Yury Khashchevatski: To Escape from "Drazdy" Trap

There should be the 11th commandment for the Belarusians - "you shall not be afraid!"

"The government is trapped in the financial pyramid. The external public debt has already hit all-time high of a sovereign Belarus. We spend a little more than a quarter of foreign currency raised on exports to repay foreign borrowings. And all the rest is refinancing. And any mathematician will prove to you that sooner or later such a pyramid will collapse," Barys Zhaliba, Doctor of Economics, says.

And what other people think about it? Can we talk about the imminent fall of the "tower of Babel" of the Belarusian economy without having a special education? Yury Khashchevatski, documentary film-maker, answers questions of Charter97.org.

- Recently, with regard to various spheres of our life the word "trap" has become common. What is the essence and the genesis of this new Belarusian phenomenon?

- The whole country got into a trap 23 years ago, when the power was entrusted to an illiterate person fully breeded in the Soviet era. In this case, despite a single-track mind, he possesses an imperial mentality. But the main thing is that he is the person who imagines power in the country as a feudal one.

Later this person threw us into a Russian trap, he just "sold" our economy to retain his power. That is, he has completely tied Belarus to Russian energy resources. Lukashenka and his inner circle, so-called "Drazduny", had the best of it. That's how we found ourselves in the "Drazdy" trap.

But the best things disappeared soon, and the trap remained. And now, wherever he goes he feels Putin's chain around his neck. At the same time, it's getting shorter every day. For example, Lukashenka cannot abolish West-2017 exercises, although he gains neither political not social profit. But "the ruler of Drazdy" has to swallow it all because only Putin's loyalty now holds him afloat.

With his peasant mind Lukashenka, perhaps, would like to have educated intellectuals in our country who can do something extraordinary and come up with some kind of know-how. But, on the other hand, he wants these people to be his servants, or even slaves. Alas, it is just fantasy.

It turns out that if we all fell into a trap because of our reckless decision 23 years ago, then Lukashenka also fell into the trap, but because of his own idea of power. The consciousness of the chairman of a collective farm drove him into a dead end. He does not need literate people, he is afraid of intellectuals and "too educated" people. Once in the Soviet Union you could hear the phrase: "You've become too literate." It was pronounced when people began to put on airs and refer to laws. Now almost the same happens in Belarus, because well-educated people who are able to make the economy recover, and to find new ways of development and bring "Drazduny" out of the trap pose the threat to Lukashenka. After all, they feel free. This is the very sense of the main Belarusian "trap".

And then it has manifested itself in many spheres. There is a "trap", or it's better say the abyss, in a social life. The budget is sorely lacking to pay pensions and fulfill other social obligations of the state. So they have to deprive people not only of deserved benefits, I mean Chernobyl victims and Afghan veterans, but also pensions.

There is also an economic trap, when salaries are reduced, and a huge part of the budget is spent on repayment of debts. What have these debts been made for? To have the opportunity to build castles, luxurious villages for servants, to live the feudal lives in the middle of a ruined country. Debts are made by "Drazduny" and Belarusians including babies will have to pay them off.

No matter how many traps different semi-professionals in power (a true professional will think many times before becoming a member of this criminal gang) have found in the economy, they all are the consequence of the one created by Lukashenka.

Therefore, no "reformers" or "semi-reformers" in the government can make the country recover. And only the people of Belarus can get out of this global trap. I have always considered that we should do it in the near future not to disappear as the state. We have no chance to be late. Otherwise, we will have to say "thank you" not only to this collective farm authority but to ourselves.

- We have figured these Belarusian "traps" out. Is there any opportunity to get rid of them at once? Like the heroes of epics, sagas, cinematography do it, after all...

- Alexander managed to do it - he just cut the Gordian knot.

I think Belarusians need to know the following: fairy tales, legends are very interesting, but in fact freedom and a decent life require constant fight.

The total refusal to cooperate with Lukashenka's power is one of the best ways to fight his regime. There are many ways of daily non-violent resistance to the dictatorial regime - from simple forms of non-cooperation to peaceful protests.

But I will open a little secret: there is an element of a fairy tale and a miracle for us in this fight. This "miracle" involves technical achievements of the modern world. The Internet, for example, gives access to a wide variety of information. And also to work and earn not depending on this power. Every Belarusian looked around can find some mechanisms how not to depend on the Lukashenka's regime and not to cooperate with his power. The main thing is not to be afraid.

Once the great Belarusian Ales Adamovich said, and I, fortunately, heard it: "The old man Moses was a good man, but he remembered not all the commandments. In addition to the 10 commandments, there was another 11th - "you shall not be afraid!".

I would write it with capital letters especially for the Belarusians: "You shall not be afraid! Stop being afraid of this power. Stop being afraid of officials. Stop being afraid of cops." All these people depend on us. No matter how scary they look, there are few of them. They cannot even live in the "Drazdy trap". We need to make an effort, and I assure you, this know will be cut. And then we will take a civilized, decent path.