timos@INGRES (Timos Sellis) (10/27/85)
Date: Sun 27 Oct 85 02:29:21-EST From: John A. Bakopoulos <YANNIS@MIT-XX.ARPA> Subject: Re: APOPROSANATOLISMOI... First, my apologies for writing in english, but I have never learned to use a Greek keyboard, and thus it is relatively difficult for me to compose a message of non-trivial length while preserving a proper correspondence between the latin and greek alphabets. I should probably disqualify myself from this discussion on the grounds that I do not plan to return to Greece in the foreseeable future, but the temptation to throw in my two cents' worth was too big... I would like to separate the issue of which course of study greek students should pursue, from the issue of what specialties Greece needs. The first is a matter of individual choice, and I do not believe that it should be prescribed or "legislated" (formally or by peer pressure) any more than morality or political beliefs. I have a feeling that here I would agree with Christos' point of view, especially since I detect traces of moralizing in Swkratis Dimitriades' message. (Something that triggers a kneejerk negative reaction in me!) Don't get me wrong, however. I am not against discussing these issues, which I believe that is both useful and necessary among open-minded people. I just believe that what one decides to do with his/her own life is a deeply personal choice, and they are answerable only to their concience (to the extent that these choices do not limit the reciprocal rights and freedoms of other people, etc, etc, and all standard disclaimers...) On the second issue (that of the importance of applied, as opposed to theoretical research, and the focus on ECONOMICALLY TANGIBLE achievements), I agree very much with Mr. Dimitriades, and I am very disappointed that Christos seems to dismiss that issue altogether. If the "opposite position" (that a country like Greece must go through leadership in basic research before it can aquire technological knowhow) is "generally accepted" among those who make long-term policy decisions in Greece, I wish them good luck! (-: My limited experiences from the way things work in Greece suggests that these policymakers either hide very well or don't exist, in which case the issue is irrelevant in the first place! :-) Not being able to distinguish between different types of technological development, e.g., technological leadership (U.S.), leapfrogging (Japan), and creation of specific advantages like low-cost production (Taiwan, Hong-Kong) or narrow technological niches (Indian software firms), demonstrates a lack of understanding of the international reality, and shows little hope for putting in place the necessary structural changes that will allow us to preserve our standard of living as a nation and stop our economic decline. People who think this sounds too ominous should realize that there is barely any area where the Greek economy is competitive on an international scale, with the possible exception of tourism, and that without the capital inflows due to our EEC membership and our heavy international borrowing we would be in real trouble. This year we came close enough to an IMF-directed austerity program a-la Central America, and I believe Papandreou's recent belt-tightening was primarily an effort to avoid having to go through such a humiliation. The only way to improve our standard of living (whose definition is admittedly a choice of values that I do not wish to debate here), is to adopt the attitude and frame of mind that Mr. Dimitriades' message implies. The choice of how we want to evolve as a nation involves many tradeoffs. I would be the first one to agree that deciding what we want to trade for what involves a choice among value systems that should be made through everyone's favorite mechanisms for resolving conflicts at the national level. We should realize, however, that a tradeoff means that we can't have our cake and eat it too (an attitude too prevalent among politicians in general, but greek politicians in particular). Thanks for bearing with me, Cheers, Yannis Bakopoulos Sloan School of Management, MIT -------