 It's a Free Country, Ukraine: A Progress Report By Glen WILLARD |
"Dacha, to a Ukrainian or Russian, is a small plot of land intended for specific farm works of the urban population and satisfaction of personal (family) needs." Thus begins an article in the June 2002 issue of The Ukrainian Observer (The Dacha, a Phenomenon of Domestic Civilization, Valentin Bahinskiy).
The concept expressed in this manner is not what the average Westerner conjures when the word is heard. But the idea of a small garden plot for the mass of urbanized working Soviet citizens to grow vegetables and plant potatoes apparently was what Gorbachev had in mind in the mid-80s period as "restructuring" and "openness" (perestroika and glasnost) became programs and concepts of the Soviet State.
So we see on the one of the cartoons of the UO for May a picture of three very prominent urbanized Ukrainians hard at work as they begin their May holidays in what has become a tradition in the country. Somehow though, one suspects that these particular citizens may also have dachas more like those our average Westerner envisions. Those dachas trace, according to the article above, to the early 18th century when the czar began granting them to certain subjects as rewards for service. Later, after the October Revolution, the practice continued as dachas were granted to the privileged and paid for by the State. Many of these were luxurious in the extreme (at least for a Communist society) and the practice lends substance to the saying that even in a classless and equal society "some are more equal than others".
As Leonid, Julia and Victor labor in their respective vegetable, flower and potato gardens this May, I wonder what they may be considering planting in their political gardens. We of course expect them to be having thoughts of political alliances, of actions necessary to continue their chosen professions; and, possibly there is some thought even of personal safety and, of course, there is the matter of avoidance of being possibly confined to small, uncomfortable spaces in the future; and there must be some intrigue to all this.
The above three along with other Ukrainians either presently in or seeking high office have in common the need to be thinking and contemplating high matters of State. There must be concern with matters of relations with other nations, matters of military force and defense, taxation and trade and other difficult subjects such as energy, transportation, and fiscal and monetary policies.
Then, hopefully, they will also have time to think and perhaps even dwell on matters that more directly effect the people. Matters such as pensions, the formative and secondary education of the children and the young, adequate training of and salaries for teachers, to the effectiveness and availability to the public of a functioning medical delivery system (hospitals with modern equipment, doctors with adequate training, medicines in appropriate form and in common supply, doctors who are paid commensurate with their training and abilities, etc.) and police forces to provide for safety and security and not openly soliciting or likely to accept bribes.
Now the listings in the foregoing two paragraphs are but partial. And one fears that our weekend gardeners may spend more time "chopping" around in matters of concern in the third preceding paragraph.
And all these "precedents" finally lead to the title set forth at the beginning of this article and how to punctuate it. That is, with an exclamation mark or with a question mark. Is it "It's a Free Country, Ukraine! Or It's a Free Country, Ukraine?" A boastful positive comeback in some Western countries when one is questioned on whether something can or should be done is something like "Sure, It's a free country!" (usually followed by a non-question statement such as "Ain't it.").
Query. Can a Ukrainian answer with the exclamation? And I think probably not. But the Reader should judge.
Freedom. There is a breath and a feel to it. It both palpitates and is palpable. Like a learned judge once said of pornography "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it", freedom can be felt, even if it is not easily definable.
Freedom is personal. It is individual. It is applicable to self. It gives confidence and certifies one's existence. It means more than liberty if liberty is only the absence of physical restraint, but it melds with liberty when liberty means the free exercise of the mind as to the exercise of free thought and expression.
But while individual, freedom has no meaning outside of a collective group. There is no need of freedom by oneself. Alone it is but an abstract conundrum.
But how can one be free in a collective group, a society? Must there not be rules, laws that govern that society? Aren't these restraints on freedom? The answers to the last two questions are yes. The solution offered in reply to the first question is to live associated in a collective society that is justly governed under laws that are generally consensually accepted by all but a few in that society. And where those laws are uniformly applicable to all in the society. Also it is critical that those laws as they exist cannot be changed to have retroactive application. There has to be a certainty to the laws so all are forewarned of their application but are secure in the knowledge that they will not be changed except by agreement, for prospective application and with notice to the whole of society. What is suggested by the foregoing is the concept of "a government of laws and not of men". Or what is known as the "rule of law".
The phrase "rule of law" is much used. And it is mostly abused in its understanding. It does not simply mean a set of rules or laws generally consistently applied. It means much more than that. Its best understanding is that the rules apply to all and in the same way. Its best expression is that a king, a president, a ruler stands before the law and its application as the lowliest of society, be that person worker or peasant. And no one has any general immunity from the law by virtue of anything, much less high, but particularly, high offices held.
I would judge a free society on its laws as they protect and enforce certain fundamental rights. The rights that I would consider fundamental do not include the rights to a pension, a job, an education, to health care and several others that may be set forth as guarantees under Ukraine's Constitution. Those "rights" cannot in any meaningful way be guaranteed. They are noble and worthwhile aspirations and objectives of all just societies. They are just not considered, at least by me, as fundamental.
Fundamental rights, include certain ones that are set forth in the First Amendment to The Constitution of the United States. The amendment lists five rights. In one form or another they are also included in Ukraine's Constitution. Those rights concern freedom of religion, speech, the press, the right to peaceably assemble and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.
I know why the above five freedoms were incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. They were added to protect the people, the society, from the excesses of government. These rights are asserted beginning with the phrase "Congress shall make no law...". They are a restraint on government. In Ukraine substitute "State" for government for clarity of meaning.
Items: A person may run for office in Ukraine for the purpose of avoiding prosecution for criminal activity (immunity). In mid-April a prosecutor seeks to prosecute those who have been overly critical of its President causing the President to be nervous (apparently) and thus ineffective; newspapers regularly are shut down or find themselves in legal trouble (e.g. tax police arrive); people may or may not be allowed to assemble (they may be harassed when assembled); who is so bold as to petition the State?
That "feel" of freedom, that confidence that one is free and can make a difference mentioned earlier in this article...how prevalent is it in the population of Ukraine?
When I question Ukrainians I hear: "That's the State."; It's always been that way, it always will be."; I'd do something but no one else will, so what's the use?" And more of the same.
It's a Free Country, Ukraine: A Progress Report is the full title to this article. I'll leave the progress report on the years since Independence part to the Readers. And for Ukrainian Readers tell the assessment to your children. Consider planting something other than vegetables and potatoes this Spring.
And further consider that maybe, just maybe, that the fruits of the harvest that may be reaped from the work of the leaders of Ukraine this Spring (and not just those leaders on the UO cartoon) may not be deposited in Ukraine for the benefit of you or your children.
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Read also previous issue' articles:
Are Ukraine's Political Habits Unique?
Is Ukraine's Economic Growth Speculation-led?
Ukraine is Drifting to the West - Slowly but Surely
The Unfinished Orange Revolution?
Vacuums, Reforms and the Need to Regain the Initiative
Pirates of the 21st century
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