Fix it yourselves
At a time when it appears, yet again, that the forces who are willing to give Macedonia away to others seem to be about ready to govern again, I think there is a lesson here for Macedonians to learn. It’s actually a lesson that applies to any individual or any group of people in any country when they see bad people get into government and implement policies that damage the country and the citizens of that country.
The lesson here is to fix it yourselves.
As I type these words, it appears that the former League of Communists of Macedonia, Zoran Zaev and his SDS party will again make a coalition government with the former terrorists and their leader, the former Marxist, Ali Ahmeti, despite the former saying, before the election, that he would not govern with the latter. This simply proves, yet again, that Zoran Zaev is a liar. But being a former Communist, of course he is a liar: he is incapable of telling the truth.
Old joke: how do you know Zoran Zaev is lying? Answer: his lips are moving.
Both men, of course, are merely interested in personal power which translates to personal wealth. They have become quite good at couching their lust for personal gain and power in terms of Macedonia joining the EU, NATO, etc. and most of the mainstream press outside of Macedonia has fallen head over heels for their lies, actually printing things like “SDS, the pro-Western party in Macedonia..” (though, of course, they add that nasty little “N” word before “Macedonia”). SDS and Zoran Zaev “pro-Western?!” Ali Ahmeti and his DUI, “pro-Western?!” Laughs all around. Again, both men — and their political parties — pretend to be something they are not, for personal gain and power. Simple as that.
Whatever deal they come up with will be bad for Macedonians as citizens, no matter what their ethnicity. And whatever deal they do come up with will be bad for all Macedonians, wherever they live. And as for Ali Ahmeti and his demands that he gets an ethnic Albanian defense minister, speaker of parliament, prime minister, you-name-the-position-minister: the fact remains that the ethnic Albanians of Macedonia are still, to this day, poor, poorly educated, and suffering from a variety of problems. And yet Ahmeti and his DUI leadership remain incredibly condescending to his constituency: “Yes, you need jobs, but look over here — a shiny new ethnic Albanian prime minister!” they might as well be shouting.
On top of all of this, Macedonians have the following to contend with: the US Embassy and its current ambassador; the US State Department; the EU, its various institutions and states and their embassies and ambassadors in Macedonia (most, but not all, if you get my drift); and NATO — all of these institutions and people are aligned against Macedonia calling itself Macedonia and the Macedonians calling themselves Macedonians (if you doubt me, simply visit their various web pages and social media platforms to observe how often they employ the adjective “Macedonian”). They are also against, to the extent that it interferes with what I just wrote, Macedonians claiming a unique history, heritage, and culture. In all of this, the aforementioned people and institutions are obstacles — perhaps even enemies — of the Macedonians. After all, any individual or institution that wants to deny you your unique identity cannot have your best interests at heart and likely has other motives, none of them good.
But enough of those former communists of various stripes, their sycophantic supporters, and the foreign individuals and institutions who are downright vile, for the moment. Let us return to the lesson. What can Macedonians do in this period while we wait for a new election or for these fools to do themselves in?
There is work to be done by all Macedonians who love Macedonia and friends of Macedonia, who want to see it continue as Macedonia, and not just continue, but prosper and succeed.
Most of this work involves activities at the local level. It begins with families, and continues, in ever-widening circles, to neighborhoods, communities and other institutions. It involves work to be done by educators and administrators, both in and outside of the classroom, educating, properly, Macedonia’s youth; work done in civil society institutions, especially cultural ones and those committed to the fields of the Macedonian language, arts, culture, heritage; work to be done in communities of faith; work to be done even simply in self-improvement. And more.
Krste Misirkov wrote, in “On Macedonian Matters,” that “Complete political freedom is worthless if a man does not come to realize that his human debt, his debt towards his country and his people, is work, work and more work…” I think we all know the work he is referring to, work which is encouraging and reinforcing all things that are Macedonian: “I hope it will not be held against me that I, as a Macedonian, place the interests of my country before all…I am a Macedonian, I have a Macedonian’s consciousness, and so I have my own Macedonian view of the past, present, and future of my country.”
We’ve got work to do, and it begins with fixing things ourselves.
