AN AMERICAN FROM SERBIA: “THOSE WHO DO NOT LEARN FROM HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT”

WILL NOTHING EVER CHANGE IN SERBIA? (for the better)

So the Serbian cauldron is boiling again. People are in the streets protesting against the regime, and the police and government goons are beating them again. Just as happened in 1968 when the Belgrade students rose up against the communist dictator #1 (Tito). And again in 1996 when the Belgrade students and others marched against the communist dictator #2 (Milosevic). Only this time, the young and the old are united in their protests against the Vučić regime and his Serbian Progressive Party.

Take a look at the pictures, starting with the three-of-a-kind autocratic leaders… with the Big Kahuna on the right, and the two small apparatchiks on the left.

And the scenes from Belgrade protests against them in 1968-1996-2021.

And the police and other regime goons beating them…

It seems that every generation (every 26-28 years) had to stage its own massive protests against governments before a discernible change was made. Alas, even then not necessarily for the better. Because many turncoats continued with the same corrupt practices under a new party banner and/or leader.

Meanwhile, even though the current Serbian government banned mass gatherings and mandated that masks be worn at all times in indoor settings, this Nov 27, 2021 conventions of the ruling party was evidently exempt. These 4,000 members of Vucic’s Progressive Party were above the law, just as were the members of the Communist Party under Tito and Milosevic.

And this is also what followed last night in Belgrade streets…

CONCLUSION: YOU CAN’T TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS

You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Maybe it is not written that Serbia should have a fair and honest government. It never had one before in its 200-year old history. So why expect it now? Especially when you look around and see moral and fiscal corruption all around the world. Even in the ones shining examples of democracy, such as the U.S. and Britain.

Or perhaps it’s in the genes. The Serbs seem to be genetically programed for autocracies. As an old friend of mine put it today, when we talked about the current unrest in Serbia,

“In our country, Bob, has not changed anything since Kneza Miloša. He made Serbia a police state, and everyone who came after him saw the advantages of keeping it that way. If this opposition wins (this time), it will be the same. They will not prosecute Vučić and his people, but will only take over their affairs and expand them.”

“A police state describes a state where its government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties.”

Wikipedia on Police State