# Greek far right and the spread of pseudoscience

Source URL: https://polimeme.com/discussion/thread_8130854f7b691980
First seen: 2026-09-18 10:40 UTC · Latest activity: 2026-09-18 10:19 UTC
4 core pieces, 0 related pieces

## Summary

Far-right language, conspiracy thinking and respectability politics are converging in Greek public life, while some writers call for sharper institutional resistance and others for a left that keeps its ethical and intellectual standards. What is at stake is whether social status, media visibility and political caution will keep displacing evidence and democratic scrutiny.

## Core contention

Should Greece confront the normalization of far-right rhetoric and pseudoscience with firmer state and civic resistance, or accept a broader cultural drift that rewards status over evidence?

## Argument map

1. Far-right rhetoric has entered mainstream Greek politics and media, which makes Kalyvis's case part of a wider normalization problem. — Μαρία Νιάρχου (EfSyn)
2. Conspiracy thinking and pseudoscience keep spreading, so state controls and public skepticism need to block their reach. — Πρετεντέρης Γιάννης (To Vima)
3. Elites and institutions lend status to weak claims, and the left should answer with ethical and intellectual rigor. — Συνολάκης Κώστας (To Vima), Γιώργος Μαντενιώτης (EfSyn)

## Fault line

The split is over whether the main danger is far-right normalization itself or the wider social habit of treating prestige as proof.

## New element

The focus has moved from Kasydaris's release to the broader normalization of far-right rhetoric, pseudoscience and elite credulity.

## European relevance

Greece offers a test case for how media, parties and institutions handle far-right normalization and anti-scientific politics inside an EU member state.

## Distinct theses in this debate

- Greece keeps falling for credulous conspiracies and pseudo-science, so state controls and public skepticism are both needed
- Greek elites and institutions are normalizing pseudoscience by letting social status substitute for scientific evidence
- Far-right rhetoric has been normalized across Greek politics and media, making the release of Ηλία Κασιδιάρης less important than the wider drift
- Alekos Kalyvis embodied the ethical and intellectual ideals the Left should still represent

## Pieces

- 2026-09-18 10:19 UTC — [Η Ακροδεξιά μετατοπίζεται](https://www.efsyn.gr/stiles/1469741/i-akrodexia-metatopizetai) — Μαρία Νιάρχου (EfSyn) [el]
- 2026-09-16 10:00 UTC — [Σαμάνοι](https://www.tovima.gr/2026/09/16/opinions/samanoi) — Πρετεντέρης Γιάννης (To Vima) [el]
- 2026-09-18 09:14 UTC — [Όταν η «καλή κοινωνία» υποκαθιστά τη γνώση](https://www.tovima.gr/2026/09/18/opinions/otan-i-kali-koinonia-ypokathista-ti-gnosi) — Συνολάκης Κώστας (To Vima) [el]
- 2026-09-12 13:30 UTC — [Για τον Αλέκο Καλύβη](https://www.efsyn.gr/stiles/1465558/gia-ton-aleko-kalyvi) — Γιώργος Μαντενιώτης (EfSyn) [el]