Friday 23 July 2010

HONOR TO THE GLORIOUS 15 OF THE ARIAN RACE!

15 worthy descendants of Leonidas, carrying ancient-Greek ideas and values, overflowing with courage and valor, defending the narrows of Thermopiles while yelling with voices loud and proud “MOLON LAVE,” (come and get it), fighting for their country and faith, managed to overcome the great enemy…a Nigerian student!

“They say they are Greeks and democrats, descendants of Pericles, long live the illusions!”
Panx Romana




No one in the world wants to leave friends and family behind to migrate to a foreign country. No person who has a decent job prefers to leave for worse working conditions and lower salaries. No one prefers to experience racism and humiliation in comparison to the security offered to him by his home. Few are those who even have a choice when it comes to migration. Even fewer are those who would still migrate if an alternate, viable solution was presented to them to improve the lives of themselves and those they love.


According to a survey of Fileleftheros,

85% of Greek Cypriots agree that migration causes an increase in unemployment,
81% say it increases criminality,
70% say it causes more problems than opportunities,
73% say it causes insecurity to citizens,
And 61% say that it is the main cause for illnesses being transferred to Cyprus

45% stated that they have no contact with migrants living in Cyprus.

England, France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and many other western, ‘developed’ countries maintained colonies in many of the countries from which migrants tend to come from these days. They took advantage of the natural resources, the economy, and of course, the large workforce of ‘third world’ countries. Western countries grew rich while they submerged ‘developing’ countries in misery, blood and debt. A good example of this is the imposition of the English empire on India, and the colonization of Congo by the Belgians, one of the roughest in modern history.

The ‘third world,’ remains oppressed today. Many countries are tortured by clashes within the community, most of which were caused by the ‘developed’ countries for their own gain. Others are knee-deep in debt from the loans provided by ‘developed’ organisms such as the International Monetary Fund (e.g. Argentina). In all these countries, in Africa, Asia and Latin America, ‘western’ multinationals exploit the cheap workforce, mostly in awful working conditions with minimal rights (for example the company GAP in Indonesia). At the same time, these companies use up the natural resources of these countries, with the obvious example being the chopping down of enormous areas of the Amazon Rain Forest (in Brazil) to make soy plantations for companies such as McDonalds.


“All foreigners should leave, apart from the necessary labour force” is what some Cypriots demand. Which is the necessary labour force for them however? The woman for the Philippines who cleans their house and watches their children, the Bulgarian men working to build their houses, the woman from Sri Lanka who takes care of granny, the Pakistanis who clean their farms, and the Romanian women for the cabarets, in which they enjoy spending their time.


The people from these countries are often unemployed, poor, oppressed, or unable to take care of their families. The same people are welcomed into ‘developed’ countries with such strong dislike and hatred. We want to ‘clean’ Cyprus from foreigners but we exploit them, giving them pennies for salaries and no rights. We want to stop spending allowances for migrants, but we want them to work in all the jobs that are ‘too low’ for us: house-helpers, construction sites, nannies, etc.

Migrants are not objects, nor machines. They are humans, and each of them carries a story with him/her, most of the time rougher than we can even imagine. They need our help and solidarity. People in general need to understand the basic reasons which lead to migration currents of enormous size. We must finally decide to fight the root of the problem and not its symptoms. We must be the ones to put an end to the exploitation and oppression which we cause.


Planodio Steki Dromou

Tuesday 20 July 2010

Life and consumption, mutually exclusive?




“You are at the store with sports goods. You can’t decide between a new jacket or a racket. Who do you ask? No one. You buy both and get it over with. Without doubt, you are living the best period of your life.”

From an advertisement in a Spanish newspaper.

Over-consumerism, economic growth, advertisements, sponsors, shopping malls, shopping therapies, addiction to shopping and products. This is the modern “culture” of the developed countries of the world, amongst which one will also find Cyprus. In this culture, there is no place for spontaneous entertainment, feelings and thirst for life. The only thing left is passion for consuming.

What is (over-)consumerism? It is the buying of products seen on a commercial and realizing they are useless only days later. It is the lingering feeling of dissatisfaction. The constant need for more, bigger, better. The creation of consciences which confuse reality with commercial, “wanting,” with needing. Moreover, it is the belief that lack of communication with our self and those around us, even our flaws, are covered and hidden with buying certain goods.

For the citizens of “developed” countries to be able to enjoy the goods produced by millions of workers working in awful conditions in poor countries, it constantly requires more money on their part. So, they accept to work in bad and flexible working conditions, to work more so as to earn more. They enjoy less time with their friends, children and themselves then what could truly make them happy.


The society of consuming looks down both on work and the value of products, since the only thing that counts in the human relations is the pattern of production – consuming. The labor and the uniqueness of each product do not matter before the “monster” of mass production.

The society of consuming puts “needs over resources, profits over people, the present over the future.”


Over-consumerism does not only destroy human lives, but nature as well. Reusing, recycling and the use of renewable energy sources are steps in the right way, but this is not enough. If we truly want to protect the environment and natural resources we must make drastic changes to our way of life.

The retrieval of resources, the production, the movement and transport of products which we demand and consume is the number one cause of the environmental disaster we experience every day. From the polluting toy factories in Asia, to the dropping of tons of garbage into the oceans, to the chopping down of thousands of trees in the Amazon on the altar of soy production for the immense amounts of foods (and mostly meat) we eat, the destruction and pollution of the environment has its roots in the consumerist society of man.

800 million people live in conditions of extreme poverty, 40% of foods produced are trashed without being eaten, 1/3 of fish caught are returned to the sea because they don’t fulfill the aesthetic specifications for the market, 300 million people in northern countries are obese.



70% of decisions regarding a purchase are taken inside the store.



One third of European consumers is addicted from shopping and has serious problems with spontaneous purchases and loss of self control when it comes to spending.

Daily, we are exposed to 3000 commercials.



The list of IKEA is the most “read” book in the world: 175 million lists printed each year, in 35 countries and 27 languages.



80% of those who enter a shopping mall eventually buy something.

Source of information:

http://sporos.org