Where is this ship going to?

There is almost no citizen of this beautiful country who does ask the question where this country has been going to, where our leaders have been taking us to and whether this beautiful ship has started sinking under such leadership with such behavior.

Of course, this country has different definitions and different problems. The one closest to me is that that here is one country, with two entities, three constitutive peoples, four traditional religions and hundreds of problems.

Certainly not the biggest, but currently the most talked about problem is the implementation of the decision of the Court in Strasbourg in the case of Sejdic and Finci, which has been standing still, unimplemented, since 22nd December 2009. Of course, after the implementation of this decision, there will be at least 99 huge problems left remaining, starting from corruption, huge unemployment, stagnation of the economy, restitution of property to neighboring relations, definition of borders, making the administration cheaper and all those reforms which we know we need to complete prior to negotiations about accession to the European Union and NATO.

However, it is visible that for such a step there should be unity of the leaders who run this country, not the ethnicity-based unity but rather a unique vision of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2020 or so. Listening nowadays to messages of those leaders, we always hear “my people”, “my entity” and “my party”, yet we never hear “my country”, “our citizens” or something that would be unifying us all. Even the placement of the soccer representation to the World Championship has not been welcome with delight in the whole country, thus certainly the results from Brazil will somewhere be welcome with joy in case of a victory or with even a greater joy, in some other parts of the country, in case of a defeat. Therefore if “the second most important thing in the world” cannot unite us, the question is what can?

What can unite us is the understanding that the only route for us is the European Union and NATO as, even without this, we have been left out as a black hole in the Balkans, surrounded by the countries which have been in those integrations already, or which have been doing everything they can to get there as soon as possible. It is clear that conditions for accession will become increasingly harder and more complicated, therefore it will be very difficult to meet the basic postulates of the Union, playing the “my entity”, “my people” and such cards.

It is obvious that for the country, which has constantly been having pre-election campaigns, it is very difficult to achieve unity in anything, including the manner of accession to the EU and NATO, but it is also clear that elections will not resolve anything, as there is no party (for the time being) which is publicly against it. The truth is that there are some threats that joining NATO will require a partial referendum, as if NATO wants and can accept the membership of 51% of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

If we are unable to change our leaders, it is very hard to expect that they will, in their accustomed politics, change their views, hence it only remains to rely on citizens, on the civil society in the widest meaning of the word, which will be prepared to say ENOUGH. Simply, such politics makes us sink deeper and deeper, we get into huge debts with the international financial institutions, as we have not exceeded the indebtedness threshold that takes us into a future debt slavery, while all the funds, we have been getting under not too favorable terms, we spend on paying alimonies to the budget to cover the costs of huge salaries of those who make decisions about us, without allocating any cents for productive investments.

Even the 5-C corridor project, which could be a version of the new deal from the USA’s thirties of the last century, it all comes down to who will take more money, thus in terms of the cost by kilometer, we have been building the most expensive highway in Europe, as if it is all made of viaducts and tunnels, even when it is going through lowland meadows.

How can the civil society get serious for something like this? How to raise awareness of the citizens that this way we are only being promised a road to disaster and our children are being promised potential employment in those parts of the world where there is no any labor force. It is hard for anyone to be happy about such perspective, even for those who dislike this country and claim that it should not exist, as such.

The clock is ticking, time does not work for us, thus if we do not do anything for ourselves, nobody else will. The phrase “there’s no salvation, but we will not go down” is all too nice, but even this is not guaranteed by anyone.

Kud’ plovi ovaj brod?

Gotovo da nema građanina ove lijepe zemlje koji ne postavlja pitanje kuda ide ova zemlje, kuda nas naši lideri vode i počinje li ovaj lijepi brod polako da tone pod ovakvim rukovodstvom sa ovakvim ponašanjem.

Naravno, ima ova država raznih definicija i raznih problema. Onaj koji je meni najbliži je da je ovdje jedna država, sa dva entiteta, tri konstitutivna naroda, četiri tradicionalne religije i stotinu problema.  

