<nettime> two letters

["Nebojsa Vilic" <nvilic@bogomil.soros.org.mk>]

dear all,

sorry for cross-posting, but a colleague of mine asked me to spread 
these two letters of her further.
==============================

March 30, 1999

To Mr. Bill Clinton

DEMOCRACY CAN NOT BE LEARNED BY FORCE, MR. CLINTON!

After the disintegration of the Socialist block, most of the member countries
have chosen the democracy of the so-called western type. Among them, Macedonia,
the only Yugoslav Republic that has used its right to separate in a peaceful
way. This has earned Macedonia a belated recognition under a absurd and illogic
name: Former (meaning non-existent) Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, from the
western European democracies led by Greece, the cradle of the European
democracy, inspite of the report of the Baddinter Commission, which confirmed
all necessary precondition existed for Macedonia's recognition. Such was the
first lesson in democracy as given by the western European democracy and the
USA.

Today we witness the second lesson in democracy by these countries of most
democratic governments.  The essence of the lesson is: you either accept my
opinion or else I will attack you. I am not implying that the approach that the
democratic NATO allies want to impose on Yugoslavia is bad, least that
Miloshevich is a democrat. The point is that, as far as I know, democracy is
not implemented nor learned by force.

Nade Proeva, Ph.D.
Professor of Ancient History
SS. Cyril and Methodius University
Skopje 
Macedonia


=================================

March 30, 1999

To Mr. Xavier Solana and Wesley Clark

WHO WILL LEARN THE LESSON?

The fact that the American president, Mr. Clinton, thinks democracy can be
learned by force does not surprise me at all, considering the roots and the
beginnings of the American state and culture. Yet, I am surprised and
disappointed by the attitude of the western democracies' leaders. Namely, being
"successors" of the Roman culture, they should know that the Romans have
received the fiercest resistance from tribes at a lower social and economic
level than the Romans themselves. The freedom-love of "savage" tribes is
proportional to their stage of development (the lower the development the
greater freedom-love). The Romans had to apply brutal measures to crack the
resistance of the "savages". I shall mention an example that occurred on the
same territory that is now being plown into by super sophisticated weapons of
western democracies: in order to crack the anti-Roman resistance in 29. B.C.,
the warrior Marcus Licinius Crassus ordered that all captured Moeses be cut off
their arms up to their shoulders and then be released as a warning to all. Dion
Cassius has chronicled this in 2/3 cent. B.C. (Dio.Cass.LI,25,5). Naturally,
the Romans have conquered not only the Moeses but also all Balkan tribes. It is
not difficult to conquer the weaker.  Yet, how the Roman Empire ended everybody
knows, leaders of the western democracies, too, I hope. I also hope that they
remember the freedom-love of the Balkan peoples, that was demonstrated during
the Second World War.

Today, while the Balkan peoples are being given lessons in democracy by the
NATO democracies, the Balkan peoples strike back with lessons on freedom.
"Disobedience is the first step of freedom," writes Erich Fromm.

I wonder who will learn the lesson this time?

Nade Proeva, Ph.D.
Professor of Ancient History
SS. Cyril and Methodius University
Skopje 
Macedonia
============================


Nebojsa Vilic, Ph.D.
Faculty of Drama Arts
University 'SS. Cyril and Methodius'
Ruger Boskovic b.b. / P.O.Box 134
MK-91000 Skopje, Macedonia
tel. 389 91 37 05 96

e-mail: nvilic@soros.org.mk

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