When I was little, in the neighborhoods where we grew up, we often saw a sight that at the time caused us wonder and curiosity .
A man leading a bear on a chain . With a tambourine in his hand, he set the rhythm and the bear danced. Back then, as children, we thought he was dancing because he liked it. As we grew older, we understood the truth. He wasn’t dancing for joy. He was dancing because he had been trained to obey . He had learned that whoever disobeyed was punished , while whoever obeyed was rewarded .
A little further on we also saw parrots . Their trainers taught them to say specific words and phrases. They had no thoughts of their own . They did not express an opinion . They only repeated what their master wanted to be heard.
I believed that these images had passed into history irrevocably . That a modern democracy would never again tolerate people who dance to someone else’s tune or who mechanically repeat words that are not their own.
Unfortunately, I was proven wrong .
Today the bears are not in the squares. They are in politics , on television panels , in the media , and even in society. They are all those who adapt their opinions according to the wishes of power . Who applaud every decision, even when they know that it burdens the citizens. Who remain silent in the face of mistakes , failures , and scandals , because they prefer the security of submission to the responsibility of truth .
And the parrots ? They not only exist, but they have multiplied. You meet them every day. They reproduce the same arguments , the same slogans , the same excuses . If the line changes in the morning, by evening they have changed too. They do not serve the truth . They serve the narrative .
Thus, politics is transformed into a performance and information into monotonous repetition . Accuracy is presented as a natural phenomenon . Responsibilities disappear. Problems are baptized as successes . And anyone who dares to disagree is treated as an enemy .
Democracy , however, is not only at risk from those who exercise power. It is more at risk from those who give up the right to think freely . From those who prefer to dance to the rhythm imposed on them and repeat what is dictated to them.
Greece needs citizens , not applause . People who have the courage to speak the truth , even when it is inconvenient. People who are not afraid to disagree when the interests of the country and society demand it.
Because freedom is not only lost when silence is imposed. It is also lost when citizens themselves choose to become dancing bears and parrots who speak in a foreign voice .
And then, the problem is not the one holding the tambourine .
The real problem is that there are still many willing to dance to his rhythm .
KONSTANTINOS ZONTANOS
