly philosophically stated but this should not be taken to mean that I have not tried to consider the scientific view of the socio-political theories and terminologies whenever these show up. At the same time, seeking help for my treatise from the wise of yesteryear, I commence each thematic unit with a quotation from ancient Greek literature and end it with two representative proverbs.

The present treatise does aspire to offer solutions, recipes or answers but aims at causing self-reflection and initiating reactions. It does not believe in absolute authority, so you will not find in it any aphorisms, rules or dogmatic principles. Also, the purpose of the book is not to lay the groundwork for a complete political system (that surely exists in the mind of the author), but rather to accommodate several personal ideas with the already existing political system. You will find a continuous reshuffling and reinforcement of what the reader had profoundly deep in his thoughts. In fact the book wants to ‘urge’, to ‘motivate’, to ‘reinforce’, to ‘reshuffle’ and to ‘remind’ everything that already exists in the reader, so that he may problematize it, self-reflect and react accordingly. The target is, to the extent this is feasible, to cause some sort of stirring of still waters that cause the foul smell of today’s society. Because something needs to be done. This stalemate, indifference, acquiescence and detachment are poisoning life daily and do not help us in our self-actualisation. On the contrary, we are sliding slowly but steadily towards our dehumanisation by exposing ourselves to the well-known condition of mithridatism.

I am not afraid of mistakes. I am afraid of repeating mistakes. We may err, fall down, get up again but…go on, nevertheless. In fact, I love some of my mistakes. Uncomplainingly, harmlessly and inexpensively they have taught me more than I could have been taught by studying a book. Some other mistakes of mine make me feel ashamed and sorry. Yet, all are instructive. Whatever mistake and of whichever form may there be in this book, should ideally be corrected. I hope that the readers of the present book will not deprive me of their constructive disagreement wherever this might be found as well as ‘pointing’ to the mistakes herein. Whoever directs me to any errors, irregularities, shortcomings or oversights and in general any issue, is considered a friend. So, for whatever problem you come across or notice, please contact the author at: [e-mail] to help with possible amendments. Your contribution is considered significant and necessary. However, do not jump into a haphazard and superficial criticism of this book without studying it first completely and carefully. Something like that would be unjust.

Thank you very much

Antonis Anastasiadis

Introductory Remarks

Wonder and inquire.

There is nothing greater than the truth

(Ancient Greek)

It is not necessary to suppose that the ‘Citizen’ is always right and it is unlikely that he may always be right. But it is necessary that his voice be heard in any way possible. ‘Gagging’ the voice of the ‘Citizen’ automatically also suggests lack of freedom, democracy and equality in society. It means that ‘society’ is ‘ailing’ and is on a slippery path. It means that true ‘Citizens’ must try even harder. That has been the way of things, and it will always be. It has always been the case that the few help human society move forward. Those few have always been the ‘Citizens’ of planet Earth.

Thus, we take issue with the smallest cell of an organized society, the grassroots of every society, the ‘Citizen’, since it is from him all social processes start and it is to him that they all end and should end. Woe unto a society that demeans its ‘Citizens’. That society is doomed to failure, to inflicting misery upon its citizenry and to inviting its self-destruction. In societies that demean the ‘Citizen’, prosperity flees and is quickly replaced by poverty and strife. It is as if one pays no attention to the foundations of a block of flats he is erecting and instead cares only for its higher floors. The ‘Citizen’ is of course the foundations of ‘society and at a mass level, it is society itself. He is in a way both the entity that contains and its content. How can a separation of the two meanings be achieves then?

Because this conceptual separation cannot be achieved, the following unit refers to the ‘People’ as the cornerstone of human society. We then take issue with ‘society’ itself and the values it should be characterized by, those values that typically the majority and/or the totality of people demand for themselves but do so much less or even at all for the others. Following that, we refer to ‘Society’, and so on. In this way, we try to embrace all the sociopolitical manifestations of human society, so as to link them all together and underline their interconnections.