Sigurno ne najveći, ali momentalno najaktuelniji problem je implementacija odluke suda u Strazburu u predmetu Sejdić i Finci, koja stoji neprovedena od 22. decembra 2009. godine.
Naravno, i nakon implementacije ove presude ostaće nam najmanje 99 velikih problema, počevši od korupcije, velike nezaposlenosti, stagnirajuće privrede, restitucije imovine,  pa do odnosa sa susjedima, utvrđivanje granica , pojeftinjenja administracije i sve one reforme koje znamo da moramo završiti prije pregovora o ulasku u Evropsku uniju i NATO.

Međutim, vidljivo je da za takav korak treba postojati jedinstvo lidera koji vode zemlju, ne jedinstvo na etničkoj osnovi, nego jedinstvena vizije Bosne i Hercegovine u 2020 ili tu negdje.  Slušajući danas nastupe tih lidera, uvijek čujemo “moj narod”, “moj entitet”,”moja stranka”, a nikada “moja država”, “naši građani” ili nešto što bi nas objedinjavalo. Čak ni plasman nogometne reprezentacije na svjetsko prvenstvo nije dočekan sa oduševljenjem u cijeloj zemlji, te će sigurno i rezultati u Brazilu, negdje biti dočekani sa veseljem u slučaju pobjede, ili sa još većim veseljem u nekim dijelovima zemlje u slučaju poraza. Ako nas ni “najvažnija sporedna stvar na svijetu” ne može ujediniti, postavlja se pitanje šta može.

Može razumijevanje da nam je jedini put Evropska unija i NATO, jer smo bez toga ostali crna rupa na Balkanu, okružena zemljama koje su već u tim integracijama, ili rade svim silama da se tamo nađu u što skorije vrijeme. Jasno je da će uvjeti za pristupanje biti sve teži i komplikovaniji, te da  će biti jako teško zadovoljiti osnovne postulate Unije, igrajući na kartu “moj entitet”, “moj narod” i slično.

Očito je da u zemlji koja je konstantno u predizbornim kampanjama, teško postići jedinstvo u bilo čemu, pa i o načinu ulaska u EU i NATO, ali je isto tako jasno da ni izbori  ništa neće riješiti, jer nema te stranke (za sada) koja se tome javno protivi. Istina, ima pretnji da će za ulazak u NATO biti tražen parcijalni referendum, kao da NATO hoće i može  primiti u članstvo 51% Bosne i Hercegovine.

Ako nismo u mogućnosti promijeniti lidere koji nas vode, vrlo je teško očekivati da će oni u svojoj ušančenoj politici promjeniti svoja mišljenja, ostaje nam da se oslonimo na građane, na civilno društvo u naširem smislu te riječi koje će biti spremno da kaže DOSTA. Jednostavno, ovakvom politikom samo tonemo sve dublje i dublje, zadužujemo se kod međunarodnih finansijskih institucija, jer još nismo prešli prag zaduženosti koji nas vodi u buduće dužničko ropstvo, a sav novac koji pod ne jako povoljnim uslovima dobijamo, trošimo na alimentiranje budžeta za pokrivanje troškova enormnih plata onih koji o nama odlučuju, a bez izdvajanja i pare za produktivne investicije.

Čak ni projekat koridora 5-c, koji bi mogao biti inačica new dealu iz Amerike u tridesetim godinama prošlog vijeka, svodi se na to ko će uzeti više novaca, pa gradimo po kilometru najskuplji autoput u Evropi, kao da je sav u tunelima i vijaduktima, pa čak i onda kada ide po ravnoj livadi.

Kako uozbiljiti civilno društvo za tako nešto? Kako podići svijest građana da nam ovim putem samo obećavaju put u propast, a našoj djeci eventualno zapošljavanje u onim dijelovima svijeta gdje radne snage nedostaje. Takvoj perspektivi se malo ko može radovati, pa čak i oni koji ovu zemlju ne vole i tvrde da kao takva ne treba da postoji.

Sat otkucava, vrijeme ne radi za nas, pa ako mi sami nešto ne uradimo za sebe, nitko drugi neće. Lijepa je floskula “spasa nam nema, ali propasti nećemo”, ali nam ni to nitko ne može garantovati.

