Exceptions have multiplied so much that the saying that they only confirm the rules is no longer valid. On the political scene, they have even taken over the main role from the rules, reducing them to episodic roles.
Their resurrection was also registered during these Easter days. When a trio of unthinkables turned out to be condensed: in the millennial embodiment of autocracy, an offshoot of democratization appeared, and in the most powerful democracy, steps towards autocratization were registered; at the same time, the head of the church was celebrated by liberals, not conservatives; while the demonstrators defended the constitutional order from which the government deviates.
All contrary to the rules. And all in the midst of reform, with certain distortions.
Pope Francis (88) was sent from this world as a champion for his renunciation of prevailing greed, in favor of the poor, the weak and the health of the planet. He passed away in the midst of the celebration of an exception – a single date for Easter for all Christians. This detail radiated strong symbolism, because during his lifetime he advocated that all churches agree on a single date for this holiday, but his wish was fulfilled only by a calendar coincidence with his departure to eternal rest.
It would be good if at least his message against conceited omnipotence were realized. Criticizing Donald Trump for his mass deportation of illegal immigrants, he said: "What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, starts badly and will end badly."
Currently, however, the White House's policies are being blamed on others, not its boss. It recently led to 50 simultaneous protests in all 80 states and the capital, with organizers estimating that 1,1 million demonstrators would attend, or 3,5 percent of the population. This percentage is what Harvard researchers say is appropriate for a change of government.
And Trump has just set his sights on Harvard. Their duel is underway, the first showdown between the most powerful politician and the most respected university in the world.
The president has threatened to cut Harvard's budget by about $3 billion over alleged anti-Semitism, but it is essentially an ideologically motivated move. Trump and his team believe that the most prestigious university has fallen into "leftism," which they see as anti-government activity, and therefore does not deserve government money.
But he has bitten a tough nut to crack. With an endowment of $50 billion (more than the GDP of 120 countries, according to CBS), Harvard will resist the financial cuts, and it has decided to fight back with all its might, in the name of protecting freedom of speech and science, and against government interference in the university, with claims that it even acts as a human resources officer. And it has already sued the Trump administration for similar pressures to which many other universities are exposed.
By attacking elite higher education, Trump is also undermining the scientific research that has brought America global dominance in many fields, experts warn. They note that researchers from the universities there have won 251 Nobel Prizes out of a total of 441 awarded.
Funding knowledge is profit in perspective, notes the New York Times. It states that every dollar invested in research by the National Institutes of Health brings two and a half times the benefit to economic activity.
Here too, a duel is underway between the student movement, joined by the masses of citizens, and the authorities. And in a way that could serve as an exception for rebels around the world.
It is common for protesters to demand the fall of the government or a solution to a problem. Here, however, what is being sought is not the removal of an "all-powerful" president or simply a way out of some isolated impasse, but rather for the system to function so that all institutions do what they are responsible for.
The government counters that the students' demands are unachievable, which is not true. The main challenge is quite simple – to uncover and punish everyone in the chain of responsibility for the collapse of the Novi Sad canopy under which 16, mostly young, people died.
Neither Superman nor Sherlock Holmes is needed for this. It is enough for the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime to penetrate the corruption woven into the works, which increased the originally agreed price for the reconstruction of the railway station fivefold.
The process is hampered by the uncertainty of which previously unnamed officials the investigation would lead to. Most likely, it would reach those who boasted of being the greatest builders in history, but contributed to one of their buildings being turned into a mass murderer.
These three cases are incomparable, but… What brings them together is that they all talk about outsiders. Both Trump and Pope Francis and our students entered the race towards their goals as actors who were given little chance of defeating their favored rivals.
The American won his first presidential term as a businessman who got into a competition with experienced politicians. The Argentine himself was amazed at how his colleagues pulled him out of "nowhere" to become the first non-European pope in recent history.
Our students started out as amateur fighters for justice, in a system and society that barely counted on them. They were seen as an apathetic mass, but they turned out to be the greatest and most persistent mobilizers of modern times, provoking the masses to identify with them as liberators from accumulated fears.
They have grown into a force with the greatest support. From outsiders, they have become favorites to reshape the order. As Pope Francis and Trump have achieved, but not to copy them because they are not comparable to them. But to remain an original that others will copy, when their skills and organization are fully understood.
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