The time is ripe for planning
A DEMAND FOR QUALITY IS AN ACTIVE PROCESS
Many complain that there are no discussion forums or an organized communicative environment in Ukraine. But how difficult is it for those who complain to break loose from that daily routine and devote some time to the discussion of more abstract issues? The overwhelming majority of thinking persons suffer from the vanity of daily life, lack of valuable information, and the primitivism of the mass culture. However, to change this one must break with one’s old habits for a start. One should buy only high- quality press and books, not waste time on empty talk. One should turn off the television during shameful and vulgar shows, put on a sweater and go to the cinema for a good movie. Or maybe one should put on some nice clothes and go to a good concert or theater. Tune in to higher waves of free of thought and meet with wise people. Real literature, movies, music, science, education, and culture of communication and culture of life appear only where there is a demand for them. But a demand for quality is an active process. Passive perception breeds only primitivism and anemia.
The formation of a demand for high quality does not concern only the above said spheres of culture and education. Increasingly more businessmen reflect on what is known as the philosophy of business. And the demand for comprehending the philosophy of business is a demand for a totally different quality, that is, a new quality of money, production, technologies, and corporate management. Finally, it is an opportunity to realize the social responsibility and mission of businesses and businessmen. And this is quite near the apex of Maslow’s hierarchical pyramid of needs, that is, self-actualization and fulfillment of one’s greatest human potential. Sooner or later a person born to be a leader achieves this stage. It is a stage of realization of one’s responsibility for what is happening beyond one’s personal confines. The personal confines of a leader can include a business structure, a body of power, a creative or scholarly team, an institution of higher education or school, or, finally, one’s kith and kin. But there is more to life than that! And only those who rise to the level of understanding the laws and interconnections of existence can become creators of real and high-quality norms and rules. Such leaders form elites.
Each epoch offers its own notion of elites. Formerly, elites were formed by aristocrats, who, by virtue of their gentility, came by the right to rule processes and establish rules. In the 20th century, the Italians introduced the notion of political elite that was borrowed by sociologists and political scientists. As a result, all those occupying authoritative posts were considered to be representatives of the elite. In my judgment, in this case the notions of the Establishment and elite are confused. These, of course, are two different things. All too often, individuals with very low intellectual, spiritual, and professional potentials occupy high offices. It would be an overstatement to call them elite.
This deserves a special mention. Fundamental transformations have been underway in Ukraine since 1991. This period has seen a great many accidental persons, adventurers, populists, and whistleblowers come to power. An ideology of negation and annihilation predominated. And since to destroy is always easier than to build, often weak from the moral and intellectual viewpoint, adventurers came to the heights of politics, economy, and management. They, in turn, implanted their stereotypes of behavior on leaders and deliberately reduced the level of social values and morals of the people to their presently low level. As a result, we are facing a manifestation of primitive models of thinking and management that are too archaic and exclude Ukraine from the community of nations that have the right to exist in the future.
Incidentally, neglect of the development of philosophy, education, and culture invariably causes a loss of bright personalities and makes it impossible to generate new nonstandard solutions.
A society and polity seeking recognition in the modern world should make deliberate efforts to form, spot, and cultivate elites. We need a well thought-out policy of shaping the tastes of the modern and future elites. There is a need for discussion environments and forums where the skills of discussion and communication, without which the modern world is impossible, will be honed. There is a need for contemporary art museums, state-of-the-art concert halls, and libraries. There is a need for clubs and permanent working forums organized in a new fashion.
Today, after 12 years of transformation, there are groups of leaders who can lay claim to being called elite. There is a discernible demand for new elites in the society. We must summon all our resolve and find ways to meet this demand.
“TO BE” AND NOT “TO SEEM”
Since nothing comes for free, there is also a price for the divinely bestowed talent to organize processes and manage people. Before all this price is the responsibility exceeding that of the others many times over.
At the moment when a leader realizes his personal responsibility for processes occurring beyond his personal confines, he gets a chance to become a Public Leader and leave a mark on history. In this way elites are born, those who form milieus, set trends and establish rules, and create a new philosophy of development; those who, striving for their own self- realization, create conditions for the self-realization of others and find the joy and meaning of life in doing so.
We live in a wonderful epoch of the beginning of a new philosophy of development not only of our people but also of humanity at large. Ukrainian leaders have two options: either to become an elite, integrate with world elites and take part in this wonderful process, or virtually shut themselves off in the customary, although unsatisfactory, national confines and continue complaining. Everyone is free to choose.
One thing is certain. In the conditions of the 21st century, a state devoid of a high level of elites will be ousted from the narrow circle of states that make decisions. Even today in the global perspective the relations at the state-to-state level are becoming more of an atavism. Instead, relations at the elite-to-elite level are coming to the forefront. The truth is, currently there is nothing we can represent in this field. Without a doubt, we must create within the national limits a system of selection of the future elites and raising them up from little. However, we do not have the moral right to lose the next 15 to 20 years which will see the formation of a new world order. It is in the interests of Ukraine to be a participant in this process and not remain on the sidelines.
This told, the self-identification and social identification of Ukrainian elites is a matter of state urgency and a major factor of Ukraine’s integration into global processes. So what does it mean to belong to an elite? Before all, it is an ability to make strategic decisions and implement them. It is also an ability to wear clothes, make acquaintances, and hold discussions on any topics. Table manners are also essential. It is an ability to be democratic, communicative, attentive, tactful, and benevolent, even when saying particularly harsh and unpleasant things. It implies an ability to be discreet and at the same time see and hear everything, immediately react to danger, and stand up for one’s interests. To belong to the elite means not only to be an expert in one’s professional sphere, but to also know a great deal of other information. “To be” and not “to seem.” The elite determines the superior standards of quality. This says it all!
TEAM WORK
It is time to join the efforts of people who have achieved a certain stage of maturity and are ready to participate in the formation of a new philosophy, rules, and style of development in Ukraine. The time is ripe. Many are thinking about this, some dare speak out. Regrettably, few are ready to act. This process brooks no delays.
We need to put our heads together with those who are capable of drafting a Plan for the Development of the Country, meaning not a bundle of thousands of pages of figures and indices, but a plan for conceiving and assisting the delivery of a new Ukraine, with a new economy and education, a new philosophy and culture, with the eternal and inviolable world values at their heart. This is a plan for determining Ukraine’s place in the new world order, selecting two to three directions at which our country will rank among the world leaders. Such an assignment can be coped with only by the advanced representatives of elites, namely, economic, industrial, scholarly, political, creative, and educational elites.
With the complex and rapid processes under way in the modern world, even the most omnipotent person cannot cope with all the problems and make the right and timely decisions. Thus, it is time for teamwork, isn’t it?