Our Youth

One of the most favorite and repeated quotes of the legendary Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito was about Yugoslav youth; “Country with this youth does not have to fear for its future.” Well, if that is the case, then the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina is uncertain indeed.
 
All media and web portals have over the past few days been swamped by the story about three teenage girls from Tuzla who molested and beat up another girl. None of the several school children who were observing the harassment in the school yard even tried to intervene, while some of the onlookers obviously saw this as great entertainment. The incident was filmed and clip was posted on the YouTube, while the three girls later went as far as to brag about their “accomplishment” on social networks (so much about social networks).

This was not a sole incident but just another drop in a rising sea of incidents involving adolescents. Only few days later, again in Tuzla, one teenager wounded his school buddy with a pocket knife.   

Five years ago, in February 2008, Bosnia was shocked by the senseless murder of 17-year od Denis Mrnjavac, who was beaten and then stabbed to death by a group of several teenagers in a Sarajevo tram. The culprits did not even know Denis Mrnjavac but did not like the look they thought he gave them so they decided to end his life for that. The murder triggered a wave of protests in Sarajevo and other towns across Bosnia and Herzegovina, which eventually led to the resignation of the Premier of Sarajevo Canton in October that year.

Today, five years later juvenile incidents seem more frequent, brutal and senseless then ever. They still leave bad taste in our mouth but it seems that people are getting used to them. They rarely shock anyone anymore and trigger only lukewarm public protests.

The attacker on Denis Mrnjavac and his accomplices were sentenced to maximum sentences totaling 35 years in prison, while three girls from Tuzla were swiftly kicked out of their school. But that has hardly fixed the problem this country is facing with its youth, or maybe it has made the problem even bigger.

Public reactions to the incident involving three girls in Tuzla, as well as details of that and other similar incidents in the past have shown that our public suffers from the same serious behavioral problem like the three girls themselves. In addition to the calls for their expelling from the school and criminal processing, various public guardians and caretakers have also used social networks – again, so much about the (a)social networks – to call for their lynch, mass rape and other sorts of utterly inappropriate physical and psychological punishment.

Only few people pointed to the fact that growing juvenile delinquency is only a reflection of the overall situation in our society and a consequence of the general failure of family, parents and their parenting and education system to raise their children as individuals who will create and contribute to the society rather then destroy and take away its values.

Five years ago, mother of one of the killers of Denis Mrnjavac helped her son to hide the murder weapon. On the other hand, few days ago father of one of the three girls from Tuzla told media that if the three girls were prosecuted he would stand in favor of the harassed girl. Such reactions of those parents may be pointing at flaws in the upbringing of these children which have eventually led to such incidents.

Schools, teachers and country’s education system hold their own part of responsibility for the apparent demise of at least part of our youth. Still, the greatest responsibility lies on families and parents – which is something many parents desperately try to avoid or ignore.

Our youth is mirror-image of our own past as well as indication of our own future. The image is not pretty and if we want to change it, we better think fast about changing our present.







Author: Srećko Latal

Naša mladež

Jedan od omiljenih i najčešće ponavljanih citata legendarnog jugoslovenskog lidera Josipa Broza Tita je bio onaj o jugoslovenskoj omladini: “Zemlja sa ovakvom omladinom se ne treba plašiti za svoju budućnost.” E pa, ako je to tako, onda je budućnost Bosne i Hercegovine itekako neizvjesna.
 
Svi mediji i internet portali su u proteklih nekoliko dana bili preplavljeni pričom o tri tinejdžerke iz Tuzle koje su maltretirale i pretukle jednu vršnjakinju. Niko od mnogobrojnih učenika koji su u školskom dvorištu prisustvovali maltretiranju nisu ni pokušali to sprijećiti, a neki su se očigledno I jako dobro zabavljali. Incident je snimljen i objavljen Youtube-u, a dotične su se svojim “podvigom” čak i hvalile na društvenim mrežama (toliko o društvenim mrežama).

