When I lived in Greece it took me a while to find out that my full beard meant I was an anarchist.
Yes, I agree with the implication that Greece was among few places of calm in the culture war. Is it still so? Isn't Brussels in charge of Greek culture these days? We may still have to learn how to put together a Molotov and run for the hills.
"When I lived in Greece it took me a while to find out that my full beard meant I was an anarchist."
Until a few years ago, I too had a full beard and my uncles all called me "the anarchist" in the family, but I'm actually far more conservative than they are!
As for being calm in the culture wars, well, you know Greece. People make a lot of noise for a few hours, everyone watches, shrugs and goes about their business. There's been many Tuesdays I've stood in a doorway between Omonia and Syntagma with a cop watching rioters. Its sort of a spectator sport! Culturally I don't see much effect of Brussells, but I do see, though perhaps not so much the past 4 years or so, that the worst America has to offer seems to hold a certain allure for the Greeks. Greece is Greece, my friend. There have been a lot of changes the past 20 years, most of them for the better, especially in the past 4 years or so. I love it there! Its very...free!