Greek Tragedy

           This week’s blog is about the Chronicle article from August 24, 2011 “Amid Protests, Greece Enacts Bill Meant to Make Universities More Competitive” By Aisha Labion. The protests in Greece are a response to proposed reforms to the higher education system. In the face of European concerns about mismanagement of the Greek economy, the public higher education community is being called upon to make reforms in the way they operate.

The arguments that the reformers make are good ones; that Greek higher education is not viewed very well in other parts of Europe. It is highly inefficient and the best students routinely leave the country to study elsewhere and steps need to be taken to make Greek education more competitive. The arguments of those opposing reform are apparently from the same playbook that they have been using for decades: any reform is a step toward privatization, even if the government says it’s not, and all privatization in higher education is bad.

What struck me about this article is the depth of the notion in Greece that any privatization, no matter how small, is absolutely unacceptable. In the US and in many countries throughout Europe, privatization is viewed as a tool that can conceivably fill in the gaps where public institutions can’t reach, or at least can’t reach very well. I’m not saying that argument is always true, just that it is used fairly often by supporters. Private institutions in the US flourish, even in difficult times, although there is legitimate debate about whether students are getting what they are really paying for and/or getting what they need from the experience. What I find interesting is the sense that it appears some in Greece are not even willing to consider the possibility that a private institution might fare well. I wonder if someone will come along and build a private college in Greece, just to see how it does. What also strikes me is the seeming intransigence of it all. It’s like someone being surrounded by flood waters, reaching up to their neck but refusing to listen to those who say “move your arms and legs and start swimming” just because standing still has worked so well for them for so long.

It made me think about the parallels to some political battles in our own country. Whenever a group of people, experiencing a personal benefit through the “system”, have that benefit threatened, they will fight vigorously to maintain it, perhaps even at the cost of society overall. In the case of the US, any attempt to tax the wealthy at a higher rate, or hold Wall Street executives accountable for excessive greed and mismanagement are met with cries of “that’s socialism”, even if it’s not. In Greece, the evil bogeyman is “privatization”; even if it’s not. It appears that reformers of any stripe, in any place, will be challenged by those who benefit from the status quo.