Ovo nije usamljeni incident nego još samo jedna kap u rastućem moru incidenata u koje su uključeni adolescenti. Samo nekoliko dana kasnije, opet u Tuzli, tinejdžer je povrijedio nožem školskog druga.    

Prije pet godina, u februaru 2008., BiH je bila šokirana besmislenim ubistvom 17-godišnjeg Denisa Mrnjavca, koga su tri tinejdžera pretukli i onda izboli na smrt u jednom sarajevskom tramvaju. Počinitelji čak nisu ni poznavali Denisa ali im se nije dopalo kako im se učinilo da ih je gledao pa su mu stoga odlučili oduzeti život. Ovo je ubistvo je pokrenulo talas protesta u Sarajevu i drugim gradovima širom Bosne i Hercegovine, što je napokon dovelo do ostavke premijera sarajevskog Kantona u oktobru te godine.

Danas, pet godna kasnije, maloljetnički incidenti su češći, brutalniji i besmisleniji nego ikad. I dalje ostavljaju gorčinu u ustima a opet izgleda da se ljudi na to navikavaju. Ovi incidenti danas malo koga šokiraju a reakcije javnosti su mlake.

Napadač na Denisa Mrnjavca i njegovi suučesnici su osuđeni na maksimalne zatvorske kazne u ukupnom trajanju od 35 godina, dok su djevojke iz Tuzle odmah izbačene iz škole. No teško da je to riješilo problem sa kojim se ova država suočava u vezi svoje mladeži, ili ga je čak učinilo i većim.

Reakcija javnosti na incident sa djevojkama u Tuzli, kao i drugi detalji vezani za te i druge incidente su pokazali da naša javnost pati od istog ozbiljnog problema u ponašanju kao i te tri djevojke. Pored poziva da se odmah izbace iz škole i da ih se krivično procesuira, različiti čuvari javnog mišljenja i dušebrižnici su također koristili društvene mreže – opet, eto toliko o (ne)društvenim mrežama – da pozovu na njihovo linčovanje, masovno silovanje i druge krajnje neprilične načine fizičkog i psihološkog kažnjavanja.

Svega nekolicina je ukazala na činjenicu da je porast maloljetničke delinkvencije samo refleksija opšte situacije u našem društvu i posljedica generalnog zakazivanja porodice, roditelja i njihovog načina odgoja i obrazovnog sistema da podignu svoju djecu u osobe koje stvaraju i doprinose društvu a ne uništavaju i ukidaju vrijednosti tog društva.

Prije pet godina, majka jednog od počinitelja ubistva Denisa Mrnjavca je pomogla sinu da skrije nož kojim je zločin počinjen. Sa druge strane, prije par dana otac jedne od tri djevojke iz Tuzle je rekao medijima da će u slučaju tužbe stati na stranu pretučene djevojke. Ovakve reakcije roditelja možda ukazuju na propuste u odgoju te djece koje su i dovele do incidenata. 

Škole, učitelji i obrazovni sistem ove zemlje također snose svoj dio odgovornosti za očigledno propadanje barem dijela naše mladeži. Ipak, najveća odgovornost jeste na porodicama i roditeljima – a to je ono što mnogi roditelji očajnički pokušavaju da izbjegnu ili ignorišu.

Naša mladež je direktni odraz naše prošlosti kao i pokazatelj naše budućnosti. Slika nije ni malo lijepa i ukoliko je hoćemo promijeniti, bolje nam je da pod hitno smislimo kako ćemo promijeniti našu sadašnjost.

 Autor: Srećko Latal

The Census Started and Completed, the Old Problems Remained

According to the official Population Census of 1991, the number of 8964 of the Roma population lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina; however, the Roma non-governmental organizations, around 80 of them in BiH, have concluded that this number is much higher, estimating the number of the Roma population currently living in Bosnia and Herzegovina to range from 85,000 – 100,000.