In a virtual manner therefore, every reader of this book is treated as an unknown citizen personally addressing him or herself to the impersonal entity of the concept under consideration at that particular moment. In other words, when the reader is at the unit ‘Think…Citizen’, he or she converses with all citizens and when he or she is at the unit ‘Think…Government’, he or she is communicating with the whole government. The second person that is used here actually personifies the reader himself, making the point that as he or she reads through the book, it is as if he or she addresses him or herself to the totality behind the conceptual category under consideration at the time. The whole book therefore is but a dialogue whereby on the one side is ‘the unknown citizen-reader’ and on the other, a totality of a certain sociopolitical entity of a typical ‘human society. In this manner, the ‘unknown citizen’ questions, answers, inquires, seeks explains, expresses opinions, suggests solutions, and strives for justice. For the dialectic quest of the reader to acquire some depth, he or she must respond fast and spontaneously to the many questions that he or she will come across, before he or she continues into the following paragraphs that may contain some of the answers. The reader should also respond or seek answers to questions arising while reading this book.

By means of a thorough discourse and enquiry on the links among the various sociopolitical manifestations and facets of human society that are considered herein, the present book aims at:

Bridging the gaps amongst them and maximize awareness of self-evident truths everyone knows but often ‘forgets’.

Stressing the close relationship they all share and how an action in one manifestation triggers a reaction in another.

Making ourselves aware that when we show injustice to a fellow citizen, we shall quickly face injustice by another, even if this may happen in the future.

Making us aware of the vicious circle of misery we daily set off around us – even if this is not immediately understood - and which of course will return to us who set it off in the first place, or even helped perpetuate.

Μaking us realize that it is time we personally became an ‘ego’ as a mental-materialistic and psychoemotional entity, thus becoming the tool that will break every link in this vicious circle of misery.

Making us realize how easy it is to improve our lives, our humanness and civilization if we pay attention to a few things.

Reminding us how much at the end of the day we need our fellow human being, in our joys and sorrows but also in our everyday living.

The aim of the book to remind is not selfish. In our mundane daily lives and because of the problems we are called upon to solve on a daily basis, we many times miss simple things that we may know well. But when our mind is ‘overloaded’, it may not remember or perceive them. So, this book aims to help retrieve all that is inside our minds. Besides, as Descartes² reminds us, we should always dispute and enquire about everything, via our critical thinking, challenging and reconsidering our thoughts and self-reflecting. The act of reminding therefore is the mother of knowledge, renewal and consolidation of knowledge. Knowledge however, that when confronted with new complex evidence that may arise, we shall be again able to question, to reflect upon, to renew, and if necessary, why not, to reconsider completely. As memory is filled with a multitude of useless information and data, man’s genius and his creative capacities wane and disappear, according to Descartes. The frequent reminding of the most significant information is the chance we are given to avoid the waning of our genius, buttressing our memory and logical faculties. Our passion for knowledge is therefore the means to our survival.

I cannot teach anything to anyone apart from making them think (Socrates, 470/469-399 BC)

Cogito ergo sum: I think, and therefore I exist (René Descartes, 1596-1650)

Think Citizen!

Man is the citizen of the world

(Antisthenes, 445-360 BC)

The ‘Citizen’ is treated here as a person enjoying political freedom, as a cosmopolitan, foundation stone of a small or large society or state as well as a personal entity. What are examined herein are the concept of citizenship and the ways citizens function within today’s democratic political systems, but also the degree citizens’ inalienable rights remain active or have been violated. The mutual interdependence of citizenry, their difference from the uninvolved/mere subject, and finally the level of civilization and self-respect that should distinguish a citizen are also discussed.

Think Citizen³, think and rekindle in your memory the whole concept of your quality. Go back to the old years, long before the concept of ‘individual citizen’ appeared. How was the individual then? What was his or her natural state? What was his or her individual standing? What was his or her social standing? What has finally been the historical process to this day as well as the developmental changes that gave rise to the present society? Who should at the end of the day be named ‘Citizen’?

