Not exactly an easy topic, right? Well, let's get started.
The European Union (most of it) has adopted an immigration policy which, from my point of view, lets practically anybody enter and stay in European countries. I think this policy is flawed, given that we expect Europe to keep not only the "way of life", but also the development status it currently enjoys. My stance would probably be regarded as racist or at least nationalist by the politicians (and the masses), but I want people to think again about their own stances, and, if possible, find mistakes in my argumentation or perhaps plainly disagree, but with reason - let's really think this through.
The essential point of my argumentation is the following: I do believe that only people who do not wish to destroy a country's typical way of life should live in that country. It would be ideal if all of them would support and adopt it, but those who do not are sometimes a very inspirational source of criticism and provide momentum needed for change and development. But I think there needs to be a line between (constructive) criticism and destructive movements.
I have no problems with people of any descent, as long as they don't force me to change my lifestyle. On the other hand, I do enter conflicts with people who force me to unwillingly modify it, but that is a problem independent of race. Unfortunately, but also naturally, the concentration of such people is higher among immigrants. They bring their own lifestyle with them, which can't be criticized - but the question is, why do they come? Do they want to be economically better off? Well, then they should start assimilating as soon as possible, because it's what we know and do and they don't that makes the difference that drove them here. Are they politically pursued and are seeking asylum? Very well, I don't see a problem with that - but again, why would they want to keep their old ways, which not only may have somehow, indirectly, led to their persecution, but also (apparently) isolate them in the new society and this time make them not politically pursued, but frowned upon by the general public. This could be changed - the general public needn't frown upon foreigners, and the immigrants sure could stick with what they did up to know - as long as they do not force anybody else to change their lifestyle, as was mentioned before. And, behold, those are people we should definitely pay more attention to, because they are a source of inspiration for us. Every nation is in danger of not having the distance from our own actions, which is necessary to evaluate them, as opposed to foreigners. Foreigners are not "bad", only people who live in a country and wish to destroy it's principles (or act as if they do) are "bad" - as I said, unfortunately, most of these people are immigrants.
Two things are still left to mention. One - how do we define our "way of life"? Part of the answer is not all that hard to find: European society has been formed by it's climate. Nowadays metaphorically, we need to grow and protect crops in the summer in order to survive the winter. We are "planners", we learn from our history and carefully create elaborate plans for our future, taking into account everything we can think of that might happen, however improbable it may be. That's why we are so keen on education - to guarantee a better future. That's why we have all sorts of insurance - to secure the worst case. That's why we gather, (usually) take pretty good care of and keep our belongings for quite a long time - we might need them in the future. That's why we set an alarm clock and go to work every weekday, even though our bank account currently holds enough money to feed us and the whole family for more than a year (Okay, we might not have that much money, or we actually go to work because we enjoy it, but you know what I'm saying).
The rest of the answer is a bit more complicated. In Europe, we are not used to minarets. In Europe, we do not have cows in the streets - we eat them. In Europe, women usually don't wear burqas. On a non religious note, we seldom haggle in shops. We are not used to cooking on an open fire. And so on - things that are probably noticeable, but in most cases don't directly limit our own life. Despite this, they can be a source of heated political discussions and public demonstrations. I say, let's just apply common sense - when someone finds a place where he can make a fire without destroying someone else's lawn, or feels that a burqa is the appropriate thing, then why not - but again, only until it doesn't get in the way of the typical lifestyle of the country.
And the other thing, perhaps the more important one - as you might have noticed, this kind of approach does, in a way, lead to preservation of our current society and it's lifestyle. And as we have learned from history, for an at least partial survival of a culture, sacrifices were often necessary. But I'm willing to risk it - I dare say European (and North American) society is the most developed in the world, and if we manage to elude the fate of the Roman Empire, which was destroyed by a less developed culture (but Rome was already at its decline at that time), I think we stand a pretty fair chance of surviving.
GIANT NOTE at the end: all ciritcism is accepted. Please feel free to disagree and to contact me. This is my current "state of mind", I'm still working on it - are you working on yours?
P. S.: ✈☝
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
On Weddings and Wedding Parties
This weekend, I have attended a wedding of my former Cub Scout leader and a Girl Guide leader - both of them very nice and kind people, and frankly, essential to keeping our 35. Scout Group afloat.