This indicates that the Roma population mainly declared themselves, during the 1991 Census, as Yugoslavs, Moslems, Serbs, Croats and, to a great extent, none of the offered options, and the cause for such a situation was the fear of discrimination, which would negatively reflect on the social prosperity of the Roma. During the war in BiH, horrific movements of the Roma population occurred in the sense of changing their residential addresses. Assumptions are that, during this period, more than 1/3 of them emigrated from BiH, whereas more than 85% of those, who were unable to leave to other countries, fled from the territory of Republika Srpska to the Federation of BiH.

Twenty or so years after since the last Census, the Governments of BiH have finally decided to do the population and household census. And, just as everything else happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the same happened to the Census – the issue has first gotten politicized with the aim to collect/gather the voting bodies, frightening them from the other and different. Chase and campaigns about who is who, whether it is right to be a Bosnian and Herzegovinian, a Serb or Orthodox, a Croat or Bosnian Croat, Bosniak or Moslem, a Jew or Hebrew, a Gypsy or Roma are those which nobody is interested in or are at least less interested from the question how and what do we make our living on as the Roma, Jews, Bosniaks, Serbs or Croats.

And while chases and campaigns lasted and, at the same time, the state and entity Agencies for Statistics were “sort of” performing training of the Census staff and instructors, it has been known in advance what are the numbers of those that must be Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, while the “Others” are, again, put altogether. It is not important that the Roma population has requested, in the Roma communities that we, the activists, serve as observers, if not as the Census staff or to work as the Census staff in our communities in the presence of non-Roma population. However, the politics has done its thing and the very few of the Roma Census staff – about 10 of them in the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, even though at least 100 of them applied – were sent as far away from the Roma community and as far away from the place they come form or reside as possible, thus some of them were forced to give up.

The Roma communities were dealt with by the Census staff – the cases marked in Banovici, Kalesija, Brcko District, Vukosavlje, who, at their own discretion, and I would daresay according to the orders of the “instruction-givers”, were recording the Roma population either as Bosniaks or Serbs. In some of the areas, only after the intervention of the activists of the Roma non-governmental sector, they have tried to correct the “injustice”. However, this injustice could not have been corrected by anybody in the area of Banovici Municipality, where the Census staff refused any intervention by the citizens in question. What is the most drastic in this case was that this issue was with the family of a Roma leader and municipal counsel in the municipality of Banovici.

Of course, the Roma, as well as all the others, are waiting to get the results of the Census, although we assume that, after receiving these results, that the official number of the Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be significantly lower that the actual number. As everyone else in BiH, the Roma population had not spent time “sitting with our arms and legs crossed”; we had also prepared for the Census in a way that we visited almost every single family in BiH, encouraging them to freely declare themselves. On that occasion we found out that there was around 126,000 of the Roma population living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Having in mind that more than 1,500 Roma families left Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last few months prior to the Census, we expect that a realistic number of the Roma concluded by the Census could range from 90,000 to 95,000 persons. Whether the statistics, judging by all in a very disputable and politicized Census, will come up with this number remains to be seen.
 

Dervo Sejdić
Roma Non-Governmental Sector Activist

Popis bio i proš’o, a problemi ostali stari

Po zvaničnom popisu stanovništva iz 1991. godine u Bosni i Hercegovini živi 8964 Roma, međutim romske nevladine organizacije, kojih je oko 80 u BiH,  konstatuju da je taj broj mnogo veći i procjenjuju da u Bosni i Hercegovini trenutno živi od 85.000-100.000 Roma.

Ovo govori da su se Romi do 1991. godine izjašnjavali najvećim dijelom kao Jugosloveni, Muslimani, Srbi, Hrvati i dobrim dijelom neopredjeljeni, a uzrok za ovakvo stanje je bio strah od diskriminacije koja bi se negativno reflektovala na socijalni prosperitet Roma.

Tokom rata u BiH, dolazi do strahovitih pomjeranja Roma u smislu promjene boravišne adrese. Pretpostavke su da je u ovom periodu iz BiH emigriralo više od 1/3, a da je sa prostora Republike Srpske u Federaciju BiH izbjeglo više od 85 % onih koji nisu mogli otići u druge zemlje.

