Why I believe in Ukraine

Unrepresented peoples are generally understood as communities of man that do not constitute bodies politic. These communities are not found on political charts. They are scarcely mentioned in historical records. Sad but true. There are more than 300 such unrepresented peoples. Quite a few of them are waging an armed struggle for national independence. Ukraine finally won its independence the hard way. It was arduous because the Soviets had made every effort to leave out of the officially approved history textbooks any mention of the Ukrainian national liberation efforts in 1917-21, large-scale peasant rebellions against the White Guard and Red Army oppressors, burned-down peasant republics, peasants’ desperate resistance against the collectivization campaign, destroyed by the [Kremlin-engineered. – Ed.] Holodomor famine, resistance movement of the 1940s, dissidents who died in the Gulag camps, Shistdesiatnyky [the Sixtiers, who tried to do something about that evil empire. – Ed.]. Ukraine wanted to become an independent country and take part in the world political process, rather than supply resources to others. Ukraine wanted to ascertain its role in history, not as another mark on a world map. We wanted all this and no one will prevent us from having this. Millions of Ukrainians have sacrificed their lives for this, among them victims of the famines, civil and world wars, people murdered in front of their homes, ones on missing persons lists in the genocidal 20th century. This is reason number one behind my belief in Ukraine. It is true that the Soviet Union had to fall apart because the entire system had been decomposing for too long. Ukraine quickly responded to the situation and played a major role in what turned out as a relatively peaceful dismantling of the Soviet empire. The Ukrainian political leadership firmly refused to take part in any religious or ethnic hostilities at the time. In fact, Ukraine remained quiet while riots were raging in Russia and finally proved its ability to preserve and organize itself, rather than smash store windows and make other criminal acts. This is another reason why I believe in Ukraine.

Doubtlessly, those who dreamed of having a Ukrainian state and the 29 millions who voted for our independence during the 1991 referendum visualized this country quite differently. They pictured it as a nation-state devoid of rampant corruption, political repressions, glaring poverty, the deep-going stratification and the resultant arbitrary rule of a few powers that be. Twenty years from the date Ukraine declared its national independence, it is sorrowful to see this country being transformed into a smaller copy of the USSR, under a Soviet-like government, with those in power being free to rob this country of its national wealth, giving nothing in return, treating the populace the way all those aggressors did…

I am sure that this is the final attack on us by our nightmarish past. This is the last [surviving. – Ed.] Soviet regime – not because we have surpassed the time-limits of incompetent or deliberately anti-Ukrainian errors allowed us by history, but because the Soviet heritage has been stolen, all of it. Replacing it, rebuilding this country takes a different kind of mentality and professional training, something those currently in power do not possess.

I might assume, without being reasonably sure, that those “upstairs” know what has to be done to rid this country of all Soviet vestiges in the political, economic, judicial, and social domains. As it is, no one is doing anything, for the simple reason that acting other than the prescribed routine of telephone calls, ordering promotions or demotions, luxury housing arrangements at the cost of the central budget, higher budget appropriations at the cost of retirement allowances, would be hitting a nerve upstairs. Those upstairs have created huge gaps between the state and society, between the ranking bureaucrats and the man in the street. They will fight to the last man to hold their fort.

The kind of Ukraine I believe in requires concerted action and joint responsibility, with each citizen being aware of what he or she has to do for the good of this country, in terms of education and business, in terms of family and public relationships. By and large, there are countries where those in power serve the people and vice versa. In our case, when we hear about the lack of funds for children’s inoculations, we should simply deprive our MPs of their limos, choppers, and budget-run villa resorts. Otherwise, all those in power tend to become criminals, automatically. All those who can see and understand what is happening automatically turn into accomplices. When our high-ranking bureaucrats realize that robbing children and pensioners of what is due to them, while throwing parties worth three municipal budgets, is immoral and dangerous [punishable under the law. – Ed.], then I am sure all problems relating to education, health care, investments, and housing will be resolved several times quicker. After the rate of the enrichment of those millionaires in power will lose its direct relationship to that of the impoverishment of the man in the street, issues such as land ownership, courts of law, election laws will no longer look as unsolvable as they do now.

For Ukraine to become an advanced European country, the biggest problem is changing the government machine, turning it upside down, making it serve the people, not itself. All the other [stated. – Ed.] reforms are irrelevant, immaterial, hazardous, even stupid. For example, the taxation reform boils down to destroying the middle class. The pension one raises the retirement age. The administrative one renames committees to services, and the educational one gives corruption the cart blanche.

Political analysts love to quote Joseph de Maistre as saying that every nation has the government it deserves. I am, however, convinced that the Ukrainian people deserve a better government and a far better way of life. Leaving out the journalist cliches regarding Ukraine’s manpower and intellectual potential – although Ukrainians are better known outside Ukraine as gifted and well-paid scientists, artists, musicians, you name it, – the point I am trying to make is that there is a very short walk from liberty to well-being; that our Ukrainian in the street is losing what is left of his or her confidence in the government, that all this individual can rely upon is his or her own resources. I have spent days talking to people from various regions of Ukraine who did not want to share businesses with people they had been “persuaded” to make the deal. These bona fide businesspeople, varying in age and social background, hated gi-ving or taking bribes, making false testimonies in a court of law. They wanted to be rid of the local bureaucrats’ arbitrary rule. They did not want to leave Ukraine because of them.

Let me tell you: if a referendum were held the way it was in 1991, I am sure that more than half the people in Ukraine would vote for our national independence. Over three quarters identify themselves as patriots of Ukraine. More than one half of our youth consider themselves patriots, despite the current administration’s policy apparently aimed at encouraging young Ukrainians to emigrate. These young people are keenly aware of the difference between the homeland and political regime. This is yet another reason why I believe in Ukraine.