Last year Greece celebrated 200 years since the beginning of our war of independence. The establishment of democracy in the United States has brought about the greatest expansion of human freedom and human progress the world has ever known. The birth of democracy in ancient Athens brought about an explosion of the creative spirit in Greece that produced the architecture, the art, the drama and the philosophy that have shaped western civilization ever since. The lesson was not lost on the founders of the United States who shaped the American Constitution on the Athenian model but they were wise enough to insert checks and balances to avoid the excesses that eventually undermined Athenian democracy. All societies before them were a succession of tyrannies that relied on a strong ruler, a king, a pharaoh, an emperor, to keep them functioning. No society before the Greeks dared to believe that order and freedom were compatible. Women and slaves were excluded, but it was still such an extraordinary departure from what had gone before that it remains the most profound leap of faith in human history. It is hard for us today to realize how radical the idea of individual freedom was 25 centuries ago when a small community of Greeks dared to entrust equal political and legal rights to all its citizens. That miracle, the Greek idea that would forever change the world, is that society functions best if all of its citizens are equal and have the right to share in running their state.
#JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS FREE#
I come before you to celebrate a miracle that all free peoples cherish but that binds Greeks and Americans in a unique way. In fact, to be brutally frank, we all owe our jobs to our noble ancestors.īut I come here not to seek appreciation from you or praise for them. Of course, it was not only Washington’s buildings and culture that were immeasurably influenced by Greece but also the city’s main business, democratic politics, were founded in Athens as well. Driving by the Supreme Court and seeing above the entrance its motto and mission, “Equal Justice Under Law,” we remember that it is a concept that our Greek ancestors first conceived and articulated in a single word, “Isonomia.” Walking into the Lincoln Memorial is like walking into the Parthenon when it was still intact, before Lord Elgin’s art collecting hobby defaced it, because it was modeled on the earlier monument. Like all Greeks, every time I come to Washington I feel as if I’m coming home, because everything I see around me, the architecture, the art, the ideas carved into marble throughout the city, is so familiar. And as the son, husband, sibling and father of strong, creative women, I couldn’t agree more. In “The Republic” Plato proposed that women should share all levels of power and take on all challenges, including military service.Īny state that does not employ the talents of its women, Plato made clear, is wasting half of its resources.
It is an added honor, and a great pleasure, for me to address a joint session of the US Congress under female leadership, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and, of course, Vice President Kamala Harris.įor it was a Greek, and a Greek man at that, who first advocated equal rights for women.
Our shared belief in freedom over tyranny, in democracy over authoritarianism, in the fundamental importance of respect for the rule of law over war and anarchy. They are a reason for celebration and thanks but they are also a reminder, I believe, of our shared values and beliefs at a time when these are once again being tested. I am conscious as I stand before you today of the deep ties that bind our two nations together. There is no greater honor for the elected leader of the people who created democracy than to address the elected representatives of the people who founded their country on the Greek model and have promoted and defended democratic values ever since. Honorable Members of the United States Congress,
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