The cultural and, therefore, the political symbolism of Parisians in the area of the former Yugoslavia is more than clear. It is salami that is reserved for the "brunch" of manual workers, primarily gardeners, and for the meals of children from poorer families. To everyone else, the Parisian should represent the exotic, casual guilty pleasure, prop for class roleplay. Such a status of a pariser was also witnessed by an advertisement a few years ago in which Luka Dončić promoted a pariser and similar products of a Slovenian manufacturer. To the aforementioned "everyone else", the advertisement served as an occasion for mockery, but the very fact that Dončić was hired testifies to the continuous demand for such products.
This week, the political symbolism of Parisians entered a new era. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić is responsible for that step, who, for the purposes of political marketing, got closer to, as it is said today in the euthanized political vocabulary, the consumer habits of the common people. In the first "episode" he dealt with removing products from the basket that should be cheaper, and in the second, together with two ministers, he decided to respond to criticism that denied him authenticity in dealing with the cheapest products, by having a sandwich with Parisian cheese and mayonnaise for breakfast. The videos served as an unlimited resource for banter on social networks, and for Croats as another reason to and, too nationalist patronage: and the poor Serbs with him, but they deserved it.
However, the very next day, a similar story appeared on the local political stage. Motivated by data on inflation growth in August and the upcoming elections, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković decided to freeze the prices of 30 items in stores. This decision was preceded by some kind of negotiations between the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Davor Filipović, and representatives of the largest retail chains about price reductions, but we did not see the epilogue, apart from the advertisement for Konzum which announced the price reduction. But we quickly saw the reactions of those allergic to state interventionism and any price politicization. We are talking about those who are not affected by inflation. So we were able to find out that we have not seen something like this even in socialism. Make no mistake, the Government's measures are rather clumsy and resemble a parody of serious political protection of the most vulnerable, but they all contribute to such a genre determinant opinion makers and on-duty guardians of a minimum of political dignity who do not want to have discussions about the prices of products that do not fit into the profiled diet of those who keep to themselves.
Vučić is not the only one to blame for the notions about Parisians. All those who persistently repeat that success in life is the result of individual decisions and perseverance, devoid of the influence of social background, contributed to this; all those who have been teaching us for decades that the market brings the most objective outcomes; all those who shaped the media landscape according to the purchasing power of the upper classes; all those who denounced policies even minimally based on the problems of the most vulnerable sections of society as populist. Vučić, as well as Plenković, are only parasitizing on the political wasteland left behind by all of the above. Unlike their theatrical critics - theatrical because political decisions do not affect their lives - they know that there are people who still buy that parisier. Of course, they don't care about these people outside of political calculations, but for those who are condemned to daily exhausting calculations with what they have in their wallets, that care and class matters more roleplay but complete neglect directed by those with supposed dignity.
(bliten.org)
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