On the Unhappiness of Being Greek by Nikos Dimou Page A

dictatorship. There was a line in the book: Whenever a Greek looks at himself in the mirror, he sees either Alexander the Great or Kolokotronis (hero of the Greek War of Independence) or (at least) Onassis. Never Karaghiozis (comic puppet character from the Greek popular shadow theatre.)
    The truth of this observation has been corroborated many times in the past and it continues to be corroborated. For three consecutive decades, this country’s indigenous residents have been refusing to accept that their participation in supranational organisations was not by way of compliment. They were not accepted in these organisations because of their nation’s grandeur. It was an agreement with obligations for both sides: especially in the case of the European Union…. Our agreement with the European Union presupposes rights and obligations, too. We have claimed our rights. Our obligations have now prompted the creation of a fund. In today’s Europe it is a misfortune to say that you are Greek.
    George Lakopoulos , www.protagon.gr



First published by Zero Books, 2013
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    Text copyright: Nikos Dimou 2012
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There are Greeks who question themselves and there are Greeks who don’t. These reflections mostly concern the latter. They are dedicated, however, to the former.
    N. D.

Introduction
On the Unhappiness of Being Human
    1 We define happiness as the (usually temporary) state in which our desires coincide with reality.
    2 Correspondingly, unhappiness must be the non-coincidence between desire and reality.
    3 In other words, we could call unhappiness the gap between desire and reality.
    4 The greater the gap, the unhappier we are.
    5 Our happiness (or unhappiness) depends: on the magnitude, intensity and sum of our desires, on the one hand, and on the nature of reality, on the other.
    6 I may be unhappy because I have excessive and inordinate desires that (quite rightly) remain unfulfilled. Or, then again, my desires may be ‘reasonable’ (moderate by human standards), but reality keeps dogging me (like Job). In this case we speak of ill-fortune.
    7 We have a statistical sense of happiness. We think that a person with ‘reasonable’ desires should have an equal share of successes and disappointments.(As proof: the expressions ‘a change of luck’, ‘a turn of the wheel’ etc.)
    8 Life, however, does not confirm this view. Usually, those who have strong and numerous desires satisfy more of them than those whose desires are few and moderate. Except that the insatiable nature of the former rarely allows them to feel the state of equilibrium that we call happiness.
    9 The gap that we called unhappiness functions both positively and negatively. I don’t have what I desire, or I have something that I don’t desire (e.g. an illness).
    10 Those who offer ‘recipes for happiness’ usually try to modify or reduce desires – since it’s not easy for them to alter reality. Naturally, the fewer desires we have,