No matter how often quoted, Churchill's statement that "the Balkans produce more history than it can consume" is still relevant in the countries of the late Yugoslavia, and especially in the backward one, such as Montenegro. This country, however, paradoxically proves that it can easily swallow the excess of the past, without fear of gaining weight. The intellectual metabolism of our surgeons of the past is so strong that it can digest any obstacle, even that of Marx - the economy.
Our citizens do not seem to mind the systematically destroyed economy, the suddenly impoverished worker and the cruel bipolarization of society into the Skorojevic mega-rich and the poor; they are not bothered by the backward step in civilization, nor the fact that we are returning from the proletarian milieu, through the transition, to the era of slave ownership. And all this happens thanks to our alchemists of history, who very successfully turn reality into fiction. Because of their creativity, Montenegrin society has become a hyperconsumer and addict of past times, so with the greatest pleasure, instead of a good and healthy lunch, it eats: years, wars and rulers. And if we are gourmets of Muse Klio, it is illustrated by the fact that from 1945 to 1989 the total number of pages on which the past of Montenegro was treated exceeded 117 thousand, which would amount to about 2.925 historiographic pages per year on average. (Sherbo Rastoder – Future Past).
However, since 1989, when the neo-communists came to power, there has been a strong national dispersion in historiography. History as a science began to suffer due to the ideological mechanisms of the "new government", and this suffering continues to this day. The new leaders realized that for the corporatization of Montenegro they need a new layer of historians, who have the task of dividing the Montenegrin society. Instead of modernizing the writing of history and striking its foundations, which are a trend in civilized societies (psychohistory, socio-economic history, "Brodelists"), our creators, among other things, took historiography back a century - to nineteenth-century nationalist journalism, which serves to support party and ideological interests.
Thus, from a society with a broad vision of Yugoslavia and Slavism in general, which inherits the Montenegrin tradition, a society of Serb-haters and Montenegrin-haters was created. Civic consciousness was destroyed, and the space was given to "guys" with right-wing, nationalist rhetoric. Montenegrins were incited against Serbs, and Serbs against Montenegrins. Civil space was not given for everyone to inherit their national belief freely, with impeccable respect for the diversity and closeness of the other, but the maximalist goals of political parties were put before that. Thus, the matrix began to spin in circles: Montenegrins had to prove that they were Serbs, and Serbs that they were Montenegrins. In this collective frenzy, the ruling party managed best, which until 1997 pushed the "Serbian" line, and then switched to the "Montenegrin" line. But that doesn't even matter.
It is important that exponents of the government, through their title of "historian", began to poison our youth with nationalist narcotics. The two brightest names of that new "black wave" of our historiography, two kind of twins with different national visage, will not be mentioned here, because they don't deserve it. We all know their creative works well, and their televised and "intellectual" duels grotesquely depict our reality. Without arguments, without sufficient methodological knowledge, without a modern interdisciplinary research approach, the two of them, waving flags (one Montenegrin, the other Serbian) are fighting mythical battles, arguing in vain about a couple of decades of our millennial history - the period 1918 - 1945. It is interesting that they they don't respect and don't listen while conducting the polemic, they just wait for the moment for the latter to get tired, so they can resurrect Krsto Popović, Sekula Drljević, Pavle Đurišić and Đorđi Lašić.
Like ace from the sleeve, they "pull out" historical figures, make parallels where there are none, and all with the aim of concealing their personal ideological interests. One-sided, tendentious and ridiculous, they portray our past, as if our ancestors did nothing else, except sit in front of the fireplace and discuss whether they were Montenegrins or Serbs. They are most interesting when they talk about church issues, and passionately prove to each other: that the CPC was autocephalous and that the SPC is the occupier, that is, that the SPC is a pillar of the state of Montenegro and the Serbian ethnos in it. And while they draw the attention of the public and spread the word of hatred in this way, our country, due to the absence of a serious economic strategy, is increasingly heading towards the abyss of debt slavery. If by some miracle Montenegro could export industrial products, in the number in which historical books are printed, it would certainly be a world economic superpower. However, we can only dream about that, because our economy has been savagely privatized and destroyed.
If there are no key changes in the country, it is possible that by the year 2025, the epilogue awaits us when neither Montenegrins nor Serbs will live in Montenegro anymore, but - Chinese. And why? It is very likely that in order to retain power, due to the huge debts they incurred, the ruling elite will "throw in" to look for a new investor - a messiah, who will return Montenegro to the path of economic sustainability and secure another mandate. There is a possibility that that future investor, in turn, will ask our rulers to renounce their national identity "due to strategic interests", which, taking into account previous experience, would not be a problem for them. Then there will be an engaged historian, a former Montenegrin/Serbian, to strike the foundations of the "new" history, so after the formation of the CHINANEGRO state, the new matrix will look like this:
"Dear subjects, from today we are no longer Montenegrins or Serbs. We have no contact points with them. We have always been and will be a proud nation of Chinese, which has its own three-millennium history. Our Ju Kang dynasty is the successor of the ancient Chinese Ming dynasty. Our anthem is not "O bright May dawn", but "Zhōnghuá Míngúo gúogē"; our coat of arms is not a two-headed eagle but a five-pointed star; our religions are neither Christianity nor Islam, but Confucianism. "Let's build a WALL OF CHINA around our new state, in order to prevent any possible attack on our statehood. We will send those who will work against the government, that is, against the state, to special homes for re-education, in order to prevent subversive activities."
One thing is clear - civic awareness does not exist in Montenegro. It is a matter of time when the citizens will understand that they should put their status of freedom before the nation and the state? As long as the nationalists close the minds of our population with statements about what the flag and anthem should be, who is a patriot and who is a traitor, we must know that we live in a poor country where workers' rights are not protected, where the unemployment rate is high and where young and talented people have no perspective. It remains for us to sing cheerfully: "Us and the Chinese, one billion and three hundred million" until the moment of sobering up and the introduction of democracy in Montenegro.
Bonus video:
