Post by artisans on Oct 9, 2008 19:30:03 GMT 2
Philanthropy – ‘the love of mankind’ – a good Greek word made up from the two words ‘philos’ (friend) and ‘anthropos’ (mankind), has as much influence today as it has throughout the centuries. Thinking of what Vassilis had worked so hard for by providing for his family and their future with Roda’s newest shop, X-Pose, it made me remember another conversation earlier in the week. A shop owner in Acharavi has invested almost 50,000 euros in some state-of-the-art equipment which has a pay-back of several years. “It’s OK,” he said, “if something happens to me then at least my family can earn a living.” He is probably in his early thirties.
This seems to be a very common philosophy in Greece – working extremely hard to provide the very best future for those who come after you; not giving them money, but providing them with the means to be in control of their own lives and prosper, both now, and into the future. When I look around me at everyone working so hard through the summer season, I can see that this is happening everywhere. The attitude is deeply entrenched in the local psyche, whether it be building homes for children, buying more olive trees for them or setting them up in business.
If you consider that, in every little village in Corfu, people are following this principle; expand that to include the whole of Greece, and even further to all those wealthier Greek ex-pats in the US & Australia, it is easy to see why philanthropy is the No.1 contributor to Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP). A bigger influence even than shipping or tourism, 'doing good to one’s fellow man’ is so deeply built into Greek society that it supports not only young Spiros in Nymfes, but the whole of the Nation’s economy. It has my greatest admiration.
This seems to be a very common philosophy in Greece – working extremely hard to provide the very best future for those who come after you; not giving them money, but providing them with the means to be in control of their own lives and prosper, both now, and into the future. When I look around me at everyone working so hard through the summer season, I can see that this is happening everywhere. The attitude is deeply entrenched in the local psyche, whether it be building homes for children, buying more olive trees for them or setting them up in business.
If you consider that, in every little village in Corfu, people are following this principle; expand that to include the whole of Greece, and even further to all those wealthier Greek ex-pats in the US & Australia, it is easy to see why philanthropy is the No.1 contributor to Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP). A bigger influence even than shipping or tourism, 'doing good to one’s fellow man’ is so deeply built into Greek society that it supports not only young Spiros in Nymfes, but the whole of the Nation’s economy. It has my greatest admiration.