NV@B92: February 2007

Tuesday, 20 February 2007

Otimačina javnog prostora

Koliko vas reklama sačeka svakog jutra u poštanskom sandučetu? Koliko spamova obrišite svaki put kad sednete za računar? Koliko kupi, uštedi, potroši, glasaj, uloži, smršaj, osvoji, probaj, osiguraj primite u toku dana gledajući TV, čitajući novine ili surfujući po internetu? Sve su to mali napadi na vaš privatni prostor. Neko nepozvan iskače pred vaše oči i ponavlja vam naređenja, deli vam savete ili nudi utehu. Bez obzira na šarenilo i raznovrsnost, poruka je uvek samo jedna te ista: DAJ PARE! Odbrana od te vrste agresije oduzima vreme, ali je moguća, pa čak i relativno jednostavna. Izbacite TV iz svog života, koristite anti-spam programe, letke iz sandučića pravo u korpu za otpatke...

About this blog

The articles published here were originally published on my blog at B92 in 2006/2007. They are my comments on various aspects of the Serbian reality.

Le Deserteur: This is my translation of the famous anti-war song by Boris Vian. It was posted during a post-electional crisis in 2007, when an extreme nationalist Nikolic was promoted into the chairman of the Serbian parliament. (The boss of his political party is imprisoned for war crimes and prosecuted by the International Tribunal in the Hague.) Only few days later he was removed from that position. However, in the meantime he founded a new political party and softened his words. In 2012 he became a democratically elected president of the republic. Yes, that's scary.

124 Minutes of silence: In the Netherlands every year they commemorate the victims of WWII (as well as subsequent Dutch victims in peacekeeping missions) by two minutes of silence. The entire country remained silence for these 124 minutes since the liberation 1945. In this text I talk about the reversion (and faking) of the WWII history that was ongoing in Serbia (and still is). Yugoslav partisan movement fought on the side of the Allies in the war. However, the Serbian ruling elite tends to politically rehabilitate the local traitors and collaborators with Nazis. This trend is still very actual in 2012.

Unknown heroes and Mile Curcic: This was written on the day of the first anniversary of the death of the former president of Serbia and a prosecuted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic. When he passed away (in the jail in the Hague) there was a crowd on the streets of Belgrade. People carried colorful balloons celebrating the end of one an epoch of death and terror. The event was organized through forums and social networks. A group of anonymous citizens published an obituary to Milosevic in the most read newspapers. In that obituary written in a very ironic style. The authors thank Milosevic for all the horrors and atrocities, for the lost lives and entire generations that he was responsible for. The authors are signed by the Serbian names that mean Hope, Happiness, Life, Freedom, Joy. In 2012, one of Milosevic's assistants and close collaborators became the prime minister of Serbia (after he was the minister of police for the last 4 years).

Prayer against corruption: There was a corruption affair at the Faculty of Law in Kragujevac, Serbia. The minister of education reacted shamelessly. Two years earlier when a teenager was killed in a high-school in Belgrade, he organized a "collective prayer" against violence!? This blog ironically suggests that they should organize another prayer against the corruption. In 2012, the education system in Serbia still suffers from tremendous problems and corruption affairs.

Looting of the public space: The number of billboards increased so much in the city of Belgrade that there was barely any spot without some idiotic commercial message, usually accompanied with equally idiotic picture in the background. The most of the billboards actually occupy public space. This blog protests against that kind of aggression and suggests how to fight against it. By 2012, the number of billboards in Belgrade is reduced. However, they still define the city landscape and the skyline.

Horoscope for 2007: It was my attempt to explain to the general public why horoscopes are stupid, wrong and even potentially dangerous. In Serbia (but also in the rest of the world), astrology is epidemic. I believe that the states should fight against it as they fight other frauds and cheats. Instead of that, the horoscopes are daily published in almost all newspapers around the globe and widely advertized. In 2012, many people are scarred by the approaching end of the world. From a cab driver I recently heard that he truly believes that the world is coming to its end this December. On that day he will stay at home and close the curtains to avoid any risk!?

Mladic in the Hague, Vermeer in Bosnia: It's a post about my visit to the Hague and the marvelous museum Mauritshuis. The title is a word-game - mladic means a boy in Serbo-Croatian language, but it is also the name of a general of the army of Bosnian Serbs that committed war atrocities in Bosnia (massacre of Srebrenica and siege of Sarajevo). When this blog was written, Mladic was still hiding from the International Criminal Tribunal (located in the Hague) that prosecuted him for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It was believed that the Serbian government and army secretly help him to avoid the arrest. On the other hand, "Mladic in the Hague" was one of the crucial requirements of the EU to continue negotiations on the future participation of Serbia in the Union. "Vermeer in Bosnia" refers to an excellent essay by Lawrence Weschler, a journalist who followed trials at the Tribunal. He compares the wartime Bosnia to Europe in the 17th century. This blog criticize the Serbian P.M. at that time for protecting Mladic and making impossible further development of the country. Mladic was finally arrested and extradited to the Hague in 2011. The Mauritshuis museum is closed down until 2014 for renovation. Vermeer's paintings are on tour in Japan and US.

There is no such thing as a national science: This blog argues that science is immanently international and universal. It criticize the concept of a national science, so common in political speeches. A phenomenon very pronounced in Serbia, but actually rather widely spread. However, the science institutes in Serbia are specific as there is virtually no foreigners working there (due to language barriers, complicated labor laws, difficult procedure for recognition of diplomas obtained abroad, isolation and bad reputation built up during the time of wars and political instabilities, but also due to the inertia and not-so-uncommon self-protectionism of the local staff). In addition, the brain drain from Serbia is continuous and larger then ever. Serbian politicians do not care at all about science... about any science. They just care about individual scientist (preferentially of the "appropriate" ethnic origin) that can be presented in the electional campaigns. In 2012 there is no more ministry of science in the Serbian government. Incredible amount of money is being spent on the newly founded center for promotion of science, while the actual science is still stuck where it was many years ago. The dean of the Belgrade University recently celebrated the news that the University finally got to the Shanghai list of the 500 best universities in the world. He proudly emphasized that it is better ranked than the universities of Ljubljana and Zagreb. (However, all three are ranked between 450 and 500, the difference was only the alphabetical order (B > Lj >Z). Well, the criterion doesn't matter, as long as the national university is better than the one across the border. I expect them to rename the university to "A university of Belgrade". If it remains on the list next year, it would certainly rise to the rank 450.)

Postcards: That was an introductory post. Blogs are compared to postcards.