I wanted to share some thoughts on what happened, even though I am afraid there isn't anyone who is actually reading this. Nevertheless:
Friday: I met up with three friends, one of them being a driver and a car owner, who offered to drive us there. A traffic jam on the D1 highway had us stop in a shopping mall, but waiting didn't help. Luckily, the jam was not very long. It grew darker and after some time we got lost. No problem, we noticed it and found a way to get back on the right track. But due to many factors, the driver didn't quite make the turn and we ended up in the field instead of being on the road, luckily unhurt but shaken. The car was damaged, and because we weren't sure what was wrong with it, we tried to stop passing vehicles to help us. Somebody did notice us after a while, and helped us get the car to a gas station, from where we phoned another wedding guest who was able to arrange a free pickup for us. But there was more to come.
Saturday: long sleep, lazy preparations, wedding start at 1 P. M. Nice venue - the castle in Jindřichův Hradec is lovely and their wedding hall is quite adequate for the occasion. The speech was a little strange, but who cares, really - I can hardly imagine that couples ever concentrate on what the celebrant is saying. Then, they had a family-only wedding reception, while us (=friends) continued to the pub where the full reception with everyone was to take place. There were loads and loads an loads of food in all shapes and sizes, and it was our job to actually transfer it to plates and dishes in order to create a decent celebration. This party started at 7 P. M. It included all the food, loud music, dancing - you name it. You might know I'm not exactly the party type. But after some time, my activities also included dancing, talking to people and drinking - but no alcohol, just 3 litres of Kofola. And then the list got even longer, quite to my disappointment, because the majority of the guests was drunk. So, I did things like removing a friend of mine from the dance-simulating grasp of a local alcoholic (of course I was far too late to claim any merit whatsoever, but she thanked me anyway - I guess she really didn't like it), watching people pass out, wake up and drink again, and at about 4 A. M. I carried two drunk people out of the pub and could finally fall asleep myself.
Sunday - most of it was mentioned under Saturday, but all of my activities were strictly mechanical - walking to the bus stop, changing trains now and then, sleeping, eating.
Overall, I have had one hell of an eventful weekend, and however happy I am for the newly-weds, I still can't quite forget the other parts which sort of spoiled the fun.
Maybe you are used to things like this, but for me it was a bit of "Kulutrschock" - that's basically why I'm writing about it.
WTYL.
I wanted to share some thoughts on what happened, even though I am afraid there isn't anyone who is actually reading this. Nevertheless:
Friday: I met up with three friends, one of them being a driver and a car owner, who offered to drive us there. A traffic jam on the D1 highway had us stop in a shopping mall, but waiting didn't help. Luckily, the jam was not very long. It grew darker and after some time we got lost. No problem, we noticed it and found a way to get back on the right track. But due to many factors, the driver didn't quite make the turn and we ended up in the field instead of being on the road, luckily unhurt but shaken. The car was damaged, and because we weren't sure what was wrong with it, we tried to stop passing vehicles to help us. Somebody did notice us after a while, and helped us get the car to a gas station, from where we phoned another wedding guest who was able to arrange a free pickup for us. But there was more to come.
Saturday: long sleep, lazy preparations, wedding start at 1 P. M. Nice venue - the castle in Jindřichův Hradec is lovely and their wedding hall is quite adequate for the occasion. The speech was a little strange, but who cares, really - I can hardly imagine that couples ever concentrate on what the celebrant is saying. Then, they had a family-only wedding reception, while us (=friends) continued to the pub where the full reception with everyone was to take place. There were loads and loads an loads of food in all shapes and sizes, and it was our job to actually transfer it to plates and dishes in order to create a decent celebration. This party started at 7 P. M. It included all the food, loud music, dancing - you name it. You might know I'm not exactly the party type. But after some time, my activities also included dancing, talking to people and drinking - but no alcohol, just 3 litres of Kofola. And then the list got even longer, quite to my disappointment, because the majority of the guests was drunk. So, I did things like removing a friend of mine from the dance-simulating grasp of a local alcoholic (of course I was far too late to claim any merit whatsoever, but she thanked me anyway - I guess she really didn't like it), watching people pass out, wake up and drink again, and at about 4 A. M. I carried two drunk people out of the pub and could finally fall asleep myself.
Sunday - most of it was mentioned under Saturday, but all of my activities were strictly mechanical - walking to the bus stop, changing trains now and then, sleeping, eating.
Overall, I have had one hell of an eventful weekend, and however happy I am for the newly-weds, I still can't quite forget the other parts which sort of spoiled the fun.
Maybe you are used to things like this, but for me it was a bit of "Kulutrschock" - that's basically why I'm writing about it.