Think, respond and reflect profoundly on the answers to the above questions, Citizen, and take them into serious consideration, so that you should come to understand how you should lead your life today as a ‘Citizen’. Try to understand and show respect for your fellow Citizen. Understand eventually the value and the magnitude of the concept of the ‘Citizen’ and set the ideal ‘Citizen’ as your target. A citizen is not he or she who simply resides in a place or a society. A citizen is not simply a person who has the right to elect and be elected. A citizen is not he or she who simply has access to the three powers of democracy. No! A Citizen is one who possesses all the above but who on a daily basis functions and partakes actively, substantively and continuously in the society he or she lives. A Citizen is the person enjoying internal and external freedom, a person who consciously chooses his or her freedom on his or her own free will. That person is a ‘Citizen’. But it is of utmost importance at this point for you to clearly comprehend what this concept stands for. Search behind and underneath the dust of the past, in the dark corridors of history, anthropology and sociology. Become a tracer of the process, the development and the appearance of the ‘Citizen’. You ought to learn about your ultimate quality as a member of human society on this earth, the quality of the ‘Citizen’. Are you aware, Citizen, of your past and your present so as to determine your future?

Think, Citizen, and reflect as you travel to the past guided by History. You meet yourself in the corridors of human history, you come across the ‘individual’ as some distant ancestor of yours. Feel and discover him through every stage of his historical development. Just a few thousand years ago, you were a living being free in nature. This is your individual freedom, your natural state. You do not feel insecure, you do not see your fellows as adversaries; you are a free⁴ hunter and gatherer, an irresponsible and carefree individual. You lived as a free individual, yet two of your qualities stood out, ‘wondering’ and ‘questioning’. These two prompted you to seek something more. You were an independent individual, with loose social bonds, with the exception of a bond you developed a few thousand years ago and guarded through the centuries of your historical development. This was the familial bond, particularly centered on the elderly mother. This was the only unconscious social behavior that constituted the first cell of your upcoming organised society. What is the situation of your family today?

Think, Citizen and ponder on the first form of collectivity and your social behavior. Your first small-scale society was your family. It was there that you were provided first with the most basic and greatest care and safety. Family represents the first form and the only naturally-occurring state of social symbiosis. Freely-formed by free individuals with free spirit of mutual respect and care, the family is imbued with unselfish love. That is how it has gone through the centuries. At a later time, Citizen, by grouping several families together, you created larger societies to fend yourself off from external threats. Your ideals therefore were freedom, respect, love, and provision of care and many others which can now be seen only amongst groups of creatures lower than yourself. In your development, you abandoned many of those ideals and the question why you did so remains unanswered. How did you allow those ideals to disappear, Citizen? Do you have any idea what you are made of in the final analysis?

Think, Citizen and self-reflect. You are comprised of two entities, this of the individual and that of the member of a collectivity, that of the member of a society. Consistently and meticulously you should preserve these two comprising factors that will jointly determine your personality as a single entity. Distinguish the clear borders and the particular responsibilities that accrue from each of the two factors. With crystal-clear thinking, envision and foresee when each of the two is being compromised and when both are. Do not confuse them and do not sell one out in favor of the other. This would be even worse than being deprived of your rights by some ‘external’ power. Remember that you are a living creature with individuality and collectiveness and you should love these attributes, respect and safeguard them. But, what do you really know, Citizen about your double entity?

Think, Citizen, you need to support your individualism⁵ but you also need to support your sociability⁶ in the society within which you function. You cannot afford to disregard any one of the two. You should not disavow any one of the two. At the same time you should reorder your feelings. Love is a necessary emotional element for your prosperity. Let nature speak freely by letting love flow through your veins. Color, religion, philosophical interpretations of the world and individual differences within humankind are of no importance. What is of importance are the level of civilization and humanness that one carries within the self. You should proceed, reflect and make decisions with these in mind. In this way, you will not let yourself slide down the path of categorizing your fellow Citizens, your fellow human beings into social classes and other distinctions. Yet, think, Citizen, have you by any chance slid down the path of categorizing and have you tolerated the existence of social classes?