Nakon 20 godina od posljednjeg popisa, vlasti u BiH su napokon odlučile da obave popis stanovnistva i domaćinstava. I kao što sve u Bosni i Hercegovini biva, tako se i oko popisa prvo pitanje dobro ispolitizira u cilju prikupljanja/okupljanja glasačkog tijela, plašeći iste od drugog i drugačijeg. Hajke i kampanje ko je ko, da li je ispravno biti Bosanac i Hercegovac, Srbin ili Pravoslavac, Hrvat ili Bosanski Hrvat, Bošnjak ili Musliman, Jevrej ili Židov, Cigan ili Rom pri tome nikoga ne interesuju, ili ih pak interesuje manje od pitanja kako i od čega živimo kao Romi, Jevreji, Bošnjaci, Srbi ili Hrvati.

I dok traju hajke i kampanje u isto vrijeme državna i entitetske agencije za statistiku „kobajagi“ vrše obuku popisivača i instruktora, a već se unaprijed znalo koliko kojih mora biti iz reda Bošnjaka, Srba i Hrvata, a „ostali“ opet svi u jedan koš. Nije bitno što su Romi zahtjevali da u romskim mahalama, mi aktivisti, budemo kao posmatrači, ako ne i popisivači ili da kao popisivači radimo u našim mahalama u prisustvu ne-Roma. Medjutim politika je uradila svoje, ono malo Romskih popisivača – oko 10-tak u čitavoj Bosni i Hercegovini dok se prijavilo barem 100-tinjak – upućeno je što dalje od romske mahale i što dalje od rodne kuće  ili mjesta boravka, pa su neki bili prisiljeni i odustati.

U romske mahale ulazili su popisivači, slučajevi zabilježeni u Banovićima, Kalesiji, Brčko Distriktu, Vukosavlju, koji su po svom nahođenju, volji a ja bih rekao po uputama „naredbodavaca“ popisivali Rome da li kao Bošnjake ili kao Srbe. U nekim od ovih sredina tek nakon intervencije aktivista romskog nevladinog sektora nastojalo se ispraviti „krivu Drinu.“ Međutim tu krivu rijeku niko nije mogao ispraviti na području opštine Banovići gdje je popisivač odbijao bilo koju intervenciju od strane ispitanika. Ono što je najdrastičnije u tom slučaju je da je tu riječ o porodici romskog lidera i opštinskog vijećnika u opštini Banovići.

Naravno i Romi kao i svi ostali čekaju rezultate popisa, mada mi predpostavljamo da će i nakon tih rezultata zvaničan broj Roma u Bosni i Hercegovini biti znatno manji od stvarnog broja. Kao i svi u BiH i Romi nisu sjedili „skršenih ruku i nogu“ i mi smo se pripremali za popis na način da smo obišli skoro sve i jednu porodicu u BiH hrabreći ih na slobodu deklarisanja. Tom prilikom smo konstatovali da u Bosni i Hercegovini živi oko 126.000 Roma. Uzimajući u obzir da je Bosnu i Hercegovinu napustilo više od 1.500 romskih familija u zadnjih par mjeseci prije popisa, mi očekujemo da bi realan broj Roma konstatovan popisom mogao da se kreće od 90.000 do 95.000 osoba. Da li će statistika, po svemu sudeći kroz vrlo upitan i ispolitiziran popis, konstatovati ovaj broj, ostaje da se vidi.


Dervo Sejdić
Aktivista romskog nevladinog sektora

Gathering for the Harvest

Last weekend my wife, son and I joined a group of our friends and acquaintances in a small village near Pozega in Croatia to help harvesting apples in a friend’s orchard. We all enjoyed warm sun and light breeze of that early autumn day and even the hard work – and we did work hard for some hours – did not bother us that much. As a matter of fact I enjoyed working out my muscles which are regularly unused and bored by my usual work – typing on computer. In addition to the nice weather and the rare opportunity to exercise, I also enjoyed the company of people who gathered from across Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to help a friend in need. Joyful day was completed with tasty lunch of pot-cooked beans, home-made cakes and sealed with a sing-along with couple of guitars. 

