Thank you, Ukraine!
Text: Andrzej Szczepanek - Edit/lLayout: Pia Berrend - February 25, 2014 - I remember when I first read the dramatic headlines of the Ukrainian revolution I immediately got on the Internet.
A chain of incredible events was unfolding before my eyes and I was stunned. The scenes I saw are still so vivid and so deeply entrenched in my mind that I think I should pay tribute to those determined and brave people who fought and died. And I am doing this on behalf of others who think and feel likewise. And I am doing this on behalf of those who died and who grieve.
What I saw was a desperate courage that made people crouching behind shields go against the sniper and Kalashnikov fire. What I saw was the people lying on the ground dead or dying. What I saw was a woman's head busted with machine gun fire. What I saw was a bloodied police officer being kicked and punched by the desperate protesters.
What I saw was the crowd charging the lines of anti-riot police with death-defying courage.
I saw the faces of all those people. And there was desperate determination on them, fear, anger, despair anguish and strangely, calm.
I understood that I was being witness to this rare, moving moment when a desperate human achieves a perfect sense of freedom - freedom from fear. This moment may not be lasting long but it leaves an indelible mark and it is a true moment of liberation, something that influences the individual's sense of identity he or she will never renounce...
Liberation from fear and uncertainty of daily living in a society dominated by corrupt politics the individual never identifies with.
Liberation from the intruding illusion of the official propaganda of commercialization that erodes the individual's sense of true identity and poisons the individual's mind with indifference...
This is what takes away the individual's freedom and is meant to make the individual into a senseless consumer and laborer.
With no constructive and open social dialogue the people's freedom is wasted. I thank you, Ukraine, because you speak on behalf of the people of Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Yemen, Romania, Greece, Spain, Libya and many more where the people fight against violence, corruption, arrogance and contempt. In many cases, they bravely oppose state terrorism. They fight for their dignity and identity.
Liberation from fear and uncertainty of daily living in a society dominated by corrupt politics the individual never identifies with.
Liberation from the intruding illusion of the official propaganda of commercialization that erodes the individual's sense of true identity and poisons the individual's mind with indifference...
This is what takes away the individual's freedom and is meant to make the individual into a senseless consumer and laborer.
With no constructive and open social dialogue the people's freedom is wasted. I thank you, Ukraine, because you speak on behalf of the people of Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Yemen, Romania, Greece, Spain, Libya and many more where the people fight against violence, corruption, arrogance and contempt. In many cases, they bravely oppose state terrorism. They fight for their dignity and identity.
Ukraine is profoundly symbolic. It is symbolic of the fight of people struggling for their true identity which is being stolen from them when the true communication between the ruling establishment and the people is not based on the principles of partnership, transparency and mutual respect and an ongoing dialogue between those in power and the representatives of the society articulating the expectations of different segments of the society. The social space is being gradually appropriated and dominated by politicians, political parties and bureaucrats who hide themselves behind the fake facade of democracy, free market and free elections. In the socio-economic, and political sense of the word, ordinary citizens' status is reduced to that of mere consumers and workers deprived of their right to actively participate in the social dialogue.
We are not building a strong participatory democracy in which consensus is reached by way of an ongoing dialogue and open negotiations in which the social representation of different social groups enjoys equal rights and bears equal responsibilities and is capable of formulating its own independent social programs corresponding to the society's needs. A society is like a living organism. It has its own sense of identity which is a logical consequence of true freedom to be understood as the right to be an essential and equally responsible part of the decision-making process.
We do not know it but we are at war globally. This war is being waged by the political and economic elites which aim at destroying the society's identity and will in the process of appropriation of social space, finances and economy. The instruments of war are poverty, gradual restriction of human rights and constitutional liberties disguised as the war on terror, economic policy of austerity, socio-economic marginalization, the isolation and marginalization of labour unions and non-governmental organizations, the ever-present surveillance, the failed attempts to take control of the Internet and other independent information channels, the policy of harassment against independent academic associations and scholars.
It is not a pre-meditated plot concocted intentionally by the elites. It is rather the inevitable consequence of the socio-economic and political structure of the system that spawns corruption, terrorism, poverty, human misery and violence.
The system is diseased because it excludes the society from active participation and encourages corruption and impunity. It is a silent global war against the world's societies and this war kills and traumatizes the members of the society. This war aims at the destruction or containment of all independent social movements including the organizations which use the Internet to initiate a transparent social dialogue. This war has many faces. It has the face of Ukraine or Romania but what is common for this face is the contempt for human rights and civil liberties.
We are not building a strong participatory democracy in which consensus is reached by way of an ongoing dialogue and open negotiations in which the social representation of different social groups enjoys equal rights and bears equal responsibilities and is capable of formulating its own independent social programs corresponding to the society's needs. A society is like a living organism. It has its own sense of identity which is a logical consequence of true freedom to be understood as the right to be an essential and equally responsible part of the decision-making process.
We do not know it but we are at war globally. This war is being waged by the political and economic elites which aim at destroying the society's identity and will in the process of appropriation of social space, finances and economy. The instruments of war are poverty, gradual restriction of human rights and constitutional liberties disguised as the war on terror, economic policy of austerity, socio-economic marginalization, the isolation and marginalization of labour unions and non-governmental organizations, the ever-present surveillance, the failed attempts to take control of the Internet and other independent information channels, the policy of harassment against independent academic associations and scholars.
