The return of hope in the civilizational revival of Serbia

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Today, after a good three glorious months student demonstrations in an unexpectedly large number of cities, I guess no one needs to prove how important that series of exciting and extremely effective events. It was not possible to notice that there is a single person who either does not participate in those protests or does not wholeheartedly support them. It seems that all of us - the old and the young, those from the countryside and the cities, stratums with different levels of education and everyone else, however different they may be in various dimensions of social position and way of life - were so pleased and excited by these unexpectedly inspiring actions of our awakened youth that it would be useless to waste words on proving their enormous social importance. Even the still visible masses of bribed and/or blackmailed citizens seem to have swayed.

The high general social appreciation of protests and demonstrations came to the fore in many different ways, and perhaps the most effective and moving in the striking stew that the "paori" prepared for the students in the middle of Belgrade by setting up a long row of cauldrons shrouded in steam, thus making it known that they support the students in this extremely concrete way.

Starting from the fact that the importance and social value of protests are indisputable, there is a desire and need to consider some eccentric attitudes of disapproval of protests that came only from the circles of the authorities, and not from a free society, unrelated to the authorities and not usurped by them. Criticisms from government circles are best simply ignored because they were so logically distorted and bizarre and it is obvious that they hindered rather than helped the government itself. The authorities were simply confused because of and on the occasion of these unexpected events, and in this confusion of action they better showed their perverted actions and their deformed face. Ignoring, therefore, the expected unconvincing reactions of the authorities, here we will consider an unjustifiably problematic type of reaction from the ranks of analysts who support the protests, but from the modality of that support it follows that in the last case they attach less importance and value to the protests than they deserve.

SHADOWS OF DOUBT IN CURRENT POLITICAL ANALYSIS

Under the direction of the most excellent analysts of these impressive changes, the questions of the perspective of these protests were raised with the immediate formulation of whether the protests will "succeed" or not. Two objections can be made to that question. First, it implies significantly less praise for the protests than they undoubtedly deserve and, second, the question itself is wrongly posed. The commentary on this second objection will also contain a review of the first objection and an indication of the mentioned defect manifested in a somewhat diminished appreciation of the protest.

The claim that qualifies the question as wrong is somewhat unusual. With good reason it is claimed and believed that the questions cannot be wrong, that only the answers can be wrong. In most schools of thought, the claim about possible errors only in the answers and not in the questions is indeed correct. In this context, however, such an implication is certainly incorrect and unacceptable. The reason is simple. There are only two possible answers to the question of whether the protests will succeed or not: yes and no. In this case, neither of the two answers implied by the question is appropriate, and therefore not correct. The reason for stating that this is the wrong question lies in the fact that neither of the two answers given can be correct simply because these fantastic protests have already achieved great success. Therefore, it cannot be said that they will succeed, much less that they have suffered failure. For the qualification of the protest, not one of the two listed alternatives is correct, but only a third variant, which is that they have already succeeded.

The shortest and probably the easiest way to prove it already achieved success of the protest is that the President of the Republic (hereinafter AV) himself, as it seems, agreed to fulfill it some student demands, and over many years we had to get used to his harsh, unpleasant and hostile intoned responses whenever he was asked to admit or do things that had clear oppositional connotations in relation to the protests. AV gave negative answers decisively, harshly and pointedly. This time, however, he made it known on his own initiative that he would fulfill - admittedly only some - of the students' demands, even though he was not asked to do so. This is a true Copernican reversal for AV as we know it. The students did not even want to communicate with him; they believed that he was not authorized for these issues and directed their requests exclusively to the institutions.

It should be considered a very great success of the students and their protests that the AV, as it seems, for the first time met those smart opposition fighters and quite unexpectedly partially acceded to their demands. No one had pulled off such a twist so explicitly, and in full view of the public, before the students. But what can we say about the events that followed: about the withdrawal of already well-prepared and equipped police and gendarmerie units for action from the bridge near Rumeka and, even more, for a kind of cooperation in the preparation of the blockade at Autokomanda, with the provision of police protection and much else that was necessary for that blockade. These are procedures in which AV simply could not be recognized. The students managed to achieve what the long-standing and persistent opposition action failed to achieve.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN THE LIGHT OF THE OBVIOUSLY UNFAVORABLE POLITICAL SITUATION

A somewhat different proof of student success would have its starting point in the fact that the ruling party usurped all social institutions and thus accumulated power that made it unchangeable for a long time. It achieved its supremacy by occupying institutions and everything that can serve as a source of power, gaining enormous advantages over all other parties and turning our political system into an autocratic autocracy. If success is defined only as replacing that government and placing it in the backwater of the past, where it belongs, then it seems clear that protests in the foreseeable future cannot succeed. But it should be obvious how wrong it is to take anything less than the removal of this government, which possesses all the instruments of unequal struggle against its political opponents, as the success of the protest.

The news is also coming that even the staunchest supporters of the ruling party are scratching their heads and doubting more and more the absolute supremacy and time-limited rule of this behemoth who has mercilessly climbed onto the hump of society. Isn't that, and especially the mentioned shortening of the life of the ruling directorate, a great and already achieved success of these demonstrations that many of us experienced as an unexpected gift from heaven? The success of the protests should be measured not by what we would like to achieve through them, but by what they have already achieved. And what has been achieved is huge. Even if the protests were stopped immediately, their traces would not be lost, but, on the contrary, would act as an important fact of our political future and would certainly shorten the lifespan of this government. Protests may come and go, but their impact and impact remain as a permanent political achievement well into the future. After the protests, Serbia will certainly not be what it was before them.

THE EFFECT OF THE PROTEST IN THE LIGHT OF MORE REALISTIC EVALUATION CRITERIA

If the success of the student protests is defined as some kind of scheduled overthrow of the current government, then it can be said with a great deal of confidence that they probably cannot succeed for some time, perhaps for a long time. Success, however, is measured not by what we would like them to bring us, but by what they have already achieved. And they really achieved a lot. After all, this is also reflected in the huge reputation and high valuation they have achieved in the part of society that "will not be bound in chains". An inventory of what they have already brought us makes it clear that their output is vast and valuable. Whatever happens in the future, the protests have already achieved remarkable success. Although what they have already achieved is truly great, we can only hope that their effect will not stop there. We can also appreciate their enormous value in terms of the beautiful prospects they open for the future, without forgetting that what has been achieved so far is also significant and valuable. This, among other things, means that in the future it will leave a bright mark and shorten the time of civilizational emancipation of this radically handicapped country.

The author is a retired economist and professor