WTYL.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
On Holidays
Here it comes - another boring post with nothing to say... whatever
A brief summary of my summer holiday activities, if you are interested:
Scout Camp - two weeks, cool thing. Weather so-so, mild nerve stimulation - Some of the Boy Scouts - whom I found myself leading - can get annoying. Really annoying. And I don't remember, and neither does my leader - a scout actually leaving the camp because he didn't like it (...)
"Orko Camp" - officially titled In Watermelon Sugar - 10 days, organized by our Religion teacher Marek Orko Vácha (mentioned in one of my older posts) and friends (Probably more by his friends, he really doesn't have that much free time, but what do I know). Perfect. Cool people, much better than I expected, cool program - games, talks, religious things. And, of course, nature. I feel like it would deserve much more describing, but it somehow doesn't form into words. Sorry. But it was really great.
Family vacation - Four days driving through France - to O Cebreiro, Spain (border of Galicia state). Stops on the way - Strassbourg, Equisheim, Lyon, Vienne, Avignon, Carcasonne, Some Pyrenees, Burgos, Leon. Hihlights - Strassbourg: lovely town centre; Equisheim - village, probably even better than Strassbourg, perfect houses, compact center; Avignon - the papal palace; Pyrenees - nature, views, mountains; Burgos - nice large cathedral with attached monastery.
Seven days of walking to Santiago de Compostela - 20-26 km a day, done usually between 6 AM and noon, to avoid the sun and secure a free space in the pilgrim shelters. Best thing: people. All sorts, but somehow set to be friendly - There is something indescribably positive about the pilgrimage.
One day trip to Cape Finisterrae - "end of the world" - a nice place, worth a visit. Some people carry on and walk here from Santiago.
Four days return drive to Prague - stops - Bilbao, Bordeaux, Tours, Chartres, Troyes, Metz.
Highlights - Bilbao: Guggenheim museum in the evening sun; Tours: quite a nice city centre, similar to Strassbourg; Chartres: BIG cathedral; Metz - Early morning empty cathedral
Happy BackToSchool everyone!
A brief summary of my summer holiday activities, if you are interested:
Scout Camp - two weeks, cool thing. Weather so-so, mild nerve stimulation - Some of the Boy Scouts - whom I found myself leading - can get annoying. Really annoying. And I don't remember, and neither does my leader - a scout actually leaving the camp because he didn't like it (...)
"Orko Camp" - officially titled In Watermelon Sugar - 10 days, organized by our Religion teacher Marek Orko Vácha (mentioned in one of my older posts) and friends (Probably more by his friends, he really doesn't have that much free time, but what do I know). Perfect. Cool people, much better than I expected, cool program - games, talks, religious things. And, of course, nature. I feel like it would deserve much more describing, but it somehow doesn't form into words. Sorry. But it was really great.
Family vacation - Four days driving through France - to O Cebreiro, Spain (border of Galicia state). Stops on the way - Strassbourg, Equisheim, Lyon, Vienne, Avignon, Carcasonne, Some Pyrenees, Burgos, Leon. Hihlights - Strassbourg: lovely town centre; Equisheim - village, probably even better than Strassbourg, perfect houses, compact center; Avignon - the papal palace; Pyrenees - nature, views, mountains; Burgos - nice large cathedral with attached monastery.
Seven days of walking to Santiago de Compostela - 20-26 km a day, done usually between 6 AM and noon, to avoid the sun and secure a free space in the pilgrim shelters. Best thing: people. All sorts, but somehow set to be friendly - There is something indescribably positive about the pilgrimage.
One day trip to Cape Finisterrae - "end of the world" - a nice place, worth a visit. Some people carry on and walk here from Santiago.
Four days return drive to Prague - stops - Bilbao, Bordeaux, Tours, Chartres, Troyes, Metz.
Highlights - Bilbao: Guggenheim museum in the evening sun; Tours: quite a nice city centre, similar to Strassbourg; Chartres: BIG cathedral; Metz - Early morning empty cathedral
Happy BackToSchool everyone!
Friday, July 24, 2009
On Silence
I love silence.
I miss it when I don't have it. That's one of the reasons why I always look forward the summer holidays, and especially the summer boy scout camp.
This year, I arrived on site (near Jindrichuv Hradec) a few days early, and the place was completely free of people (except for one other Scout), cars and sounds I am used to from the city.
And only there, other things come to replace city life.
Birds and sunlight wake you up instead of an alarm clock.
A creek flowing behind our log cabin (not exactly made of logs, but what word would you use?) is the last thing you hear before you fall asleep - instead of cars, buses, trams and trains.