The comradeship reminded me of the days long gone, when friends, relatives and neighbors were regularly meeting over coffee and helping each other – be it in harvesting or building of a house. It also reminded me of so-called Youth Work Actions, voluntary participation of thousands of youth in major projects such as constructions of highways and railroads or working on forestation of country’s landscape. These actions helped rebuild Yugoslavia after the World War II but were slowly abandoned in 80’s, disappearing before advancing capitalism (politically correct word is market economy) and growing nationalism. In my youth days I did participate in few of those as well. Although the work was hard I enjoyed the comradeship, solidarity, tolerance and the sense of common purpose that I felt there.

Most of these habits, which were a part of centuries-old tradition of this region, are almost gone by now, replaced by cold and ruthless dog-eat-dog world of competition and selfishness. I witnessed one such example couple of winters ago, when Sarajevo got covered by few meters of snow overnight, but many Sarajevans could not be bothered even to clean the snow in front of their houses and apartment buildings. It was the Turkish EUFOR battalion which went out the first morning to clean the tram line while most Sarajevans remained sitting idly in their warm rooms content with not having to go to work or school and waiting for someone to free them from the snow. 

Before the war people across Yugoslavia used to joke about people from the West (including Slovenes), who seemed so alienated from each other that spouses asked for separate bills in restaurants. Now it seems to me that people in Bosnia and Herzegovina have gone too far in adopting some of those Western habits. Before, it was a matter of personal pride and prestige to contribute to society and help others, while now people find delight in cheating others and gaining as much as they can with as little effort.

Few decades ago, people cared more for their next-door neighbors then for some of their relatives, but today most people care little for their relatives and do not even know who their neighbors are. At the same time we seem to care so much about Kardashians, Brandgelinas, Messies, Ronaldos and other superficial celebrities of this shallow world. We have not only stopped caring for people around us, but we also stopped caring for ourselves.

Today, people go to work they hate and then go home to their families they do not know or understand. Instead of spending quality time with families, friends or neighbors, people spend hours on social networks gathering virtual friends who disappear as soon as the hit the “Shut down” button on their computers. Instead of doing something to actively improve their lives and environment and save this country from disaster, people waste their time watching endless soap-operas, hoping and “rightfully” expecting that someone else will come and improve their lives. At the same time those few who are willing to work honestly and hard to improve their lives are often being scorned and mocked by others. Defeatism and victim mentality have become the main name of the game.   

So where do I go with this blog and why is it somewhat different from my usual political essays? Well, I got somewhat tired with writing so much about Sejdic and Finci and this or that constitutional reform and this or that round of negotiations that still keep hopes of few remaining optimists that a solution will be found.

My point of the day is that if, whenever and however Sejdic-Finci is resolved, it will change absolutely nothing in this country as long as we do not change our views and attitudes towards our lives and bring back some of the old traditions into this “modern” society. Prolonged failure to adopt solution to Sejdic-Finci, a new EU coordinating mechanism or constitutional reform of the BiH Federation are not causes but consequences of real problems – lethargy and alienation of entire society from itself and the country it lives in (no matter how different groups may be calling “their” country). Political deadlocks, economic and social downturns are only consequences our collective choices. Inefficient and corrupt politicians, lethargic civic activists, intellectuals and media are only reflections of our own daily habits and attitudes. We are only harvesting today what we have sown yesterday. 

We may blame the international community for its experiments and double standards but again we are to be blamed why the international community had to come to rule Bosnia in the first place. Plus, blaming the international community will not help us because we cannot change the international community. We can only change ourselves. Some of us may be expecting from the international community to re-engage and fix our problems, but even if it happens (which is unlikely without a new war) we will again find a way to break and spoil those solutions and then demand new ones.

As long as we allow others to decide about our fate, we will not be happy with that destiny. Instead of waiting for others to change and adjust to our needs and expectations, we will have to start changing ourselves. Instead of sitting under an apple tree and waiting for something to drop into our lap, my family and I decided to join a harvest and pick some apples for our friends and ourselves. Apples were delicious, so sweet and crunchy, and friendship and camaraderie we shared with our friends made that experience so much richer and better. Not to mention the cooked beans and home made cakes.      

Author: Srećko Latal