Is it in our nature to hate or we acquire this ability in the process of socialization? If a society is infested by premises of intolerance and polarization, does that mean that the conclusion downfall ideas that humanity has built, which now only as background noise can be barely heard? Are the ideals of selflessness, generosity and humanity slowly becoming myths?
The reality is devastating. Due to the great discontent and anger that people arise because of the reasons of inability to provide their own existence, as a result of the political and the economic crisis, towering cloud of pessimism in terms of interpersonal relationships, has loomed over Serbia (I would say, beyond). The cloud incites a revolt due to the facts that are part of the past (read: conflicts on racial, national, religious grounds) and that should be deluded / remembered as a mistake we need to learn from, and not to repeat. I have been part of the system. I have been in the shade of the same cloud.
We live in a time of media domination controlled by the political elite, which create our attitudes towards their needs whose interest is channeling popular discontent of its situation according to the topics that do not affect everyday (bad) life. In such conditions, intellectual vacuum creates a distorted perception of the world and relationships in it, so that we see them solely through the prism of conflict and its consequences. We have reached the point where brother attacks brother, where we become strangers to each other because of political interest, unfortunately converted into a general social interest and accepted form of behavior. Is it possible to establish peace and prosperity if the truth is systematically wiped out “under the rug”? Briefly, it is not. As a result of media pressure, despite the fact that I have always been open-minded, I recently felt that I was becoming a kind of evil nationalist, who was not recognizing differences, who was not being respectful towards the success of other people, but in them saw a conspiracy against himself and his nation. The media, and therefore the social lynching of diversity, was slowly extinguishing embers in me to fight for the world where we are all truly equal, despite our different cultural, historical, sociological background. Edmund Burke when speaking about the history said that ruling class “invests in research of history, but history in a negative light, regarding bad things that are connected to ancestors, so that now they deserves the right to destroy their descendants… Everyone who is guided by sense of reason in evaluating all events, in his evaluation only the spirit and moral quality can find place. At the point of reason the truth is clear.” (Edmund Berk, “Razmišljanja o revoluciji u Francuskoj”, Filip Višnjić, Beograd, 2001, str. 34) I was lucky to find myself in a place that is lit by a few rays of light that have managed to send away the cloud of pessimism and allow me to hear ‘the background noise’ and realize what the truth is.
In September this year, the conference “Youth Reconciliation Ambassadors” was held. The conference was organized by the Youth Education Committee, a non-governmental organization that is committed to the truth as the basis of progress, but also for education, as a tool to reach the truth. Twenty different people from the region took part in the program in order to learn but also to themselves contribute to regional cooperation and reconciliation. I can say that they were very successful. These young persons were strong enough to poison the caricature of a man nationalists, who began to germinate inside of me. These agents of peace, reminded me that I was not alone, that we as global society were not in total darkness… It was just an eclipse which was thankfully fleeting.
The organization and professionalism of the team OOO, on the one hand, and the experience of lecturers on the other, have made us 20 different souls to live together for six days “under one roof” without any sign of disrespect another. They managed to plant a unique model of solving the problem of intolerance among different and yet the same nations. During the seminar I was often thinking that our relations are “under a glass bell,” as they are too utopian to function outside. However, there was nothing utopian. Interpersonal relationships were as they should be in a normal society. Relations of tolerance, respect and solidarity. No one cared whether the person next to was a muslim from Bosnia or Serbia, Kosovo Albanian, atheist, or whether it was homosexual or heterosexual. We all looked at each other as equal individuals, different, but basically the same… We were all Humans. It is often forgotten that the only morally valid division of people is into good and bad.
At the end of the first day of the seminar, lecturer Tamara Tomasevic was talking about the power of identity, ie. on the belief that an individual is not only unimportant piece of the masses, but the requisite screw without which machines can not work. Can we alone deal with the hatred and intolerance that are being imposed? It is questionable, but one should try to… Operation scheme is extremely simple. Let’s start with ourselves, let’s be honest and observe our own distorted views, and try to cure them. Then to spread our ideas to nearest people, our family and friends. We must be persistent. One swallow does not make a summer, but even two make a little flock. The ideals of selflessness, generosity and humanity did not fade away, but were defeated .. defeated because of the obvious negative shift of priorities, but also because of our conformity to the impact ‘from above’. We must learn not to close our eyes to false history, false truth and false principles. I managed to prevent my commonsensical thinking, something that is of highest interest for every person, of sinking into quicksand of deception and ‘real action’. I got my “wings” back to believe in a normal relationship without hate, in a relationship of trust, thanks to ambitious young people, who clearly see the problem and are willing to engage in a process of change for the better tomorrow. My dream of a life with peer, versatile, above all love-filled people is alive again.
