Belarus of My Dream

Future is a fulfilled dream; its achievement is the Way.

Belarus will be a free and prosperous country. Its people will become a nation of independent, developed, and decent people able to help not only themselves but other people as well. The technology, culture, and traditions of Belarusians will become attractive to other nations. Its economics will be able to provide functioning of open society and democratic political system. Belarusians around the world will be proud to belong to the Belarusian nation, to speak Belarusian language, to share Belarusian culture and traditions. Belief and moral of Belarusians will be high; laws and social norms will be impeccable and solemn.

Communists, Christians, and representatives of other influential ideological streams pictured similar images of future and aimed to realize them, but they never succeeded. Belarusians had been communists as well as Christians, but had they ever been Belarusians?

Many Belarusians were born to become Soviet, Russian, or Polish people. Sometimes historical circumstances did not give them other options. Today history gives us a unique chance to reconstruct our dichotomous ‘I,’ to become Belarusians and to self-actualize as a people and nation.

It is a difficult and unpredictable path. It demands significant efforts from each of us, because life is many-sided and complicated, especially in Belarus. Life constantly presses a person to make choices to prove his or her moral, economic, and civic position that leads to molding of a life model of behavior. It is not an easy choice whether to be a demiurge of one’s and others’ future or to wait changes from external forces, to expect solution of one’s problems and guidance from the will of other peoples and states.

The chances of Belarus to have a better fate are not irreproachable. They depend mostly on Belarusian people’s will, their independence, life standards, control and limitation of the state’s influence. These chances will increase when Belarusians begin to strive to become truly ethical and educated people.

Belarusian reality, the present epoch of Lukashenka’s “stability” of Belarusian society—all that catches the eyes of a brave person causes to feel that there are no chances to succeed, that Belarusian nation is weak, chooses the golden Calf instead of the Spirit of freedom, does not want to have changes, blames only Lukashenka for its fate, forgets language, history, culture…

One can never loose hope in his or her people. You cannot disbelieve your people in their ability to change; you cannot treat your people like enemies only because they—intimidated and loyal to old values—do not know as much as you do and do not see a better future for themselves. It is completely wrong; such an attitude will benefit neither you nor your people.

Many Belarusians insist that Lukashenka is the evil for the country. I disagree with them. It is erroneous to consider a tough but fair Lesson of a Teacher of what should not be done, to be the evil. It is a lesson that democracy and freedom are not a universal solution to all problems but rather hard and consistent work, first of all, on changing oneself. It is a struggle against superior forces of the past and a continuous challenge. Democracy is bread, not butter!

On the other side, some Belarusians say that Lukashenka is the solution to all problems, almost a god for Belarusians. They believe in him… It is also wrong. Fate gives a person certain power for a reason, and it takes that power momentarily, when time comes. And the time has come…

What way should Belarusians choose in their development? It is not a trivial question. Each of us has a personal answer to that question, as we have a lot of intelligent people. The dilemma is in finding a version that, from one side, corresponds to the interests of the majority, and from the other side, is justified by its effectiveness and sustainability.

I see three phases on the Way of Belarusian to the country’s development and prosperity.

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I call my vision of the future of Belarus the Third Way.

- The phase of Liberation as a result of victory over the existing dictatorship and lawlessness;
- The phase of Opportunities which is the period of reforms, and transformation in the country; changes in the status and quality of life for a significant group of Belarusians; self-actualization, personal and professional growth of those Belarusians who want to serve their country;
- The phase of Success as a closing phase of transformation of Belarusian society, when the present generation of capable and professional people is ready to take responsibility for their country, then economic reforms and democratization of the society will be evident. The country will be independent, rich, and successful. Belarusian society will form a nation of responsible and ethical citizens.

I believe that the following principles will serve as guidelines during the aforementioned phases of the country’s development:

 Freedom of person as a human right to make decisions independently
 Responsibility as a condition for freedom of person
 Private property as a basis of personal independence
 Active participation in the life of society as a condition defining the well being of society as a whole
 Solidarity as a mutual establishment and protection of common values
 Diversity as a precondition for society being prosperous
 Tolerance as a right for existence of other opinions, views, and life styles
 Dialogue as a basis of social agreement
 Honesty and openness as a principle for existence of a society
 Labor as a condition for personal actualization and prosperity of a society
 Good will as a condition for realization of all purposes mentioned above

The key component of success on that way is personal interest and stable motivation of Belarusian citizens for improving the quality of their lives, acquiring guaranteed freedom and rights, increasing personal interest in creating successful partnership and interest groups, business and social projects. Moreover, optimal competition between these interest groups is another component of success; it is based on fair and just rules and common values of the country’s independence, Belarusian culture, history, and language, rule of law, liberal economy, and private property.

The future of the country, or national dream, is formed on the consensus in common vision of the leading forces within the society. As a national community, today’s Belarusians are deprived of national dream. They are forced to adopt utilitarian egoistic dreams under the pressure of materialistic values, fear, someone’s yearning for absolute power and control, and remnants of past ideological constructs and traditions.

No one can attain a better future without comprehending it fully, believing in it and applying efforts to achieve it. It is not important how much one should sacrifice to get a feeling of national dream. It is vital to find it. We as a nation cannot go forward without the national dream, for without it we are bound to make no headway.

I see the solution in helping to find the language of mutual understanding and trust among many young Belarusians who have different visions of the future of their country. Those people will become shortly the ones who decide the future of Belarus. Cooperation among them will create the climate of trust and constructive discussion and will decrease hostility, criticism and aggressive debates. Moreover, belief in the concept of an ideal future is also crucial to achieve the goal.

I call my vision of the future of Belarus the Third Way. The Third Way, like aikido, requires using energy and interests of your partner to realize your own program and interests. It is the way of agreements and compromises that are based on mutual trust and account of each party’s interests. In other words, you attain your goals through helping your partner to realize his or her goals.

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To be the national elite is not a privilege but a responsibility of those who care about the future of their country.

To follow the third way for Belarus means to be a predictable, responsible, and trusted partner for the international power centers. It requires being able to present political and economic proposals the realization of which will work to help, not prevent, our country from developing into a truly independent, open, free and economically thriving country. It is not the way of a provincial country with the pathos of an empire nor is it a “younger brother” that is not a player in any integration process of a European or Asian entity.

Third Way means realistically evaluated national interests grounded on economic, political, cultural, informational, scientific and military potential of the country that are consistently and purposefully asserted by professionals. The goal to maximally develop this potential in on the shoulders of Belarusian people that delegates via democratic procedures the rights to rule the country to a responsible, ethical, and professional national elite.

To be the national elite is not a privilege but a responsibility of those who care about the future of their country, the future of Belarus.

Pavel Marozau

12/24/2006

Tartu, Estonia