Category Publicness

Classical public square with citizens debating, trading, and gathering.

Publicness is the condition of being open, visible, and shared in a social space. It involves dialogue, accountability, and collective presence. Publicness invites individuals to participate in shaping meaning, norms, and community life—where private thought becomes social responsibility and ideas are expressed with the intent to connect. κοινωνία (koinonía) is a Greek term meaning fellowship, participation, or communion. Rooted in κοινός (common), it signifies the deep relational bonds that form when people share in purpose, values, or experience. It transcends transaction—implying spiritual, social, or civic unity through mutual contribution, understanding, and belonging in a shared human space

From Democracy to Kleptocracy: The Koskotas Template.

Collage showing suited men with blurred faces in front of layered images of Greek government buildings, banks, and media logos, symbolizing politics, finance, and public institutions in Greece.

In the late 1980s, against a backdrop of roiling political turbulence, a financial scandal of staggering proportions erupted from the heart of Athens. Presided over by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and its charismatic leader, Andreas Papandreou, this was an era where populist ambition often blurred the lines between state governance and party patronage. The Koskotas affair was not an anomaly; it was the system’s logical endpoint. To understand this scandal is not merely to revisit a historical event, but to perform an autopsy on a foundational case study in the architecture of systemic corruption that would plague Greece for decades.

The Paradox of Greek Health: From Global Downfall to Crisis and its Lessons

A stormy seascape shows the Parthenon on a rocky cliff, partially under scaffolding and backed by modern hospital buildings, while charts and policy documents in Greek float in rough waves below and glowing medical crosses appear on distant islands at sunset.

Before the economic crisis of 2009, the Greek health system presented an interesting paradox. The World Health Organization (WHO) in its 2000 assessment ranked it as the 14th worldwide, surpassing countries with a high standard of living [2, 3]. However, this impressively strong position concealed deep structural failures, which were revealed forcefully when the debt crisis struck the country.

We’ve loaded even our song with so much music that it’s slowly sinking

A man stands on a cracked stone promenade by the sea at sunset, gently holding a glowing white dove in his hand between two damaged old buildings, while a sailboat glides on the water and floating musical notes arc across the sky.

We have struggled to build a nation worthy of our children, a place of stability and connection. When the state and its institutions withdraw from our towns and villages, they treat our history and our efforts as burdens to be cut away in the name of efficiency. We must speak our “few words” of protest now, because stripping away our services is stripping away our right to live with dignity and to be respected.