The sound of rain on the roof, which passes unheard in an apartment building, is suddenly a reliable weather forecast (the more it rains, the sooner the sun comes back).
Wind playing with trees all around reminds you of our planet's lungs.
I know silence is near.
And then, the birds take a nap, the winds quiet down, the rain stops - and there comes Silence, my beloved.
We enjoy ourselves. I sit down and Silence is right next to me. I close my eyes and let Silence surround me.
Nobody disturbs us. Peaceful moments pass, one by one. Every one is worth remembering.
Then, without warning, Silence disappears - with a little breeze in the birch trees or a gentle bird song.
My day continues, but now it can't be spoiled - I met Silence in all of her beauty.
Have you ever met Silence?
'Silence is sexy' - Blixa Bargeld, leader of Einstuerzende Neubauten
I miss it when I don't have it. That's one of the reasons why I always look forward the summer holidays, and especially the summer boy scout camp.
This year, I arrived on site (near Jindrichuv Hradec) a few days early, and the place was completely free of people (except for one other Scout), cars and sounds I am used to from the city.
And only there, other things come to replace city life.
Birds and sunlight wake you up instead of an alarm clock.
A creek flowing behind our log cabin (not exactly made of logs, but what word would you use?) is the last thing you hear before you fall asleep - instead of cars, buses, trams and trains.
The sound of rain on the roof, which passes unheard in an apartment building, is suddenly a reliable weather forecast (the more it rains, the sooner the sun comes back).
Wind playing with trees all around reminds you of our planet's lungs.
I know silence is near.
And then, the birds take a nap, the winds quiet down, the rain stops - and there comes Silence, my beloved.
We enjoy ourselves. I sit down and Silence is right next to me. I close my eyes and let Silence surround me.
Nobody disturbs us. Peaceful moments pass, one by one. Every one is worth remembering.
Then, without warning, Silence disappears - with a little breeze in the birch trees or a gentle bird song.
My day continues, but now it can't be spoiled - I met Silence in all of her beauty.
Have you ever met Silence?
'Silence is sexy' - Blixa Bargeld, leader of Einstuerzende Neubauten
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
On My New Hobby
As you might have noticed, certain strange things started happening recently. For example, I was able to recognize the class and nickname (!) of a locomotive just by looking at it. Or I knew where you could get by train directly from Prague, and/or where you had to change trains in order to get somewhere around Europe. And few photos appeared on my facebook profile, and their only motive was a train (the description contained the class number and the nickname, of course). And, what probably most bothered you, I started talking to you about railways more and more often.
That sums up my new hobby: trains. It is as unexplainable as being a fan of a certain sport club - the less you know why you are doing it, the more enthusiastic you are about it.
It is quite possible I am growing crazy right now. Please keep a close eye on me and if I get too obnoxious or obsessed with it, tell me ASAP. But for now, there are very few things that got me away from my (very comfy, thinking about it now) computer chair in the last few weeks - a camera and a busy railroad within cycling distance is one of them. Expect more pics soon!
P.S. If any of you by some weird chance own a DSLR sensor cleaning set that I could borrow, please let me know.
That sums up my new hobby: trains. It is as unexplainable as being a fan of a certain sport club - the less you know why you are doing it, the more enthusiastic you are about it.
It is quite possible I am growing crazy right now. Please keep a close eye on me and if I get too obnoxious or obsessed with it, tell me ASAP. But for now, there are very few things that got me away from my (very comfy, thinking about it now) computer chair in the last few weeks - a camera and a busy railroad within cycling distance is one of them. Expect more pics soon!
P.S. If any of you by some weird chance own a DSLR sensor cleaning set that I could borrow, please let me know.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
On an International Scandal
Sueddeutsche Zeitung (GER)
Le Monde (FRA)
Le Temps (CH)
MF Dnes (CZ)
F*** Paroubek, Communists, Tlusty, Schwippel and the two green b****es.
Le Monde (FRA)
Le Temps (CH)
MF Dnes (CZ)
F*** Paroubek, Communists, Tlusty, Schwippel and the two green b****es.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
On the Velvet Revolution
Hey! A post! It's been some time, hasn't it?
First of all, this post is intended mainly for my Czech readers, but actually I don't think I have any other than them, and I will also try to keep it comprehensible for everyone, even if the main idea might remain hidden for those who don't know what the Velvet Revolution is.
