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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

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

2 February, 1999 - 00:00

By Diana KLOCHKO, The Day

What is by far the greatest contradiction of our post-Soviet reality
are the concurrent images of a philosopher and a civil servant in one person.
For philosophyis still being thought of as a certain "kingdom of pure ideas"
populated by none other else than celestial beings who never turn their
faces to drab and loathsome realities or involve themselves in senseless
social practice.

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."

 

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