1.5% Democracy
I have my morning tea and look through the papers. Everything is as usual. Revolutions, political shows, official statements. I remember Prof. Preobrazhensky from Bulgakov’s Dog’s Heart and realize that my appetite no longer responds to media information. Moreover, I feel I wouldn’t mind trading my health food for a plate of crepes topped with red caviar.
Meanwhile our life is changing slowly but surely. Some get used to living in misery, others to riches. People tend to avoid struggle and politics, because all that struggle – be it for better, crops and against bad weather or for the Communists and against evolution, or for a happier future and against men – ends the same way. Some get paid and promoted, others have to clean up after all those champions. One thing gladdens the heart: changes are taking place, for a more normal life. Dmytro Kyseliov is becoming like an emcee, announcing numbers performed by political stars. Volodymyr Lytvyn, who seems to have developed a lasting fancy for a strip of plaster on his forehead, visited another victim, Yuliya Tymoshenko, at the hospital. A UT-1 commentator pointed out that it is anyone’s guess what the two politicians discussed, but there was definitely a bouquet of roses present.
As for what they talked about, a couple of women sitting near me in the bus knew it almost word for word. Tymoshenko and Lytvyn spoke about Zhiguli cars that had started to attacking Mercedes and Jeeps like dogs, perhaps sensing the coming of spring. Also, about where Yuliya would have her plaster lest both be accused of playing politics with stand-ins. In a word, now that there are no reasonable explanations of what is happening, the electorate might soon just laugh at every political event.
Actually, it is already happening. Women for the Future heaved a sigh of relief when men did not allow the women for the children’s future and other women vie in the parliamentary race. Otherwise there might actually appear a party of women for the future of the main citizen of a future Ukraine. Actually, a party like that was planned, but the plan never bore fruit. We all know that a name brand will never stay empty for long. Meaning that we are guaranteed presents in the form of political promotional video clips. I can just imagine such a masterpiece with a head bend over a clean sheet and letters dropping on the paper instead of dandruff, forming the names of rival parties. Head & Shoulders is nothing, but the beloved party is everything. We will hear the beloved Fearless Leader’s voice off screen. The next day someone of the young and famous will appear with a skinhead as a sign of protest. Also, the election turnout will be announced on April 1. I think the number of people made up as Mykhailo Riabets on the streets in Odesa will surpass that of Habers in the Against All Block that day.
Not long ago, a little girl asked her mother on the Kharkiv subway why only one residential district in the city, Lenin, is named for a woman. Her mother was confused, but then thought it over and smiled, “There was an old man named Lenin, so they named the place for him,” she explained. The little girl was silent and then asked again, “You mean the one whose bones they show on that square in Moscow?” The woman couldn’t help laughing. Everybody in the car laughed, too, even elders that only a couple of years ago had gathered on meetings angrily demanding another revolution. I felt so happy listening to that laughter! And all the faces looked beautiful to me.
This little scene from our daily life was recently complemented by a poll courtesy of a public research center. In the column, “I don’t know the name” of the political leaders’ ratings, opposite the name of Leonid Kuchma, was “1.5%.” I couldn’t believe my eyes at first, and then I wanted to see the people that didn’t know it. Who were they, where did they live, how was it possible to poll them? Where did they come from, not knowing their own president’s name? Do we really have such people in Ukraine? What kind of life do they lead, never reading newspapers, listening to the radio or watching television? I don’t think they are homeless. Maybe it’s just that they read and watch the wrong things and listen only to themselves. And when it’s time to cast their ballots they will probably trust their intuition. And they might be right. Moreover, something tells me that they will vote.
Democracy is apolitical, because it is meant to serve every single individual. We are accustomed not to notice this kind of service. Therefore, the higher the level of democracy, the less interest people take in politics and politicians, because they are mostly interested in life, love, beauty, and harmony. They care little for ideology and political struggle. And when one’s daily life constantly gets on one’s nerves, one is bound to respond in kind. An interest in one’s life is replaced by an interest in others’ lives, that of the great. Frayed nerves build up aggression and people suddenly want a revolution. In any case, 1.5% of our fellow citizens do not want it, an extremely important indicator these days and a very significant one. It reflects the essence of the Ukrainian political system, being democratic by precisely 1.5%, meaning that there is just that there is 1.5% actual capability to translate into life all those rights solemnly proclaimed by the state.
Be it as it may, the election date approaches. There is no way to avoid it, just as there is no way to avoid the coming of spring. Russians are said to joke that Zhirinovsky was elected. Ukrainians know how to make jokes. One has it, “Will exchange a 2x3 meters carpet for a chunk of fatback, same size. That’s our key political motto.” Just suppose they trade the Greens for the Apple (Yabloko) and the Communists for Food (Za Yedu). Now that would be the biggest joke.
