Please don't worry about "going on and on." It doesn't matter how much I read; I keep wanting more.
The conflicting information from various reports has been one problem. It took me a couple of days to feel like I had any sense at all of what had happened. I wasn't sure how to react to some articles saying that a policeman had fired warning shots against a mob of thirty-plus attackers versus others saying that the officer had practically hunted down the student. I assumed the truth was somewhere in the middle, but that's an awfully large middle. (It's also been an exercise in ignoring my usual cultural frame of reference. Here, when people say they hate the cops, they generally get ignored. There are occasions where specific officers screw up to the point of brutality, but mostly the cops are the good side. Back in the beginning my first reaction to all the anti-police sentiment was along the lines of, "but they must be exaggerating." Then I started to realise they weren't exaggerating.)
I read something about a particular Greek official being concerned about Greece's reputation being "tarnished" in the eyes of foreign nations. But I definitely don't think worse of Greece. (Okay, I do think worse of the government, but that appears to be deserved. So.) I feel like it's been revealed to me as being a hell of a lot more than feta cheese and pretty beaches. If I am looking at the "true Greece," I like it. I admire the strength and courage of those protestors. I'm wavering among "I could never do that" and "I wish I could do that" and "I'm glad I don't have to do that" and "I wish I knew whether I would do that if I had to." But it boils down to, damn have you got some strong citizens.
And I have just begun digging into Amnesty International's information. Ho. Ly. Shit.
the fact that they always get away with (at best) a slap on the wrist
Hey, about that--what on earth is a "suspended sentence"? Does that even affect them in the slightest? Or is it just saying, "Here's what we'd do to you if we gave a damn, but we don't, so you can just go"?
Exarchia (if I'm spelling it right? I've seen a few different spellings...) sounds remarkably like a certain section of where I live. I go there a lot because it's where you go if you don't completely fit (or want to fit) into Polite Society, or you want to have a drink, or a war protest, or perhaps all three. Maybe that's a piece of why this has clicked with me. When I read about Alexandros being shot in Exarchia, I imagined me or my friends being shot in our place. It hasn't happened, but if this can happen, maybe that could too.
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branchandroot
1/2
Date: 2008-12-22 06:55 am (UTC)Please don't worry about "going on and on." It doesn't matter how much I read; I keep wanting more.
The conflicting information from various reports has been one problem. It took me a couple of days to feel like I had any sense at all of what had happened. I wasn't sure how to react to some articles saying that a policeman had fired warning shots against a mob of thirty-plus attackers versus others saying that the officer had practically hunted down the student. I assumed the truth was somewhere in the middle, but that's an awfully large middle. (It's also been an exercise in ignoring my usual cultural frame of reference. Here, when people say they hate the cops, they generally get ignored. There are occasions where specific officers screw up to the point of brutality, but mostly the cops are the good side. Back in the beginning my first reaction to all the anti-police sentiment was along the lines of, "but they must be exaggerating." Then I started to realise they weren't exaggerating.)
I read something about a particular Greek official being concerned about Greece's reputation being "tarnished" in the eyes of foreign nations. But I definitely don't think worse of Greece. (Okay, I do think worse of the government, but that appears to be deserved. So.) I feel like it's been revealed to me as being a hell of a lot more than feta cheese and pretty beaches. If I am looking at the "true Greece," I like it. I admire the strength and courage of those protestors. I'm wavering among "I could never do that" and "I wish I could do that" and "I'm glad I don't have to do that" and "I wish I knew whether I would do that if I had to." But it boils down to, damn have you got some strong citizens.
And I have just begun digging into Amnesty International's information. Ho. Ly. Shit.
the fact that they always get away with (at best) a slap on the wrist
Hey, about that--what on earth is a "suspended sentence"? Does that even affect them in the slightest? Or is it just saying, "Here's what we'd do to you if we gave a damn, but we don't, so you can just go"?
Exarchia (if I'm spelling it right? I've seen a few different spellings...) sounds remarkably like a certain section of where I live. I go there a lot because it's where you go if you don't completely fit (or want to fit) into Polite Society, or you want to have a drink, or a war protest, or perhaps all three. Maybe that's a piece of why this has clicked with me. When I read about Alexandros being shot in Exarchia, I imagined me or my friends being shot in our place. It hasn't happened, but if this can happen, maybe that could too.