For me, November 17 was always just a day in the calendar that signaled a long weekend or a day off in the middle of the work week. When I was in school, I didn't get why senior officials were going someplace to lay wreaths, and why it got so much air time on TV, accompanied with the sound of senior recollections on top of that, when they could have been airing another episode of Beverly Hills 90210 instead. Who wants to remember the bad old times, right? Today, I realize that the facts of this abominable history should actually be repeated over and over. Why? So that it wouldn't come back.
I certainly don't think that we are in danger of going thirty years back in time, not even in the context of our disorganised politics. I doubt that anyone will forbid us to travel and that we will have to queue for bananas and toilet paper. If so, there could easily be another Prague defenestration too, because we certainly wouldn't stand for that today.
So how is it possible that there will ONCE AGAIN be a demonstration taking place at Letná on the weekend of 16th and 17th November, with more people attending than back then at Wenceslas Square and Národní třída?
Pronájem bytu 3+kk - Praha 1 - 108, Praha 1
Show property
Open-air concert
How is it possible that social networks are flooded with invitations of the next "greatest concert of all times", where all intelligent people from all over the Czech Republic will meet to proclaim freedom and democracy?
“Thirty years after the Velvet Revolution, we have little reason for optimism. Justice and the public media are in jeopardy, and a president who doesn't respect the Constitution, in a huge conflict of interest, promises the Prime Minister a presidential pardon, should it be necessary,”
the organizers of the demonstration proclaim.
Honestly, it makes my skin crawl, because personally, I don't feel to be in any great danger. Just to make things clear, I didn't vote Babiš or Zeman, if by chance you were thinking that. But I'm simply doing good. I don't have a reason to complain. Yes, I have to keep busy, which people usually didn't under the previous regime, yet everyone had everything - or rather everything of what was available.
Today we have everything we can think of. We can say what we want and, within the law, do what we want. This is what I call freedom.
Open in gallery (2)
Tahle hesla se dnes už moc nenosí, to je pravda. Source: Milion chvilek pro demokracii
We are doing good
Surveys agree that we are doing all right. We still have free education and health care. Who else can say that? The fact that some politicians are trying to sack up at any cost, hiding money under their mattresses or in wine boxes... Do you really think it hasn't always been that way? It has. In the past, they would simply take without even trying to cover it up. There will always be politicians like that, everywhere around the world. Yes, even in all those countries you visit and feel like it's the most wonderful place in the world and you definitely have to move there after few days of vacation. The politicians suck there too.
The worst thing is that we vote them in ourselves. So the mistake is somewhere in us. There are still people naive enough to believe that this and that big-shot means well with us. And I'm not talking about seniors citizens, the majority of which seems to believe that communism was great.
Yes, meeting on the occasion of remembering what our parents and grandparents did for us by clanking with those keys is a nice thing. But I certainly wouldn't like to see people freaking out about us going way back in history instead of feeling that we are moving forward. I always tell myself - more money, more problems. We need to concentrate on what we have instead of bitching about what we might lose.
Open in gallery (2)
Kdo půjde na Letnou?Source: Milion chvilek pro demokracii
The world keeps turning
To the satisfaction of the intelligent minority, I would like the Prime Minister to do some serious soul searching and step down. If he symbolizes the loss of freedom for so many people, he should go. If he doesn't, though - and after all of his statements, I don't think he will - I wouldn't be so concerned.
In the morning, the sun will come up again and you and I will have a cup of coffee before going to work. So that we could buy something nice, go on vacation or make another mortgage payment for our overpriced housing. The world will keep turning.
