Since early childhood, we have been surrounded by myths. There can be no social life without myths, and we learned this maxim only too well in the earlier Soviet period of our life. Then, each generation was fed its myth: young Lenin with curly hair for the Communist Octobrist scouts; a Lenin saying “We will take a different road” (presumably to the glorious future — Ed.) for Komsomol Young Communists, and a Lenin as leader of the world proletariat for more advanced age groups. For women it was Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, Lenin’s wife. And although Lenin was occasionally described as Mr. Krupsky in saucy political anecdotes of the day, these anecdotes never went beyond the existing mythological patterns.
Although we live amid myths, one should always remember that myths have their own lives, which are often in discrepancy with the realities of life. For myths do not describe our life, representing, rather, someone else’s vision of what our life should be. And one could be much more successful at building myths than in building our real life, because you need only one construction material for the former, words, and there are oceans of words around us.
Myths capture our attention, directing it to sunny skies. It is there that, according to mythmakers’ grand idea, we are to abide, with the rays released by the myth catching our eyes and turning our heads right, left and center, but invariably away from the spot forbidden. For example:
Myths can be ahead of real life, describing the future that we presumably want to attain, sometimes in seven-league strides, sometimes at a snail’s pace. A good example is the myth of building Communism, something the country lived with for decades. With time, when the construction collapsed, this myth’s creators have quickly switched to molding a new myth, lest they should lose their mythmaking jobs and cease to be our leaders.
Myths can recount the past — e.g. the myth about the Bolshevik revolution which the other side prefers to call the Bolshevik coup. In any case, everyone of us invariably has the picture of a mob storming the gates of tsar’s Winter Palace, in fact, a segment from a fiction, not a documentary, film. Suffice it to recall one of Marshak’s translations which runs “When a revolt is a success, as a rule it gets another name.”
Myths can be altered. Trotsky and Bukharin, originally portrayed as leaders, were soon remade into enemies, then again regained their status as leaders, and finally winding up enemies. Dissidents were enemies turned into heroes. The monument to Cheka Chief Dzerzhinsky was put up, then dismantled, with new plans to put it up again under consideration. “American imperialists” have been turned into “strategic partners,” and instead of “Yankees go home” we now cry, “Yankees bring investment.”
Myths can deliberately distort reality — in order to cover someone’s tracks.
In this case, myths are started, for instance, to curb the spread of opposition sentiments in society. We are apt to react to positive myths whose icons could be very misleading.
Myths can often come to grips with life but they are always the eternal winners. Recall how, following the release of a typically propaganda film named The Kuban Cossacks, many viewers believed that they were the exception, not the film with its portrayal of such Soviet affluence. Or an anecdote which tells about an official’s response to a request to fill up a pool in front of his office prior to a visit by foreign correspondents, “Let them print their slander.” The reality obviously did not mean anything to this official, as everything had been shaped by the mythmakers.
In any case, a myth is something we are very happy to listen to. There can be no negative myths, for otherwise they would be rejected by public opinion. That is why we adore overt mythmakers who openly shoot films or stage plays for us, as well as covert mythmakers who, for example, generate news for the mass media, with everything so flawless and correct in their creations, be it a film or news story.
A protesting mob always looks as if its mission is to destroy the existing order — just imagine miners rattling their helmets or flasks against the asphalt or outraged teachers with slogans, all chanting angrily outside government buildings. And then out comes an official, an embodiment of calmness, and our minds come to a standstill, deciding who we are with, the protesters or symbols of order.
WHEN MYTH CONFRONTS LIFE
This winter, more precisely, its first chilly spell, has brought innumerable hardships to Ukraine. Thousands of settlements were left without electricity, closed cold hospitals and schools, stalled trains. Life immediately froze, with millions forcefully thrown back from the twentieth to the nineteenth century where there are no phones, electricity, and everyone alike has to survive in the battle with the elements, saving oneself and one’s livestock.
What is this? Spontaneous bad luck? True, every year catches us on the wrong foot, for nobody really expects winter to set in, recklessly believing that this year summer will come instead of winter and apples will start to grow. The calendar is just a printer’s mistake, with the hateful word, winter, having taken the good summer’s place.
