Lessons for citizens and politicians

position? It’s something they should think about. The second lesson is that there is an establishment in this country that is not just interested in the bottom line and has given its best self to the country. The Niarchos Foundation deserves recognition because it has given an enormous amount of support to Greek society, with professionalism and without fanfare and public relations stunts. Greece has a long history of benefactors who have played an instrumental role in the nation’s development and it is extremely positive that this is still going on today, especially when comparing such generosity to the whinging and demands of other businessmen and groups. The SNFCC also showed us that Greeks need posi- tive role models and people with vision. The warmth with which they embraced the cultural center from the get-go is telling. They already consider it their own and are deeply concerned about its fate after it passed into the hands of our politicians. Hopefully, they will demand that it is properly managed from here on out. The fourth thing we learned is that Athens has incredible potential for becoming a thriving tourism destination, with nothing to envy in Barcelona or other popular choices. But it needs more new attractions to really take off. Constantine Karamanlis had the right idea in the 1960s with the projects he initiated around the Acropolis, the Athens Festival and other areas of tourism. Athens, and Greece by