The country is when we go somewhere, so we dress nicely to be beautiful for the country. This is just one of the answers from a large study that was conducted in the sixties of the last century among several thousand children between the ages of four and fourteen.
Processing protocols with questionnaires and collected answers, Budimir Nešić and Vanja Rupnik Rašić from the Belgrade Institute of Psychology realized that it would be a shame if such a fantastic treasury of children's wisdom and imagination ended up archived in some dry scientific statistics.
Thus, fifty years ago, the collection 'Olovka piše srcem' was created, a cult book of the childhood and growing up of entire Yugoslav generations. , 'when a monkey eats all the time', and 'poverty', quite logically, 'when you have no imagination'. One of the chapters is, well, 'The State', probably the most important work of that genre since Plato's 'The State'.
That wonderful child's thought at the beginning of the text is also from that theme, but also some of the most accurate reflections on the state that you will ever hear. Let's say: 'The state is when dad buys the lottery, so he gets angry.'
If I were editing the Croatian encyclopedia, I would define the 'state' as 'a political community of people organized in a certain territory on the principle that dad buys the lottery and gets angry'.
The famous 'The pen writes with the heart' emerged from the dusty socialist shelf while I was reading Kristina Turčin's report in Jutarnji List on the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia from 2020 to 2030, the key document of Plenković's government, the mother of all Croatian reforms.
Work on the Strategy began two years ago, as part of the preparation of the new Partnership Agreement for the use of European Structural Funds, when the notorious Gabriele Žalac in the Ministry of Regional Development solemnly announced that 'Croatia will for the first time since gaining independence have the highest act of strategic planning by which it will be defined' vision of development, and clearly set main development directions and strategic goals that will determine the quality of life of today's and future generations in Croatia'.
How until the beginning of the famous 'third decade' 2020-2030. only a few months left, it was interesting to hear how far it has progressed with that, how it, 'defining visions of development' and 'setting strategic goals'. And it has gone a long way: the Ministry created a website with an inspired greeting message and a photo of Minister Žalac, and organized more than a few workshops with local self-government representatives.
Namely, the idea was for representatives of local communities to answer a questionnaire about what kind of Croatia they want by 2030, so in the end it turned out just like a big survey of local political wisdom. And really, it will be a shame if such a fantastic treasury of wisdom and imagination ends up being archived in some dry strategic document: if we had a few good psychologists in Croatia with extra time, by God the collection "Pen defines visions of development with the heart" would be a cult book of all those, as he said Minister of 'present and future generations in the Republic of Croatia'.
I'm not kidding at all: the representatives of the northwestern counties, for example, wrote in their questionnaires that by 2030 they want a 'healthy, happy and successful state of brave people who are not afraid to dream', from Dalmatia they answered that they want an 'economically developed, energy-independent country' tolerant family people', to those from Lika and Moslavina 'Croatia 2030 is a country tailored to all citizens', and to the representatives of the Slavonic counties, say, 'Croatia of satisfied people' and 'land of smiling people'. I waited until the end just to see how, for example, the Zagreb County answered that 'Croatia in 2030 is when the monkey eats all the time'. Or, even better, 'a country where dad plays the lottery, so he takes us all to Medjugorje'.
Are they not so small-minded in the Government that they would write the National Development Strategy based on those children's compositions?! - you'll think they've fainted in sudden brain weakness, so I'd better tell you right away: of course they are. The interdepartmental working group, namely, dead serious processed the protocols with the questionnaires and collected answers, and based on them created a dead serious proposal of the final vision of the state, a convincing photo-robot of what Croatia will look like in ten years if Croats do well in school and listen to their parents year.
'Croatia in the year 2030', it says in that historical document, 'is an open and globally competitive country that achieves healthy and sustainable economic development, that recognizes and values its potential and bases its future on them, a country where there are opportunities for everyone, and especially young people, given the opportunity to build their future and a successful career, a country that is recognized in the world for its national identity and creative creativity of its people, and a competitive, technologically advanced economy based on knowledge and innovation as key drivers of growth and development.' Or, in the abbreviated version for the European Commission, 'Croatia in 2030 is when we go somewhere, so we dress nicely to be nice for the country.'
Admittedly, it remains a little unclear why so much time and money was wasted, when Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović presented a similar ambitious proposal for a development strategy four years ago, in her famous speech after winning the presidential elections: 'I won't let anyone tell me that Croatia will not be prosperous and rich! Because Croatia will be among the most developed countries in the European Union and the world!' All it took was four or five small proofreading interventions - to remove superfluous exclamation points and Byzantine 'dadakan', and to edit the triple negation with the impossible 'no one says', and the clumsy 'because' at the beginning of the sentence - and here is the finished draft of the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia from 2020 to 2030.
However, I was not reminded of the cult book 'The pen writes with the heart' - of 'dad who plays the lottery' and 'monkeys who eat all the time' - the infantile visions of the Croatian future from the county competition for tourist slogans, messages on magnets from Kolinda's fridge and school papers. on the topic '2030. in my homeland': such an association would, after all, be quite offensive to children's intelligence. In a country with difficulties in strategic development, such as Croatia, the association must be nothing more complex than literal repetition.
Don't tell us that children were also consulted for the development of the National Development Strategy in the Government! - you will think that they have collapsed in complete brain numbness, so let me tell you right away: of course they are. After a survey in local communities, the Ministry of Regional Development seriously announced a competition for children, to which almost three and a half thousand elementary school students applied with their literary and artistic visions of Croatia in 2030! Yes, children: The National Development Strategy - 'the highest act of strategic planning which will define the vision of development, and clearly set the main development directions and strategic goals' - Plenković's government is drawing up on the basis of children's drawings with a ray of yellow sun in the corner of the questionnaire, and school compositions about with the strength of golden grain and eyes the color of the sea.
Thanks to Mr. Milorad Pupovac's excellent connections with Prime Minister Andrej Kockic, Novosti is in possession of that historical document, so we are exclusively publishing it in its entirety.
'Croatia in 2030 is an open and globally competitive country', says the proposal of the National Development Strategy, 'in which there is no school and it is always summer, in which cities are made of Lego blocks, mountains are made of gummy candies, and the sea is made of Coca-Cola , Plitvice lakes made of Nutella, forests made of French fries from McDonald's, and road signs made of pizzas with extra ketchup; a land of opportunity where everyone, especially children, is given the opportunity to build treehouses and Minecraft, free 3D cinemas, 5G network and unlimited playing of Rocket League and Titanfall 'for two', a multi-player and multicultural empire where camaraderie reigns: it has everything beautiful, everything is gentle there, the world rejoices there, houses are made of chocolate, windows are made of marmalade, everyone does what they want there, every fruit grows there'. Or, in a shorter version, 'Croatia in 2030 will be among the most developed countries in the European Union and the world'.
Poverty, after all - we learned fifty years ago - is nothing more than having no imagination.
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