"Mirror, my mirror, tell me, who is the most beautiful in the world?"
And the mirrors, with the voice of elected national workers and thinkers, from the cannon: "You, master! You, and no one else.”
Such a short dialogue would perhaps be the best summary of the "conversation with intellectuals" that took place on Thursday evening in Villa "Gorica". Ranko "grabbed" them, and then Milo "snapped" them, to borrow an expression from a great literary critic.
After all, in the authoritarian, neo-dictatorial vision, intellectuals are perceived as mirrors in charge of the most sincere compliments. When this is the attitude of politicians, it is to be expected. But when intellectuals agree to such a state of affairs, it is already a serious diagnosis.
To some, it may seem extremely cynical that such meetings take place at all - do you really think that Đukanović cares about what intellectuals think (with or without quotation marks) about anything?
They are only "mirrors" who should say what pleases the owner's ear. With one, rather important difference. You remember, namely, that in the mirror fairy tale, he tells the truth - even at the cost of disappointing the queen, he once answered that Snow White (the one with the dwarfs) was still the most beautiful. But that is a fairy tale, and this is the Montenegrin reality. These "mirrors" will never make such a mistake. There is no snowman to tell the truth. That's why they are where they are.
By definition, the purpose of intellectuals in a society would be to say those things that others are not allowed or for whatever reason do not want to say. In the European tradition, intellectuals are accompanied by an unequivocal critical urge: it is more important to say what is not good in a society. And not to give some kind of legitimacy to what is bad. And all under the cloak of the dictates of "higher interests and goals". (There is no greater and more effective "killer" of intellectuals than the "higher interest", if one agrees to it, of course.) You don't need intellectuals for such a thing - that, by definition, is done by politicians and regime officials.
So, if you believe, which is not unreasonable to believe, that people are decisively shaped by their sphere of activity and not by some vague declarations - then these (for the most part) are not intellectuals but - regime officials. Here, purely, to clear up the conceptual confusion. Because, if you call things by their right name, then nothing is illogical - the top of the regime discussed the action models of action with their staff in charge of the situation in culture, the media and the university.
OK, all of that would make sense if local statesmen use these kinds of gatherings to hear those whose views they don't like - so the man says that maybe such a thing makes sense after all. Also - with the presence of the media.
If politicians have something to hide from the public, and they like it sometimes, I guess intellectuals don't have such motives - the public is a crucial ingredient of their work. If even a sentence unpleasant for the government was heard there, then there were intellectuals. However, I'm pretty sure the majority will was quite clear. "You Lord, You and no one else..."
And everything else is not difficult to imagine - how, for example, postmodernists suddenly and without problems become little scumbags, while not shying away from even more elaborate lies... National ideologues without school? Visionaries with new project ideas (and new fees)? Parrots with well-learned stocks to chirp? How in Montenegro "national giants" easily turn into "national specialties" served for mezze - prosciutto and Njegu cheese - just to make it tasty for the master...
"Because I'm a snake, and you're a frog, a frog..." sings Đukanović's favorite singer S.Ć. (not S.C.).
And Montenegrin intellectuals, what do they sing? It would suit them: "There is only one kingdom in the world, friendship reigns in it..."
Of course, camaraderie is important. Imagine, God forbid, that in that empire they reign - crime, nepotism, corruption, courtship, dilettantism... The intellectuals would surely scream to the sky and say it loud and clear.
Bonus video:
