The protests have dried up. During the winter, in cold weather, there were ten times more citizens on them than today. One often hears the question why this is so. The majority of rebellious citizens believe that the opposition is to blame for this: if it had not carried out a coup and taken over the protests, they would still be massive today, and their results would be far more concrete. This issue is very complex, but it is striking to me that, for the circumstances here, it is already an established practice that it is easiest to blame others for one's own failures. This government just loves to do that. But, unfortunately, she is not the only one.
Let's go back to the fall of 1996. I remember very well that after about a month, despite the obvious theft in the elections, the opposition's protest was getting tired. A few days before the students joined the opposition protests, there were barely a thousand citizens. After the students got involved, the protest broke out. And all that, after several months of daily walks, was barely enough for the first cracks to appear in Milosevic's system. In order for him to finally fall, it was necessary to achieve the unity of an even more heterogeneous opposition than it is today, there was another theft of votes in the elections and what was definitely decisive: we experienced NATO bombing. Of course, now comes the famous question of what we got by replacing Milosevic. The answer is that we will never know, because we would have to compare the reign of the winner of the elections until 2012 with the imaginary reign of Milošević in the same period. I have a hunch that we did less badly this way. It is important for the citizens of a small, backward country to understand that any comparisons with developed countries are pointless. Our choice comes down to bad and less bad solutions. Whoever does not accept that, by definition gets a bad solution.
Today's opposition is as clueless and heterogeneous as the one from 1996/97. That's why I don't think they are to blame for the current state of the protests. So much time has passed since the beginning of the protests that everyone who criticizes the opposition today had enough time to form their parties and offer their platform for further political action. That didn't happen. Therefore, I believe that the main reason why the protest is tired is the citizens themselves. I don't think that the protests subsided primarily because the opposition wanted to replace the current government overnight. Quite the opposite, that's what the citizens wanted, because if it wasn't so, today they would be fighting their political struggle on the street instead of in armchairs and on social networks. I do not understand the remark that the protests have become boring and that there was no adequate program for the animation of the citizens. Should they play bear? Well, I guess the citizens know what they are fighting for. The answer of all those who used to come, but now no longer come to the protests, is that they don't have time and that it's tiring. There is also the fact that they do not support the opposition, but that is just an excuse and nothing more - if the citizens are not in favor of a violent change of government, and they are not, then the only way is to win it in the elections. In order to win power in elections, citizens need to have their political representatives. If they are not satisfied with the current offer, it is elementary for them to establish their own political party. The alternative is that no one is to their liking, which is the key to the success of the ruling group. To repeat: our choice comes down to bad and less bad solutions. Whoever does not accept that, by definition gets a bad solution.
In the end, who prevents citizens dissatisfied with the role of the opposition from organizing their own protests? If once there were 15.000 people walking, and today there are maybe 2.000, why don't those 13.000 organize their own gatherings with diverse animation programs? Is the opposition defending them? What does material fatigue mean in the fight for freedom? Again, if the opposition took over the protests, is it possible that it does not have a total of 10.000 members in Belgrade? Where are her party activists? Why aren't they on the streets?
Let me remind you that the protests started because of the beating of opposition politician Borko Stefanović in Kruševac. In the last month or two, several beatings of opposition activists have been organized without any reaction from citizens on the streets. Moreover, their number is decreasing. Here, we have the last example of students being beaten in Novi Sad. Let's see if because of this, like after the beating in Kruševac, protests will break out on the streets of Belgrade. I don't believe it. Will the opposition be to blame for that? In other words, if the citizens do not understand why they are taking to the streets, no one can help them. We have to fight for freedom ourselves and no one will give it to us. Neither the government, nor the opposition - the government won't, and the opposition, even if it wants to, can't do it without us.
On Saturday, I saw an elderly woman on crutches at the protest. It was hot, the woman was tired and exhausted. She could barely breathe and was drenched in sweat. But she kept walking and didn't give up until the end. Young people do not believe in change. They can't wait to graduate from college and run away regardless. When I ask the students why they are not on the streets, they tell me that the exam period is in progress. Without them, hardly anything can be done. And it can't do without the political parties, which the revolted citizens are, at least it seems, rather squeamish about. This creates a vortex that pushes this government to the surface, while its opponents sink to the bottom under their own weight. If we are not able to prioritize laziness and vanity on the one hand and freedom on the other, we will remain only citizens in the attempt. The author is a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade.
(Peščanik.net)
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