Category: Blog

“People must fight against the evil they feel equal to at that moment.” Jan Palach, 17. January 1969

More about Jan Palach here

On 27^th of June, 1950, an extraordinary woman was assasinated by her own state. Milada Horáková was sentenced to death penalty in court process fabricated by the Communist Party. This day became a Commemoration Victims of Communism Day in The Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution.

Milada Horáková was a lawyer, women rights defender and truly democratic personality. She was a part of government established after the second world war. In 1948 there was a Communist Coup in the Czech Government. Horáková resigned in protest. Soon she was arrested and accused of being a key personality in a fabricated plot to overthrow the regime. She became a symbol of opposition against the communistic regime due to her unbeleivable resistance and courage during the trial…

The same day, after 68 years, on 27^th of June, 2018, a new government is established in our democratic Czech state. How does this new democratic government look like? The prime minister is a former agent of communistic secret police, who is furtehrmore prosecuted from the grant fraud practise. Additionaly, his party cooperates and supports KSČM(present Czech Communist Party) in order to get their votes for fullfilling his political program based mainly on reaching the advantages for his own bussines and raise of personal power. A former „communistic policemen puncher“ from the Velvet Revolution demonstrations who violated students and people demonstrating against the communists in Prague streets also became a part of this new government. Our new minister of Justice suggests to postpone the prosecution against Babiš to later times when he is not in government and let him concentrate on governing the country peacefully…

After 100 years of our independent existence and succesful struggle against the regime do we now face the comeback of the old state? Or is it rather just a great violation of this commemoration day and unjustifiable dishonor of regime victims? Every totality starts with ignorance and dishonor of important turning points and personalities of the past history. Every totalitarian regime then continues by destroying the inteligence, creativity and true personalities of independent thinking and action. In Czech this already started by social humiliation of the elite intelectuals by their own president. He also turns our foreign interests to such states as China or Russia where totality is the mainstream of everyday politics and social life. Both Czech President and the Prime Minister were elected in democratic elections. Are we loosing memory when we let such people rule over democratic state? Are we loosing critical mind by electing such people being key Czech authorities? The very end of democracy starts in our minds…  So do not forget!

…in honour to Milada Horakova.

When president attacks public media, when this same person calls demonstrated students “poor souls”; when parliament is able to elect former communistic “policemen puncher” from Velvet demonstrations in 1989 to the head of the main control institution of the “General Inspection of the Safety Corps”; when the prime minister is being accepted while being criminally prosecuted and being former communist secret police agent; when the word democracy is used and abused by undemocratic politicians as a tool of manipulation against the democratic ones; when journalists are killed for revealing the truth; when foreign politics of democratic state deepen cooperation with undemocratic regimes; when communist politician can call others “democratic septic”; when people who disagree with political top is called enemy of democracy although the right to disagree is privilege of democracy; when the political top cares just of their own interests with no respect to state law, constitution and make an important decisions and interruptions in political apparatus although being in demission state; when political top divide the nation in implacable parts; when they transmit hate; when they twist clear terms to unusable words so that it is not possible to work with them and the truth is about to be lost; when the quotes of the most democratic icons of our political past are abused and twisted to the new context by undemocratic personalities so that they would be recognized as democrats…
…then the end starts. The end of democracy.

Jana Kubánková

Czech votes for the politics of lies and manipulation. Czech chooses populistic cheap shots instead of arguments based on verified information. Instead of being truly free and lead ourselves through racional thinking to political change Czech tends to vote for the autocrats using the tools of former pre-revolutionary structures. We are in a democratic state, we still live good lifes. We do not suffer from hunger or war. We posses freedom, we enjoy prosperity and we are safe. Still we are not able to grow mentally to create cultivated political background and choose our representatives according to health mind.

Inconsiderable part of Czech society is not able to work with information. They do not think critically, but just consumes the information in the most simle way with no need of understanding the broader context of particular issues. Racionality is bound with good education, ability of critical thinking and open minded attitude then grows in satisfactory, supportive and open background. People being educated poorly, socially and materially weak, but also satisfied people, educated but staying passive to information, therefore usually don´t vote according to the racional arguments, but “the heart”. Their candidate is simple and radical, understandable and identifies with them by acting as “ordinary person as they are”. This person works with emotions and manipulates wisely with peoples fears, frustrations and irracionality. This person uses his political experience and abilities to fulfil his own interests and desires to raise his influence and power both on political and individual level. He does not open equal dialogue and when needed, he ignores even elementary human politeness, inner moral rules, sometimes even the law.

We now harvest the crop of our deep centralization and lack of cultural, social and economical balance between the main cities and regions. We harvest the crop of our unsatisfactory educational system based mainly on obeying the authorities, passive consuming the information and memorizing, and finally being judged and marked according to how well and much we were able just to “repeat the memorized”. We harvest the crop of our mass simple culture, where the art as a life space to create and cultivate the values is exchanged to simple loud, rude and invasive entertainment of the raw meat. We then easily go under the rude, invasive, raw and simple manifestation of power, strenght and promise. We still vote for the “culture of raw meat” even when having living chance to choose true, inteligence, transparency and dignity. The change hurts. We are turning back in our growth which, in the end, will hurt even more…

Jana Kubánková