Yevhen BYSTRYTSKY:"The Renaissance Foundation supports initiatives, not imitations of them" 

And when one of those "other-worldly" intellectuals "assumes an office," he is sure to turn, gradually but steadily, into a poker-faced functionary entrenched in the nomenklatura caste and keeping at bay any initiative with a categorical motto "Forbid and punish!"

Yevhen Bystrytsky was known to many as primarily a brilliant interpreter of contemporary Western philosophy. Doing his course on the history of philosophy at the Ukrainian Academy of Arts, where he was teaching a few years ago, I was surprised at his ability to make famous thinkers sound modern. For him, the phrase "here and now" was not a mere sign of the fashionable knowledge of certain ideas in temporary favor: he identified in each philosopher a pivotal idea that actively affected his very ability to think this way and not another, thus changing the world and guiding the process of society's spiritual development. For example, in Martin Heidegger (Bystrytsky earned his higher doctorate by studying his heritage) he singled out "care" as a functional category essential for a genuine spiritual ego of both an individual and a nation.

And suddenly, last year, Mr. Bystrytsky became director of the International Renaissance Foundation. Unfortunately, I started to hear frequently such heavy sighs as: "There you are! He is also now a lord to turn to for money." Our standing mistrust of the efficacy of any kind of office-holders greatly overpowers any hope that somebody wielding real power can use the latter to benefit society and not himself. And there seem to be left very few of those who believe that a person can (and must) be greater than a functionary. Frankly, I was also going to meet Mr. Bystrytsky with the same fear that I would see the metamorphosis I mentioned.

"Mr. Bystrytsky, how do you manage to correlate your current administrative activities with your philosophical views of current problems?"

"First, I was earlier a member of the foundation's governing body, its Board of Directors. Secondly, the foundation's very idea is deeply philosophical. Its formation dates back from the works of Karl Popper, but now this idea has assumed a very pragmatic sense, for at the end of the twentieth century philosophy is, above all, a critique that tries to identify the conditions for carrying out real actions.

"Discord, disparity between knowledge and useful actions is a key problem in the late twentieth century, especially for Ukraine. It is only logical to try to understand how to implement our knowledge precisely here and precisely now.

"This is why this transition from philosophy to an aspiration to promote the idea of an open society via the Ukrainian-based George Soros foundation grants is not so abrupt.

"To what extent do Mr. Soros's views of an 'open society' coincide with Popper's classical ones?"

"He tries to think further on - in his temporal context and with different material. What strikes you when you meet Mr. Soros is his willingness to heed and understand the reasoning of his interlocutor. And there is no distance between him and your opinion, as is the case with our high-handed officials. In addition, he is very consistent in implementing the idea of an 'open society.'"

"Does he use people?"

"Mr. Soros knows how to persuade rather than to order around. This is management based on authority, and not administrative usage.

"George Soros's recent visit must have changed the work-style of the Renaissance Foundation?"

"And very much so. A year ago, Hryhory Nemyria, chairman of the Board of Directors, a noted Donetsk-based political scientist, expressed the opinion that our foundation had begun to resemble a ministry of grants. Little wonder, for Ukraine's best organizations, set up with the best intentions well after proclaiming independence, have a strong tendency to become Sovietized. We see the renewed signs of the cursed Soviet bureaucracy which always goes by the principle 'I have brought in my own team,' i.e., he did not select people by contest but brought those who he can do corporate business with. And post-Soviet corporate solidarity turns many good intentions into a certain kind of semi-totalitarianism.

"So the foundation, after doing so much good in Ukraine, began to slowly drift in that direction. We started to change this situation back in March, and we seemed to have passed a certain stage by the time Mr. Soros came. His visit was by no means a kind of general inspection, but it stimulated a more critical attitude to changes."

"Does the foundation narrow its field of activity in supporting certain projects?"

"No, we rather reorient them towards greater effectiveness, practicality, and modernity.