So. (If you don't have much time, skip the first paragraph (or leave it for later))
Our History lessons , as they proceed along the historical timeline on and on, entered the 20th century some time ago. Our teacher specializes in that part of history, and so she decided she will give us some individual homework for it. That way, I got to create two papers, or maybe reports or even essays, I am not quite sure what the English term for what the Czechs call "referat" actually is. One of them was about two people important for Czech history in the 20th century, and the other was supposed to be about some sort of unsolved but still important Czech problem from recent history, a so called skeleton in the cupboard ("kostlivec ve skrini" would be the Czech metaphor for that). The people aren't that important, but my choice of this "skeleton" turned out to be very inspiring indeed.
I wrote my paper about Ludvik Zifcak. He was a secret agent of the StB, the communist internal intelligence service which was infamous for various acts of terrorism, torture, political imprisonments and other nasty things. Now as I said before, I hope you know what the Velvet revolution is - in short, it is a revolution which took place in (former) Czechoslovakia in winter 1989 - spring 1990, and essentially changed this country from a communist and totalitarian regime to a democracy. And what do Ludvik Zifcak and the StB have in common with it? Probably more than you would expect.
The first and most important part of the revolution was a student demonstration on 17th November 1989, which was peaceful (even though not legal to the extent it was carried out to), but on "Narodni trida", close to Wenceslas Square, was stopped, surrounded by state police and brutally dissolved. That's the moment things started changing - more demonstrations, general strike, new government, another new government, new president, free elections, democracy.
The problem lies in the first demonstration. Some people say that the StB actually had reasons for letting it happen exactly the way it happened, that means leading the people to Narodni trida and beating them up (and even spreading a rumor about a student dying in the fray - that student was to be played on Narodni trida by Zifcak). Among these people is Vaclav Bartuska, a student who attended the demonstration and was later a member of a commitee that was supposed to supervise the investigation of the events of 17th November. And this guy has got some proof for that - if you want to learn more, just read his book "Polojasno" ("Partly Cloudy" or "Partly Clear", but I guess it wasn't translated to English anyway).
Of course you can choose not to believe that - but then you have to deal with some facts - for example photos of the demonstration which show Zifcak among the people leading the demonstration, or Zifcak's interrogation, in which he uncovered the whole conspiracy.
Now to the main idea. I do not want to force you to believe some conspiratorial theories. But two things are quite clear:
1) We will never learn the full truth about the revolution. There are so many questions to which answers are known only by people who will never share them - because it would harm them or someone else, like the Bohemian-Moravian Communist Party.
2)Perhaps more importantly - the Velvet revolution was not an idealistic peaceful change from dictatorship to democracy. It was not so that dissidents decided OK, let's do it, and convinced the people to demonstrate again and again and to go on strike. I would like to use a metaphor here:
I think people tend to believe that it was like a chess game between the good and the evil - the nation being the pawns on the good side, the dissidents among the other pieces (and Vaclav Havel being the good king). But actually, I think a more realistic chess game would be between the gray and the red, where all the dissidents and ordinary people are just like the queen on the gray side, but all the other pieces are someone else - the revolution could never take place without many other events and circumstances - such as political liberalization in Hungary, but also supposed internal communist disputes, or disputes between the USSR and Czechoslovakia. Of course, the red side couldn't be beaten without the gray queen (most probably), but the queen surely couldn't win alone. And it has not been the victory of the good side, it has been the victory of everyone who wasn't directly associated with the regime (therefore gray vs red). That's why we now have StB agents all over government institutions and offices, and communists aren't banned, and so on.
Had I been a student who took part in the revolution, with all my democratic ideals, I would have been extremely angry about that. The only reason why I am not is that for me, the Velvet Revolution is history. It is an event, an important one, but just as important to me as any other historical event of the same format, like, for example, the opposite of the Velvet Revolution, 25th February 1948, when the communists took over. It might seem frightening, as for people who did live through the revolution I can imagine that their view is completely different. But I suppose that is how the future generation will consider this revolution, and everyone will have to get used to it.
Wow, I actually managed to write down the idea I wanted to... but probably in an incomprehensible way. Anyway, if you are reading this, you must be a hardcore reader of my blog :-D Thank you for that.
P. S. my paper (in Czech) is available at http://uloz.to/1440400/zifcak.doc
If any of you actually read that, you win a free "kobliha" for being a super crazy maniac hardcore reader. Just let me know you did it.
First of all, this post is intended mainly for my Czech readers, but actually I don't think I have any other than them, and I will also try to keep it comprehensible for everyone, even if the main idea might remain hidden for those who don't know what the Velvet Revolution is.
