Incompatible narratives

zopoulos, there are capable and honest judges out there who can deliver the punishment they deserve. Such punishment, however, must be handed out in the context of the rule of law, and certainly not with the intention of smearing political rivals. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been playing out two narratives at the same time. One aims to appeal to outsiders and the political center. According to this narrative, Tsipras had styled himself as a moderate leader who takes difficult decisions and has the determination to see them through. The other narrative is designed to appease SYRIZA’s base supporters who were estranged by the party’s U-turn after the bailout referendum. The two narratives are totally incompatible. The former is pro-Europe and forward-looking. The later is deeply populist and anti-democratic, and it is only looking backward. Of course, it does have a keen audience. But what serious investor – apart from some major ones who are used to striking deals in third world countries – would trust a country mired in lawlessness and political cannibalism? Investors want to put their money in countries with a certain degree of predictability, where parties interchange smoothly in power and politics is not a game of survival. Worse, Tsipras is using division as a tool that risks turning us all into hooligans in the stands of a Roman arena. Polarization is forcing people into roles that had long been buried together with the ghosts