Mirjana na Prkosi - How it happened that the desired dialogue of political actors was replaced by a discussion about where and who was a guest

(April 4, 2019, Time No. 1474)

Deep ditches: The tendrils are uprooted

In the absence of the idea and the intention to establish a real dialogue between political parties in society, there is a real danger of uprooting the vines and a general bar fight. Trenches have been dug, and for now, in the public space of the search for a dialogic form, ranks are suffering - like the actress Mirjana Karanović.

Instead of the dialogue being established in the parliament, as a logical place for the clash of conflicting political ideas, here it is counted who went to which television, so Mirjani Karanović was criticized for her guest appearance on TV Pink in the show "Hit Tweet", which, in addition to Verica Bradić, is the editor of and Željko Mitrović.

For reasons of collegiality, I answered the question of the daily "Danas" about what I think about that guest appearance. Honestly, I don't mean anything, except to say how futile attempts are to simulate the existence of dialogue in society for two hours a week in a program that lasts 168 hours a week, and that 166 hours are devoted to killing the idea of ​​dialogue and where "tails" are being pulled, slurped and slandered by political dissidents.

The idea of ​​a dialogue in the media space is certainly important and could be a kind of prelude to a political dialogue that will inevitably come to that, unless one side kills the dissenters with the already mentioned tricks.

The trenches are dug so deep and surrounded by high barbed wire, and minefields are thickly sown in front, that it is good that Mirjana Karanović survived the reactions of that part of the public who think that visiting "Pink" is high treason.

And what actually happened was nothing. The only thing that would be interesting is to see how "Pink" changes its editorial concept in accordance with the rules and good customs that users of the national frequency would have to follow, but until I see it with my own eyes, I will think that the same chair is pushed every morning to Vojislav Šešelj and other idiots. who have been waiting in front of the door of this television since morning for their "five minutes of fame" shouting who is a scumbag and a fascist, and to throw that same chair once a week to Mirjana Karanović. I hope they at least spray the chair with asepsol when moving it from studio to studio.

All of this looks like a match to the newly announced old "Impression of the Week", by covering the term of Olje Bećković, which will have the same structural problem: how to ensure a dialogue of dissenters because it should be expected that the other side of the political and social spectrum will have room to appear in "someone else's trench".

Hitler in America: Slandering Dissenters

The public broadcaster, RTS, paid for this type of counting on "yours and ours" to a large extent, because the guests started dictating the list of desirable "opponents", and when someone was allowed into the public service space, he went through a chicanery that decent people find difficult they could stand it, and then Zoran Lutovac, the president of the DS, took off his bug and left the studio. Finally, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić appeared in the show that was supposed to indicate the importance of public dialogue. Alone.

Things are not better in print media either. In the period from March 25 to 29, noted Cvijetin Milivojević, all the front pages in the tabloids were dedicated to "Tycon Đitler". Day by day, it only increased in intensity:

"Đilas went to the USA, there he is looking for help to overthrow the government"

"Đilas admitted that he is arranging chaos in Serbia in the USA"

"You would like to kill!" America threatens violence and victims"

"Dangerous plan of the people of Đilas: They are preparing 'Maidan' in Serbia!"

"Đilas is ready to kill"

Milivojević also gave a list of those with whom "Tycoon Đilas" agreed in America about the "overthrow of the state" (ours, the Serbian one): the chief director of the National Security Council for Europe and Russia, John Erat, the director of European affairs of the same council, William Berkley , Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Palmer, representatives of the Senate and Congress…

The same ones, I would say, with whom Aleksandar Vučić maintains a relationship or would like to have one, so we read that our government has again (and that's perfectly fine) hired a lobbying agency for easier access to figures who decide on American policy.

We should not underestimate the importance of public speech in society (we write about it in more detail in this issue) and the dangers brought by the division into "yours and ours", especially on the eve of the "big rally" and "big counter-rally" (this is, by the way, the main topic of "Vremena ").

Poverty Map: Voting

Everything else passes under the radar in the shadow of passionate political upheavals, except when Vučić lays a foundation stone. That is why at the end of this comment I will quote parts from the text of Jelena Žarković, a professor at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade (the reader can find the entire text on the "Peščanika" website).

"Although it is already known that Serbia is the first in Europe in terms of the number of poor citizens, behind the average poverty rate of 25% there are great differences between certain parts of the country. A rough sketch shows that even 70% of the total number of municipalities and cities in Serbia have a poverty rate above this average of 25%. Observed by district, Belgrade has the lowest percentage of poor citizens, 10,5%, and next to it, only Juznobački district has a poverty rate below the average for the whole country (21%). However, the differences between individual municipalities are the greatest within the Belgrade region, because New Belgrade is located there, which with only 4,8% of poor citizens represents not only the least poor municipality in the capital but also in the whole of Serbia, but also Mladenovac and Sopot, which have a pronounced poverty with rates of 24% and 27%.

The poverty map, a publication with the same name that the World Bank produced in cooperation with the Republic Institute of Statistics (back in 2016, ed.) further shows that poverty is most prevalent in the region of Southern and Eastern Serbia, because three of the four poorest districts, with poverty rates above 40%, are located right there (Jablanički, Pčinjski and Toplički). In addition to them, the Raški district also belongs to the poorest, where the poorest municipality in the country, Tutin, is also located, where as much as 66,1% of the population is poor. Preševo ​​and Bojnik, as the poorest municipalities of the district to which they belong, both with rates of 63,5%, are not far behind Tutina.

The publication Map of Poverty looks in one part at the factors that can explain such large differences in the level of living standards between municipalities. The population without school is most represented in the areas in the south of the country, while the concentration of highly educated persons is the highest around Belgrade. The level of education affects the working status, so, again, Belgrade municipalities have the largest number of people who earn income from work, while the southeast of the country depends mostly on income from pensions, and the south on social transfers in the form of child allowance and cash social assistance.

Branko Milanović explained it nicely through the concept of location premium. Namely, if you know that 60% of your future income depends on the place of birth, 20% on the belonging of the family to a certain social class, and only 20% on personal effort and work, this means that in a situation when your country is not progressing at the speed you expect, the only choice it becomes voting with the feet, i.e. emigration."

Here are topics for public debate, if only there were someone to talk to.