So. (If you don't have much time, skip the first paragraph (or leave it for later))
Our History lessons , as they proceed along the historical timeline on and on, entered the 20th century some time ago. Our teacher specializes in that part of history, and so she decided she will give us some individual homework for it. That way, I got to create two papers, or maybe reports or even essays, I am not quite sure what the English term for what the Czechs call "referat" actually is. One of them was about two people important for Czech history in the 20th century, and the other was supposed to be about some sort of unsolved but still important Czech problem from recent history, a so called skeleton in the cupboard ("kostlivec ve skrini" would be the Czech metaphor for that). The people aren't that important, but my choice of this "skeleton" turned out to be very inspiring indeed.
I wrote my paper about Ludvik Zifcak. He was a secret agent of the StB, the communist internal intelligence service which was infamous for various acts of terrorism, torture, political imprisonments and other nasty things. Now as I said before, I hope you know what the Velvet revolution is - in short, it is a revolution which took place in (former) Czechoslovakia in winter 1989 - spring 1990, and essentially changed this country from a communist and totalitarian regime to a democracy. And what do Ludvik Zifcak and the StB have in common with it? Probably more than you would expect.
The first and most important part of the revolution was a student demonstration on 17th November 1989, which was peaceful (even though not legal to the extent it was carried out to), but on "Narodni trida", close to Wenceslas Square, was stopped, surrounded by state police and brutally dissolved. That's the moment things started changing - more demonstrations, general strike, new government, another new government, new president, free elections, democracy.
The problem lies in the first demonstration. Some people say that the StB actually had reasons for letting it happen exactly the way it happened, that means leading the people to Narodni trida and beating them up (and even spreading a rumor about a student dying in the fray - that student was to be played on Narodni trida by Zifcak). Among these people is Vaclav Bartuska, a student who attended the demonstration and was later a member of a commitee that was supposed to supervise the investigation of the events of 17th November. And this guy has got some proof for that - if you want to learn more, just read his book "Polojasno" ("Partly Cloudy" or "Partly Clear", but I guess it wasn't translated to English anyway).
Of course you can choose not to believe that - but then you have to deal with some facts - for example photos of the demonstration which show Zifcak among the people leading the demonstration, or Zifcak's interrogation, in which he uncovered the whole conspiracy.
Now to the main idea. I do not want to force you to believe some conspiratorial theories. But two things are quite clear:
1) We will never learn the full truth about the revolution. There are so many questions to which answers are known only by people who will never share them - because it would harm them or someone else, like the Bohemian-Moravian Communist Party.
2)Perhaps more importantly - the Velvet revolution was not an idealistic peaceful change from dictatorship to democracy. It was not so that dissidents decided OK, let's do it, and convinced the people to demonstrate again and again and to go on strike. I would like to use a metaphor here:
I think people tend to believe that it was like a chess game between the good and the evil - the nation being the pawns on the good side, the dissidents among the other pieces (and Vaclav Havel being the good king). But actually, I think a more realistic chess game would be between the gray and the red, where all the dissidents and ordinary people are just like the queen on the gray side, but all the other pieces are someone else - the revolution could never take place without many other events and circumstances - such as political liberalization in Hungary, but also supposed internal communist disputes, or disputes between the USSR and Czechoslovakia. Of course, the red side couldn't be beaten without the gray queen (most probably), but the queen surely couldn't win alone. And it has not been the victory of the good side, it has been the victory of everyone who wasn't directly associated with the regime (therefore gray vs red). That's why we now have StB agents all over government institutions and offices, and communists aren't banned, and so on.
Had I been a student who took part in the revolution, with all my democratic ideals, I would have been extremely angry about that. The only reason why I am not is that for me, the Velvet Revolution is history. It is an event, an important one, but just as important to me as any other historical event of the same format, like, for example, the opposite of the Velvet Revolution, 25th February 1948, when the communists took over. It might seem frightening, as for people who did live through the revolution I can imagine that their view is completely different. But I suppose that is how the future generation will consider this revolution, and everyone will have to get used to it.
Wow, I actually managed to write down the idea I wanted to... but probably in an incomprehensible way. Anyway, if you are reading this, you must be a hardcore reader of my blog :-D Thank you for that.
P. S. my paper (in Czech) is available at http://uloz.to/1440400/zifcak.doc
If any of you actually read that, you win a free "kobliha" for being a super crazy maniac hardcore reader. Just let me know you did it.
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