"I will first note the project regarding translation of about seventy or eighty books by contemporary West European authors well-known in such branches of the social sciences and humanities as political science, sociology, history, literary criticism, and philosophy. Most of these translations will not repeat those now being done in Russia by the same Soros foundation, for Ukraine's angle of world outlook does not coincide with that in Russia, while the authors interesting for our geo-cultural vision may be of no interest for Russia."

"Are these books also going to be published in Ukraine?"

"Yes, we support not only the translators but also the publishers that best meet our contest conditions. Reinforcing the book-making market with grants, we thus exert a certain pressure on book publishing policy in Ukraine. The point is that this policy is far from civilized, and governmental structures are not interested, due to current legislation and their own inertia, in book publishing being open to change."

"Do foundation-supported educational projects also stimulate alternative methods vis-З-vis governmental standards?"

"Higher-education programs are aimed at both creating new university-level courses and new methods of teaching to be mastered while training at Western centers. Another new and very critical direction in education development is Fair Admission.

"We offer some higher-learning institutions, if they wish, a system of tests and special commissions instead of oral exams during which it is impossible to control the unbiased attitude of teachers. Otherwise, what may be called the moral corruption of instructors could continue endlessly and lead not only to the financial decline of research."

"Is civic activity growing? In other words, are there many people who come to the foundation to cooperate with you?"

"Activity is not diminishing, but there are all too many imitations of civic activity in our society. Sometimes it is next to impossible to differentiate between a true concept and an imitation. However, sometimes a true initiative cannot assume the shape of specific project.

"The trouble is that today the intelligentsia of our society has to waste time looking for ways to earn money. Civic activity, which in other countries has been developing against the backdrop of an affluent middle class, works on a different basis in this country. Our foundation is steadily supporting the public that is able to separate a healthy idea from imitation: in this case there is more chance the money will be utilized to develop true initiatives."

"Are there people who want to work this much and in this way?"

"As a rule, we approve about a fourth of projects out of several thousand a year. People are eager to do something, and we are now thinking over a kind of a public expert examination which could see good ideas through to their actual fruition. The projects are usually carried out by those under 50. There are examples of very respected people acquiring our help. For instance, Ivan Dziuba put forward a proposal to support the publication of a modern Ukrainian encyclopedia. This is a high-priced publication requiring huge funds in any case. We advertised that we would support it if other donors give half of the funds; and we already have $40,000: the first volume is sure to appear thanks to Diaspora, our compatriots, and the contribution our foundation has made. Ukraine must have a face of its own, we have to make up for the times of Enlightenment we missed. Our foundation was set up on the crest of national revival and has supported publications which rethought our traditions, language, and culture. But from now on we are going to support only projects which modernize us. One of Ukraine's great problems of today is that the invisible public opinion is slow to materialize. One of the foundation's ideas is to support people who would create this ideologically neutral, rational, and public opinion about today's life, rather than a new myth. If there is no human communication within the country, there are no authorities. "

"But do we need some sort of pillars of truth? Do you feel any need for them?"

"Pillars of truth are idols. Now, when I look at Russian culture and spiritual life, I see the latter being revived. In Ukraine, all this looks worse: "there are no heroes among us," so foreigners are more often portrayed as such. It seems to me that the twentieth century is the time of the death of a romantic hero and in a very correct sense. An authority is a professional to look to for inspiration so as not to assume the functions of a self-styled judge. The presence of professional and morally strong authorities is the sign of a healthy society."

"Do you think we can hope that Ukraine, with a prevalent mass culture, will have authorities of high culture who will set new standards and give an impetus to our societal development?"

"To achieve stability in personal life, there must be a standard, in other words, an authority. On the other hand, what we imitate is both mass and high culture. However, it is not worth making protecting culture a profession. Culture will never die out, for it is connected with the transcendental, i.e., it raises up, keeps afloat, and supports a human being. This reminds one of a tuning fork which can measure the pitch at any moment, even if you cannot sing. We must know what kind of people are the bearers of this culture. But the situation of imitation can only do great harm. For example, we need a number of the most prominent personalities, as is the case in other countries, but if we create them artificially, this is no fun, gentlemen! Only time brings complete clarity, who and what is genuine. Our foundation is trying to introduce things genuine into today's life."