a must share!
well, i know that my recent posts haven’t been like they used to, and sure there are “no excuses” (one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands). I am glad to have established some contacts through this blog and each of them i value highly. More highly than one would think, since here where i live i encounter isolation at each step i make, all for political opinion i share with only a small number of people, and not all the time.
At one of the political meetings that I attend, we had a discussion about mobilizing what we call “civil society” to react upon one in a series of stupid laws that was about to pass in the Parliament (without any public discussion or any publicity – Government just kind of smuggles illiterate laws contradictory to Constitution into the Parliament – and it’s a done deal). We were gathered in Center for cultural decontamination, as usually we are for the big meetings. After hours of developing strategies how to mobilize “civil society”, one friend of mine and a journalist stood up and said: “What civil society are we talking about? Weather you like it or not, it is us here, always same faces, same people, about 100 of us, just enough to fill in this place, when it happens so that we all do come. We are that civil society, that public among citizens that will mobilize itsef. The rest just don’t give a dam what happens. We are talking about civil initiative and action to make public pressure on institutions – who apart from us here has ever done it in Serbia? Well, that’s what I mean. So let’s organize our selves, instead of talking about some imaginary group of individuals. Organized in NGOs or not, it is us here, the “civil society” of Serbia”.
He was right, 100 people in the whole country. Even them i see more rarely since i stepped out from the Women in black group. And surely for many more reasons i value blog contacts.
I don’t know weather my 100 local political allies will react on the small piece of news that i read yesterday in newspapers. But is is something i must share: there is an issue about sportsmen in Serbia. It goes: should they be submitted to a patriotic test, before it is decided, on the State level, weather they deserve a national pension or not. So, the loyal Serbs, i guess, do, and less loyal or less patriotic, do not deserve it. Not to mention the sportsmen and sportswomen who might be of different nationalities, but Serbian citizens!
Not everybody’s efforts can ensure a future. The sweat and agonizing training, goals, points, matches and tournaments won, years dedicated to sport while wearing national dress and internationally representing Serbia doesn’t count, unless one is a Serbian nationalist.
I was in a shock. Just a tiny text in Blic daily. About potential destinies of once upon a time role models of many children and young people, idols of adults identifying them selves with the success of the sportsmen.
Can you imagine? All a sportsman does is nothing, if he doesn’t go to Church, deny genocide, worship Serbia and its heavenly nation, rejects the fact of Kosova independance! I was not in a shock, i was mad, furious! I am not Serbian, i refuse to be one by nationality, because of things like this one! I am a citizen of this shit hole of a state, but i officially claimed, at the official registration of population, that i have no nationality. Because only in Serbia, nationality doesn’t mean citizenship at the first place, which allows you to have different nationality, free choice in confession, practice of your culture… If you are a Serb, you have to be orthodox automatically, too! And I am not!
I want sportsmen of different political opinions and different nationalities, who live and work as Serbian citizens, to hold same rights! I want all people who live and work or not work here, but have citizenship, to have same rights. I don’t want privileges for Serbs by nationality over other Serbian citizens! I don’t want them for my self. I am bad enough as I am, I don’t need that layer of dirt on me, dirt of being privileged Serbian for national feelings, safely isolated from reality, semiconsciously taking others for lower humans…
I will have to inquire a little more on this. If there’s more to it, like public reacion, or State decision, I will share. In the meantime, i will hope that it remains just another dead end idea, and after all impossible fantasm of the Serb nationalists/who are so easily heard and have access to media with just any stupid thoght they find logical, practical and alternative/self sustainable use of social resources!
I am actually worried about this piece of article, because the initiative comes from a brain that has already not accepted isolation of Serbia, but actually eraised the whole wide world, reducing it to the soil under “shljiva”/plum. My mistake is that I haven’t payed attention to who launched this idea… i will look for the initiator. Sport is a field for free blossoming of national feelings, but this particular idea is not a song of the masses on stadium, it is somebody’s latest single.
please do enquire about this, this is very very interesting. we need to know more about it.
It was disappointing how many sportsmen and women were quite happy to go to Beijing with only a few of them prepared to speak out as Team Darfur. The build-up to the London Olympics is all about nationalism and how different sports have targets for the number of medals they’re supposed to win if they want government money, all to ensure that we come fourth in the medal table. Nationalist humbug extends a long way outside Serbia. Sport was supposed to be about enjoyment and participation. Now it’s about flag-waving, commercial sponsorship deals, television rights, performance enhancement, etc., etc.
Sarah, I will.
Owen, you are so right and that is so sad. I sometimes take a short look at transmitions of european or world championships, actually just looking at the begining of transmitions, to seee the parade you are talking about. and then national teams/representations run out into field (football specifically), and they sing national anthem… i just look at that part, trying to spot if there is a tema member who doesn’t sing. there is always one. then i try to remember his eyes. not name, nor number. just eyes, the look he has, as others sing anthem, and he keeps silent. and then i switch off.
The initiator is the Minister of sports… some woman, don’t know her name.
thanks!
Eugene is my partner in poetry reading events, and a journalist. Sure he knows!
ok, that’s a start. I’ll have to look for online sources on this…thanks eugene.