Self-censorship

Sometimes it seems to me that the deepest root of the problem in Montenegrin society can be described with a word that I have not had the opportunity to meet in other languages ​​except ours from the ex-Yu area - awe.

This phenomenon probably dates back to the time of Comrade Tito, who, in addition to the respect he enjoyed throughout the country and the world, was also a source of fear among (dis)like-minded people. Perhaps it even goes back to some further historical epochs in which Montenegrins were known for worshiping their leaders, or it originates from certain religious rituals.

Regardless of its origin, this phenomenon has mutated into an even more depraved version of it - cowardice. In my eyes, no mafia or various above-ground or underground, heavenly or earthly rulers, or whatever you believe to be directing our lives, is more terrible than this villain. She is one of the main suspects for liberticide in Montenegro.

As such, submissiveness most sharply conflicts with democratic principles, the core of which must be understood and then put into practice in order to become a part of the European story, not only geographically and culturally, but ideologically as well.

Struggling with insomnia, lately I've watched dozens of videos that unequivocally document the work of the former Liberal Alliance.

As I belong to the generation born in the late 80s, I vaguely remember the madness of the 90s, but one image remains strikingly etched in my memory - the bullying of a girl by other children, which would have been harmless if it were not a product of the general mental chaos that was destroying the common sense of parents, thereby poisoning seven-year-olds.

I remember the verbal torture of a blonde girl who was called derogatory names, the meaning of which I did not even know at the time, and the cause of all this was that her parents were supporters of the LSCG, in the city of Novoma, which even today has not completely reconciled with the mistakes of its past.

Seeing how a small innocent creature passed by, whose family stood for the beacon of values ​​that shone from Cetinje, her like-minded people probably succumbed to self-censorship, and decided to remain silent. Since politics was rarely discussed in my family, except for Tito's portrait that adorned the wall of one room for a long time, I looked for answers about the mysterious LSCG at school, on the street... That's how the epithets of traitor, Ustasha, anti-Serbian, fake characterized that movement.

The videos that I mentioned, luckily, the so-called The public service would broadcast every day to wash away the shameful stains that were put on the only sober part of the population of this country, which opposed the mass savagery of the 90s.

Every speech of the former leader of LSCG exuded reasoned positions, peaceful tones that called for EU values ​​and the correction of the historical injustice inflicted on Montenegro in the past century. On one recording from '93. one is reminded of the barricades that prevented the liberals from entering Zeta and presenting their program.

On the one hand, freedom-loving, intellectual reasoning and calm reasoning of problems. On the other hand, arrogance and bad taste, threats and misunderstanding. The years that followed were eaten up by the transition and then dumped into the sewer drain of general disorientation.

We have been anchored in the harbor of fear and submission for a long time. We are afraid to express our views because our heads, health, work, grades might come to our attention. At the same time, we bow humbly and submissively bow to the rulers of our stolen freedom. Our fear is that stability and peace will not be disturbed. We submissively turn into insignificant individuals before the powerful mental batons of worn-out party programs of this government and this opposition. Both of them base their actions on this fearlessness.

True, there were attempts after the death of LSCG to create a quality alternative. I remember, already as a faculty member, the optimism that PzP instilled with concrete ideas, with promotions that gathered all the citizens of Montenegro regardless of the divisions they impose on us. In vain.

Today it's just another huge disappointment. I also remember the recent awakening of citizens mobilized through Facebook. Not even a couple of weeks passed without the masks falling off. Everything subsides at a certain moment because there are no precisely defined ideals to strive for.

No movement, organization or party can declaratively stand for respect for the European principles of democracy, and in moments of weakness repent and selectively choose what corresponds to the policy of scoring cheap points with a sold-out electorate.

And then the analysts tell us about the possibility of breaking the ice with a new civic party. Of course, fresh and clean faces would mitigate the consequences of liberticide and restore hope for change. But if we make another mistake, here are new stories about falcons and eagles, sharks and dolphins.

Therefore, we remain silent, as Mr. Marovic. We self-censor our thoughts. The mental photo is so distorted, that we place beans on ourselves to kneel on and stretch out our fingers to whip ourselves on them. How many of us, who most sincerely want to invest our efforts and work in the betterment of the state of Montenegro and all its citizens, wonder why words like those of the old Cetinje liberals fall on deaf ears? Maybe because we speak without a voice.

There is not enough courage to break the cycle of fear. We don't have enough self-respect to stop kissing our chains and submit to those who oppress us.

In the amphitheaters of the Paris Institute of Political Sciences, I attended passionate debates between professors and students, critics of the French government and the opposition. Intellectual confrontations were organized to show the program emptiness of failed politicians.

The halls of Oxford University are abuzz with research papers that seek to unravel the causes of bad policymaking or the unimaginably loud anti-EU propaganda spread by right-wing tabloids.

And I sincerely hope that I am wrong when I think that Montenegrin intellectuals, academics, students, journalists, politicians and many others are seriously engaged in self-censorship. Because if we are silent and do not think, then we do not exist.

nemanja.tepavcevic@politics.ox.ac.uk