Which should come as no surprise. Because in a democracy, the balance of political power can only be shifted by political events. And right now, the only political action is taking place in the fantasy worlds of those who think they’re living or manufacturing it.
I don’t know of any democracy in the world whose politics are defined by five ultra-fringe groups and ten crackpots getting together and causing a scene at a public hospital. So they can stick it to the Minister for Health and get a spot on the news.
Thank goodness. At the same time that the consolidation at the polls can be interpreted in different ways.
The government is showing obviously signs of fatigue and attrition. Which is only to be expected after seven years in power. And while winning back its public approval is proving to be an uphill struggle, it’s still well within the limits of its endurance.
Stability is still a pledge many want to believe in, and no one else is claiming it for their platform right now.
The Opposition is summed up by a handful of figures who waffle endlessly about every issue under the sun, but can’t come up with an alternative credible enough for discussion over Sunday brunch.
The wannabe new parties are already looking sadder than the old ones and shedding support.
While even the much-vaunted “anti-systemic movement” we came up with recently so we’d have something to chat about over coffee is looking more like grist for the gossip mill.
It is no coincidence that of the latest crop of cases, only Konstantopoulou’s “Course of Freedom” seems to be gaining percentage points.
Is it more reliable? No. But at least it offers a daily dose of noise to a rattled audience.
At the same time, efforts to create or incite a generalized “movement of rejection and disobedience” in society on various pretexts are probably fated to remain a pathetic minority concern.
In any case, if anyone feels any powerful symptoms of disobedience, no problem. They can stay home and such their thumb.
Is society satisfied? No. But better the devil you know, as they say…
Of course, no one can say if this situation is going to last all the way through to the elections. But as the weeks and months go by, there will be less and less time for drastic shifts.
Especially with an international situation whose instability and unpredictability clearly aren’t helping.
So, as we head ever closer to the polls, the chances of our being confronted with a new state of affairs are dwindling.
Though, of course, nothing can ever be predicted or discounted with total certainty.