It is not a pre-meditated plot concocted intentionally by the elites. It is rather the inevitable consequence of the socio-economic and political structure of the system that spawns corruption, terrorism, poverty, human misery and violence.
The system is diseased because it excludes the society from active participation and encourages corruption and impunity. It is a silent global war against the world's societies and this war kills and traumatizes the members of the society. This war aims at the destruction or containment of all independent social movements including the organizations which use the Internet to initiate a transparent social dialogue. This war has many faces. It has the face of Ukraine or Romania but what is common for this face is the contempt for human rights and civil liberties.
This anti-social and anti human rights trend will be gathering momentum as the socio-economic crisis deepens and the society loses its identity resulting from the gradual escalation of violence and psycho-social trauma as well as worsening socio-economic situation.
The question of accountability diffuses as the fake democracy produces an illusion of decentralized power, free market and multi-party political system as well as free elections.The social tensions are bound to rise because the character of the economy and financial markets effectively frustrate any attempt to reform the system and prevent it from imploding. The financial system devours enormous amounts of digital money without which it would collapse because the system is driven by a suicidal economic doctrine of unstoppable financial speculation, and besides, the tipping point has already been reached so nobody knows exactly what to do to stop the situation spiraling out of control. This necessitates that the excess of money (the dollar) and different dubious or fake financial assets be pumped into market ruining this virtual market's economies. Yet, the economy is still in recession despite these frantic attempts at the financial resuscitation euphemistically called bail-out programs. The truth is that those programs prevent banks from going bankrupt but have very little to do with economic revival ordinary people might benefit from.
The question of accountability diffuses as the fake democracy produces an illusion of decentralized power, free market and multi-party political system as well as free elections.The social tensions are bound to rise because the character of the economy and financial markets effectively frustrate any attempt to reform the system and prevent it from imploding. The financial system devours enormous amounts of digital money without which it would collapse because the system is driven by a suicidal economic doctrine of unstoppable financial speculation, and besides, the tipping point has already been reached so nobody knows exactly what to do to stop the situation spiraling out of control. This necessitates that the excess of money (the dollar) and different dubious or fake financial assets be pumped into market ruining this virtual market's economies. Yet, the economy is still in recession despite these frantic attempts at the financial resuscitation euphemistically called bail-out programs. The truth is that those programs prevent banks from going bankrupt but have very little to do with economic revival ordinary people might benefit from.
It seems that we have got structural unemployment, structural recession, structural shrinkage of consumer markets, inefficient financial system which wastefully consumes public funds and inefficient fiscal system. Consumers instead of purchasing goods are in debt or have to pay interests. This makes the recession even worse. The economic policy of austerity affecting the poor aggravates recession. The rich are immune to the crisis or capitalize on it. The middle class being the foundation of healthy economy is disappearing. The question of debt threatens the markets with disruption. Fictitious dollar must be pumped into the economy to keep it going but this may lead to the massive devaluation of the dollar and the global collapse of the markets once the confidence in the dollar collapses.
The worst-case scenario may be a complete anarchy on the financial markets, the collapse of the free -market economy, price and wage freeze, food coupons, general poverty, against the background of social tension, civil unrest, violence, social trauma,suicide, psychosomatic illness, depression and the disintegration of the society in terms of criminalization of social relations. The process of criminalization of social relations is clearly visible in a number of countries world-wide and its most visible signs are corruption, coercion and terrorism. It is all possible when a society is deprived of its sense of identity through coercion and corruption. As the social tension and frustration rise, the political establishment will also radicalize and will not flinch from the use of force and violence.
The Ukrainian people are rising up against all this and that is why their sacrifice is so moving and symbolic.
The worst-case scenario may be a complete anarchy on the financial markets, the collapse of the free -market economy, price and wage freeze, food coupons, general poverty, against the background of social tension, civil unrest, violence, social trauma,suicide, psychosomatic illness, depression and the disintegration of the society in terms of criminalization of social relations. The process of criminalization of social relations is clearly visible in a number of countries world-wide and its most visible signs are corruption, coercion and terrorism. It is all possible when a society is deprived of its sense of identity through coercion and corruption. As the social tension and frustration rise, the political establishment will also radicalize and will not flinch from the use of force and violence.
The Ukrainian people are rising up against all this and that is why their sacrifice is so moving and symbolic.
And again I say, I thank you Ukraine in the name of those whose identity is being stolen from them and who are subject to violence in whatever form, be it political or socio-economic.
What we are witnessing is the emergence of a nation still grieving its losses and uncertain of its identity and future. For now, its identity is being derived from the desperate courage which made fear secondary. For now, its identity is this fleeting moment of absolute freedom the individual experiences when the individual overcomes fear. The identity is the sadness and grief. It is anger and resolution and the bond existing between the people who were willing to sacrifice their lives against all odds. It is the bond that matured when the people were dying in the streets of the capital. This bond is strong because it was forged in the combat and this is the bond which can effect a change. The bond is the solidarity against coercion and corruption and it may inspire other people whose rights are held in contempt.
And this very bond, so strong and unblemished, is to be protected and cultivated because it is the foundation of just social order and the respect for man's natural rights to be free from violence and trauma.
Therefore, I thank you Ukraine.
Andrzej Szcepanek