Think, Citizen and reflect on this! There are no different social classes separating citizens, there is no such thing as higher or lower citizens. There are different personalities, in possession of different knowledge and concerns. All of them together set up the complex organism we call ‘society’. All individuals are different amongst themselves, each one in his or own uniqueness, abilities and the roles assigned to them by society. They work together harmoniously and equitably, in the absence of classes and ranks of citizens, regardless of their spiritual, intellectual and economic level. Social classes should not exist. Therefore, all ‘Citizens’ are absolutely equal, enjoying equal rights and having equal responsibilities according to their position, the ‘power’ they have and the abilities they possess. Within society therefore, there are no rich and poor, strong and weak, educated and illiterates, freemen and slaves. They are all equal amongst themselves. Freedom, Democracy, Equality: these are the ideals that bind them together under a society governed by the rule of law. But not just for lip-service, hypocritically, and to show-off. All together Citizens create society, as a unified total, with common goals and common concerns and individual aims. One’s personal needs and concerns do not clash with those of the society. Instead, they are harmoniously adjusted and configured to serve the final goal of the welfare of society, the welfare of the individual. These values held for your distant ancestors, the same held yesterday, and these should hold today. Recollect, Citizen all of the above, from your old ancestor to this day. What do you remember of all that?

Yes! Citizen, you remember well both from the past as well as the present. You were born free, you want to be free, but so does your fellow Citizen.

Yes! Citizen, you remember well. You are a social being, you were raised in a smaller social grouping, the family, you wish to live within the wider society freely without suppression of your individuality, without suppressing the individuality of the other.

Yes! Citizen, you remember well. Freedom is your natural state. That is how you were created in the cosmos, that is how you were emancipated and civilized through the centuries. It is only within a spirit of freedom that you can create, function and succeed at realizing your maximal potential. Live free in nature but show respect for the freedom of others.

Yes! Citizen, you remember well. You have maximal rights and highest responsibilities to safeguard your individuality but also preserve your sociability. Pursue your personal prosperity but also provide for the prosperity of the society within which you live.

Yes! Citizen, you remember well. You live and prosper within a larger society but your happiness depends on your adjacent societies. Despite their being different (in terms of culture, language and custom), they share the same higher target as you, the prosperity of the individuality of the ‘Citizen’ as well as the prosperity of the totality of their own ‘Citizens’. You should therefore show respect for your adjacent society and demand that they show respect for your own. Along with them, develop every form of relationship and communication, friendly, cultural, occupational and cooperate with them in all sorts of peaceful endeavors.

Yes! Citizen, you remember well. Regardless of where you live, in which society you function and which language you speak, over and above the safeguarding of your individuality and collectiveness, there exists a sacred goal and an end in itself which is the preservation of your environment. Not only of the local one but that of the whole planet and of everything that planet earth contains. You should come to love even the last stone of mother earth, come to respect it, and come to safeguard it.

Think, Citizen whether you remember all these well. Look around, look carefully. Do all these exist or have they slid into oblivion? Whatever you see, whatever has slid or is amiss, correct it, Citizen. Today! Now! Not tomorrow. Do not tarry to correct even the slightest misalignment that you perceive has occurred from the ideals you should possess, Freedom, Democracy, and Equality. You may respond that you wish your peace and convenience. OK, but you are peaceful and quiet when you are in prison. Is that what you want? You can be peaceful when sequestered in a cave, when others will provide food and drink for you. But a moment will come that Laistrygons and Cyclops will return. Will you then wait for your turn to eat you up? Is that what you want? You see, what you consider ‘peaceful’ does not have anything to do with your peace but with your slavery. You leave your freedom and life in the hands of others to arrange. How they arrange them you cannot know and they will not let you know. OK, you surrender your own freedom and rights. But how about those of your children? Do you have any right to sell off the freedom and sovereign rights of your children? And what about those who will follow in the society with their own rights and freedom already surrendered. Do you have the right to do this?

