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Greek sailors support their families by sending their salaries home, Greece being the No. 1 shipping power in the world. Earning their income outside Greece is an advantage only because it allows shipowners to operate without state interference and corruption. Most shipowners I know have houses in Greece, inject millions into the Greek economy, and give generously to Greek charities. The fact that some of us choose to live abroad is a minus for the Greek state, one that passes retroactive laws and operates like a gangster syndicate at times. Greece would be a very poor Third World country without the shippers, but try saying that to the media, who see only what they want to.

Shipping is to Greece what blue-chip companies are to America. Surely if a man takes his chances and makes his money he should be allowed to enjoy it without some hack hinting that the country would be better off if he had stayed back in his village and lived off the handouts of the state. Envy, incidentally, is a mortal sin, and the Western world is full of it. My father shut down his factories at the outbreak of the war in order for them not to be used to help the Axis forces. The commies nevertheless blew them up after the liberation. Go figure. The only ones who suffered were the workers. Old Dad went to America and bought ships, then returned and rebuilt. Did that make him an unpatriotic Greek?