Refrain, please, from slogans and witch-hunts
Feedback from our readers is very important for The Day. Thus, we always eagerly read commentaries on our publications. Our American reader Yurii Soroka’s thoughtful reflections have been especially interesting for us. In his commentary on our material “The first year of Yanukovych’s administration — the view from overseas; Bruce Jackson: America has not understood how thoroughly the post-Soviet space was ruined” he wrote: “I guess, many will not even understand Jackson’s main message to the Ukrainians. He clearly, even if diplomatically, said that due to its internal parameters, Ukraine deserved to see Europe’s and the US doors more widely opened for it, even earlier than they did it for countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and others. But such development was prevented by the fact that in our country, having lost power, everybody immediately starts destroying Ukraine’s international image abroad for the sake of their own ambitions, inflating any errors of the government of the period beyond reasonable measure.”
We asked him to tell about himself, how he happened to move overseas and what Ukraine is like when seen from America? He responded to our request:
Dear Mykola! I got to America, well, by accident in 2004. Having been divorced, I met my friend who long ago moved to the US, became an American citizen, married an American and lost her husband through natural death. We are not young people. I was born in 1945 in a remote village a hundred kilometers from Kharkiv. I graduated from a Ukrainian-language high school in the Donbas. After military service I worked in Kyiv. I took entrance exams to the Shevchenko State University three times before finally entering it and graduating in the late 1970s, majoring in psychology. After graduation, I served as a psychologist in the Lukianivske jail and penal colony in Bucha. Tired of messing around with criminals, I transferred to a scientific research institute, where I focused on ergonomics, i.e., engineering psychology. So my life experience was diverse enough. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, I had to survive hard times, in many ways. Earlier in my life, I had to ride a lot all over the Union, had seen and read a lot, but nevertheless, I wanted to see how people lived in the West. It was especially interesting because of the Soviet propaganda screaming about the West’s decay and almost imminent death. When my wife-to-be got the idea for me to marry her and get to America, it seemed sensible to me. I was somewhat frightened, though, by my ignorance of English. At school and university I was taught, sort of, German. However, I still had no passion for foreign languages, but decided I would cope with it. I am old enough to have learned not to retreat before difficulties. Now I also speak very little English. I am now convinced that one should come to America when still young, with good English, having learned a good trade or with a great desire to learn. Almost from the first week here I agreed to do any job. Given that I was a professional driver from my 18th birthday, the owner of a taxi firm from a small town 40 miles from San Francisco on the Pacific coast hired me. The job allows me to make ends meet, but now it is worse. Let’s leave it for later. In Soviet times, I was quite a homo sovieticus. I was even a Soviet patriot, to an extent. You, probably, would be tempted to ask about my current feeling toward Ukraine? Without any fanfaronade, I should say that from the first days of Gorbachev thaw I have been a supporter of Ukrainian independence. Would you ask me, how and why did I become so? My honest answer is “I do not know.” Maybe it is the voice of my blood. I do not know my ancestry, yet remember that since childhood the “Ukrainianness” was invisibly present in my soul. Others were supporters of Moscow soccer teams, while I was a fan of Dynamo Kyiv and Kharkiv teams. I always wanted to know how high Ukraine was placed among the USSR republics in this or that ranking. I spoke surzhyk [tasteless combination of Ukrainian and Russian – Ed.] during childhood, learned proper Russian in the Donbas, but I like the Ukrainian language; I appreciate it and consider it my mother tongue. What the current situation in Ukraine is like when seen from America? Before I will answer this question, let me tell something about the US, as an introduction. This country is very interesting, but it is now in deep crisis. It affects people, prices of all goods, and my wages. And I think the main reason for it is Democrats’ and Republicans’ irreconcilable approaches to the nation’s development. And perhaps more important is that politicians from both parties care only about their careers and their power. Does it remind you of the situation in Ukraine? It should be noted that the democratic idea in the United States has failed. The word demos means people. And the government is democratic; allegedly it is a people’s government. But majority of people are not very smart. They want to take away everything and redistribute it. Thus, Democrats are taking away and redistributing. As a result, taxes are so oppressive that now even toilet paper for America is made in China. Business goes where it can earn more. And jobs go with it. Where all this will end, God only knows. Some states, where Republicans rule and enact good budgets, are saying that they do not want to live in one country with the states where Democrats rule and debt is too great. I come to Ukraine time and again, following the daily news, and my heart is weeping because we are suffering. It appears that the Ukrainian nation has to cope with this serious situation on its own. America and Europe are busy with their own problems. In Ukraine, the main issue is the confrontation between pro-Ukrainian and anti-Ukrainian forces. It can only be addressed through long, hard work with the citizenry. Refrain, please, from slogans and reciprocal witch-hunts. Education, education and education once again should be our motto. Lifting the economy, the workers’ struggle for their rights, for decent wages, that is what brings people together better than even the most beautiful slogans. I monitor comments on Ukrainian websites and am glad that there are such statements like “I am of Russian ethnicity, but consider Ukraine my Motherland.” In Ukraine, in my opinion, there are three newspapers that work to this end: The Day, Ukraina Moloda and Kommentarii. I would advise you to avoid inserting the word “democratic” everywhere, even if it does not fit somewhere. I think this word is commonly misunderstood.
My best wishes for you, in professional career and personal life alike,
