demos & kratos

"Where the state fails to teach its citizens how to formulate coherent political projects, how to debate meaningfully and how to rule through consensus, the citizenry is unlikely to learn any more about democracy than it already knows - and it may even forget that much.

To date, despite the setting up of new formal political structures and procedures (parliaments, parties, elections etc.), the lack of consensus about what is a legitimate rule still undermines the institutional framework of these polities."

Frédéric Volpi 
"Islam and Democracy: The Failure of Dialogue in Algeria"

Sure, it's a whole different context and this is certainly not what I was heading for with my readings, but... Honestly, in 1990/91, how much did Latvia know about democracy? After 50 years of being a Soviet Union  puppet state and the preceding authoritarian regime? How come in 10 years time after the long longed for, regained independence its people would say "I love this country but hate this State" and continue doing so for the next 10 years? How come the whole language, on all levels, has become this much saturated with complaints? How come this all is so obviously wrong and so hard to improve?
How come from those 15 former soviet states only 3 are currently seen as "democratic" and have jumped into the pot of truly "developed" countries (uncle EU)? Do you really believe our minds are westernized enough? How come the free independent media can still be owned by political actors and disregard any journalism ethics and impartiality? 
How do you teach someone something you don't know yourself? How do you play in the highest league when you don't know the rules of the game? How do you trust, when you have been deceived? How do you speak with and listen to public liars, patronized by a corrupt law-court? How do you accept that being a democratic, developed country means as well obvious, ongoing injustice, impunity and ignorance?

Well.. easy. Just don't take it personally. Leave out the emotions, you're all over-sensitive, you, Latvians. Give it time. Lower your expectations. Imagine your life and those of others as pure statistics. It's just part of the process, it ain't that easy. Seriously, it's nothing special. There are places and circumstances much worse than this. You're still lucky. You should be happy to have what you get. You should work for improvements, invest, strive.. Think of your children. You are responsible for them having a better future. You are responsible for the well-being of your State...

Wait, where did comrade Lenin go?