Serbia today: the hole in the head

by Stojan Cerovic

I am inclined to believe that if the regime assesses that the unification of the opposition is a serious threat, this might lead to a temporary increase of the killing production. I don't have the book with Lorka's poems at hand, but if I remember well I think that he wrote about a Gypsy who was killed by some envious persons because of his red shoes. If some important reasons were necessary for killing such a big shot like Arkan, it does not necessarily mean that unimportance is a sufficient protection. In Serbia these days, one can be killed out of very unimportant reasons, precisely as Lorka's Gypsy. Nevertheless, statistically speaking, it is much safer to be a nobody. One can see that from the current efforts by those who mean something to become unimportant, as if some survival law is under way, which is more characteristic for the insects than for the people. Instead of the saying "those who survive will speak," which was used in re-telling heroic deeds, today's slogan is "those who speaks will not survive." Those who wanted to learn the truth have already learned enough about it, while those who wanted to have some pleasure out of it, must have noticed that massive killings have been replaced by individual killings, which are being done in a businesslike and passionless manner. There are no more other nations or territorial conflicts to attend to, so the only front left is the domestic front, which obviously is not broad enough. One by one, here and there, from time to time, and among their own people. And it seems less important who will kill whom and why, it is more important to maintain the continuity and not to give up murder as the basic principle, as if without it, the country would be ruined it and the people would be left without identity. Serbia has become the hole in the head. For ten years now, the world has not heard of any other product of the domestic invention. Obviously, from the standpoint of the regime's survival and duration, this production is not insignificant. So, if the opposition is promising better life, the regime guarantees a shorter life, and this argument cannot fail to make an impression on the people. These two slogans, which demonstrate the conflict between the hope and the fear, should determine the future of Serbia. I am inclined to believe that if the regime assesses that the unification of the opposition is a serious threat, this might lead to a temporary increase of the killing production, but in the end, Serbia will be forced to learn two things from Croatia for example -- that the regime can be changed through elections, better to die in your bed than in the streets. As far as the unification of the opposition is concerned, even though you cannot believe in it, you at least have the right to be superstitious, and that is more than nothing. This reminds me of an anecdote about the Danish physicist, Niels Bohr, who once invited his colleagues to visit him. When they saw a horseshoe above his door and asked him if he really believed in it, Bohr answered: "No, but I have heard that it brings luck even to those who don't believe." So, let them gather together, swear that this is serious, and that they are not what they used to be. Let's cross our fingers for them... You would knock on wood even for a something less important. We know that they are unreliable, but let it be our little secret, because new generations are coming, enlightened with ignorance and ready to be led. Nevertheless, there is no better offer than to try again with the same, old opposition. In Croatia, too, the opposition was not new and unspoiled, and it lived to see its time coming, and will most certainly succeed in moving things forward. In Serbia, the problem does not lie in the fact that the opposition is learning from its colleagues from Croatia, but in the fact that Milosevic has not learned from his colleague when it is time to kick the bucket. Even worse, when he and his lot see how quickly the fortress in Croatia is falling to pieces and disintegrating, how massively people are running away and defect, they will only become more adamant that there can be nothing worse, shameful and disastrous than fair elections. But Croatia's example should teach the citizens of Serbia that this kind of authority has nothing underneath that keeps it in power, that the heavy chains and shackles are only an illusion and cobweb, which break apart and disappear as soon as only one right step has been made. Afterwards, when it really happens, everyone will be wondering why they had coped with it so long, and how not to be sorry for those who will begin to apologize, return money, help the refugees, treat the wounded, and resurrect the dead.

Source: Vreme news

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