There is much to be said about the problems in Greece, and Dalrymple has said much of it, but for now just consider the statements from the victorious Syriza party and the supportive media about the recent Greek elections. Syriza only won 36 percent of the vote, so is it really accurate to say they “swept into power”?
…in our political systems, minorities can pose as, and be taken for, majorities, while the leaders of those minorities comport themselves as if they were endowed with the divine right of kings to rule as they see fit just because they received more votes than anyone else. And this is in turn possible first because the state has now become so preponderant in our lives, and second because those who are duly elected according to the constitution have very little interior sense of personal limitation which might induce either caution or prudence.