Think, unknown Citizen and ponder on this! You have rights but also responsibilities. You are a bipedal living creature, you are contained within the ‘want to’ and ‘have to’. You should remember both, demand both, cultivate both. Do not let your life in the hands of others. Take your life in your own hands. There is no way. The way is made as you move along. So, move along! Plan the path of your own life with your own hands, your own imagination, and your own dreams. The more ground-breaking is your path, the more important will your presence be. Leave deep traces where you tread. The important thing for you is not to remain immobile, silent, and functionless. Do something! Do not be afraid of mistakes. Be afraid of repeating mistakes. Be taught by your mistakes and the mistakes of your fellow human beings. I know, it is hard, you are also aware of it. Only a few can escape the sociopolitical, cultural and philosophical ideas of their own time, and allow themselves to be elevated to a higher level. They are distinguished, they are the ones who help human society move along. Become one of them. Along with all the wise men of earth through the centuries, move forward fearlessly with an inquisitive look and thought. Open your own way, leave your own mark. Have you ever done this, Citizen and in which way?

Think of your life, Citizen and imagine it as a journey to Ithaca on a ship called ‘Society’. Understand this really well and believe it. It is literally the case. Now reflect on this: what will happen if on that ship there is lack of liberty, rule of law, equality? It is really simple! Precisely the same will happen to you, Citizen and to the society in which you live, if there is a lack of virtue in your life or if virtues are adulterated in your society. The threat to losing our freedom is not directed from outside. It is always directed from within. It is we who allow it to be siphoned away like gas escaping from a little hole in a balloon. You should search and locate those little holes carefully and seal them all off, they are very many. The magic sealant is Virtue, all virtues. Freedom requires virtue and courage says poet Andreas Kalvos (1792-1869). Amidst our everyday adverse conditions, the fire of battle, on the field of truth, the altar of justice, the struggle for temperance in everyday life, it is there that your freedom is being hammered out. And if, despite all that, you are able to keep virtue within your soul, then fear not, all the gods are on your side. The grand prize is your freedom. Think, Citizen, how much freedom and what percentage of your sovereign rights is there left?

Think, Citizen and reflect on the words of J.J. Rousseau (1712-1778): Men are borne free, remain (or should remain) free with equal rights…and…man was born free but he is enchained everywhere. Look around and search inquisitively, deep into the human (personal and social) relations to discover the level of freedom enjoyed among the Citizens. You will find many chains. Made of iron, copper, silver, gold, of thousand forms binding the tired bodies of citizens, gradually transforming them into isolated subjects. Even if made of gold, a chain will always be a chain. You should break away from them, Citizen, even if they are made of gold. And then help others do the same. Definitely, you were clapped in chains insidiously, shrewdly and gradually when you were still an infant. By your parents because of their ignorance, your teachers because of their detachment, the surrounding society because of its cruelty, your governments because of their self-interest. Yet, now that you have become an adult and were named ‘Citizen’, there is no excuse. It is you who allow the old chains to remain on you, it is you who allow them to clap you in new irons. It is your responsibility to get rid of them. You have the ‘power’ in you, this power is your sovereign rights. Use these rights, and you will able to break away from your chains, if only take the first step, if only you stop and…think. How much have you fought for and cared about all these things to this day?

Think, Citizen, remember and rekindle your thoughts around every possible engagement you may have with whatever agency within human society, either individual or general. What is your relationship with the government, the parliament, the state, the society, your fellow citizens, the judicial system and democracy? How do you function in them, how do you accept them, how do you respond to them? Do you acquire a stance against what is going on? Do you enquire and check whether everything is functioning well? Do you make full use of your rights and obligations? Citizen, keep the eyes of your soul and mind always skinned. Do you keep your senses ready and your thought alert?

Think, Citizen one last thing, a third dimension you have, that of ‘cosmopolitanism’. ‘I am not an Athenian, nor a Greek Citizen, but a citizen of the world (cosmos)’ Socrates (470/369-399 BC) is reported to have said, and