It took our ancient ancestors about 10-15 years to build the Parthenon from scratch. Without modern transportation systems to carry the marble from Pendeli to the center of Athens. Without power drills to take the marble out from the mountain. Without a single modern electric tool, the Parthenon, surrounding temples, and a giant statue of Athena Pallas covered in gold were built in 10-15 years. That was the monument our ancient ancestors built, and the modern government cannot restore.
In the Modern Era, there has been an effort to restore this wonder of Helleneism since 1975. Now, Kathimerini reports (
here) that it will take another 16 years to complete, and that the government has no money (4.4 million a year) and will seek private sponsors. That's what happens when Hellenes do not run the country. The quisling government in power now and in the past robs the bank, siphons the money off to Switzerland, and as
this commentary rightly states, has no problem writing off soccer debts. Hellas' culture past and present suffers.
However, the commentary also says that the Parthenon "belongs to the world." NO. It belongs to Hellenes. It was our ancestors, whether slaves or craftsment, who built this marvel and not some British persons ancient relative. The world is invited to visit it, but they cannot claim it as part of their heritage unless they take up the tenets of Helleneism.
Further, the commentary says that we should set up a private fund to get cash from the Hellenic citizen. Here is an idea, have the Papandreou, Chant, Venizelos, etc families donate the money they stole from the taxpayers. It makes no sense to require the victim of theft to be asked to donate money to help restore the Parthenon.
On this note, investment in digging up and preserving the ancient marvels that are locked between layers of soil would be a much better investment than digging a soccer club out of debt. Tourists would flock to the country. Further, finding private investors to develop a first class tourist infrastructure would retain a continuous flow of tourists. When American, British, French, German, etc school children learn about Hellas, they learn about the ancient world. Imagine what a thrill they would get if they had the opportunity to visit the ruins restored professionaly! There would be a steady stream of tourists each year coming in the summer to Hellas and enjoying it instead of moaning about what a miserable country it is and how they saw what they saw and wil never come back.
Beyond the Parthenon, how about restoring Mystras and other Byzantine monuments. Why must we focus on the Pre-Christian Hellenes? That is a topic for another post...