Let us recall the developments of several months ago. The government was cheerfully reporting on impressive quantities of purchased fuel oil, natural gas, and oil. Had they not turned off the faucet, Ukraine would have been flooded with fossil fuels. The soft- spoken officials were just a fraction from becoming another myth themselves. And then winter came, with a regularity quite astonishing for such a rare meteorological phenomenon.
A calamity repeated every year can hardly be regarded as a calamity per se in any civilized country. Because such countries take pains to prepare for winter. Where no pains are taken, preparations are replaced with triumphant reports and the creation of myths. Although, as Nasred- Din once remarked, it will never become sweet in your mouth no matter how often you repeat the word, halvah. In modern interpretation, he could well have said that the repeated assurances of the government’s readiness for winter will not prevent its coming.
A basic skill we acquired in Soviet days is how to explain our failures. In the farming sector, it is unfailingly bad weather; in politics the unstructured legislature or the people. Winter always tends to come unexpectedly; unfortunately, you cannot make fuel out of official assurances. As in war, we typically struggle for a better crop or to counter the winter’s onslaught, being constantly plagued by this pseudo military environment.
It is so easy to run the country in such unfavorable environment, with the population always grateful to its leaders for taking so much pains. Instead of routine work, determined officials are indulging in heroic efforts to save the country. If such practices continue, we shall soon be forced to chant familiar Soviet-era nursery rhymes
“The winter is over and summer has come, we thank the good government that all this was done.” And if we fail thank the government in time, summer might not come. And the sad thing is that we are never prepared for the winter.
WE BUILD, AND BUILD, AND BUILD OUR MYTHS
Although life goes on according to its destined course, we are being assured of completely different things. One obtains the impression that the government operates in a wonderful world it has created all by itself, where production and GDP grow daily, where prices are as stable as the price tags in the shop windows, with our hryvnia smiling proudly at their dollar, mark, and ruble. And if some crooks do siphon off someone else’s gas, they are not Ukrainians. And the stylistic peregrinations of Russia’s President calling natural gas pipeline tapping an act of base theft are open to question. We shall never give up creating myths.
What myths has our own government managed to build? Let it be known that the government might have been doing this in good faith, trying to protect itself from the duality of its policy which should marry very good words with a not so good economic record. Here are some of the myths the government has created for us.
Myth 1: the government is ready for winter.
Since the Ministry for Emergencies is up bogged down in everyday work, everything is clear with this myth. The winter has merely begun, but all the officials are glued to their government telephones. Despite a five day advance warning by weather people about ice-covered wires, everyone just seemed to ignore them, until — Surprise! — the wires freeze and break.
Myth 2: we have a reform- minded government.
The government did everything to make the word, reforms, one of the most hateful words in Ukraine. Although the government never stops calling itself a reform one, no one in Ukraine is sure when and where the reforms in question started, so nobody knows when these reforms will be over so we can take a break.
Myth 3: the government is a team of those who think alike.
Being a team implies a unity of actions, not internal government squabbles with the ministers who signed energy supplies report contradicting earlier government assurances. The government’s pretty figures ran counter to other no less charming figures released by other government agencies, which are responsible not only for submitting reports but also for running this or that sector.
Myth 4: government reforms enhance the welfare of Ukrainians.
The formula of this myth, a government favorite, contains two voids as there have been neither reforms nor welfare. Still, the government has a classic formula, which it can dangle over its head, marching wherever it wants.
Myth 5: the oligarchs are taking revenge.
The government tends to attribute its failures to intrigues engineered by Ukraine’s oligarchs, with someone aptly remarking that the only places where the oligarchs are to be found are the government and parliament. From here follows a logical assumption that the government should specify which oligarchs are standing in its way, the ones in parliament or the ones in the government’s own offices. Otherwise, this myth will remain ambiguous. Generally speaking, this is a purely Soviet approach to explain one’s misfortunes by the intrigues of enemies, with the “progressive mankind” always supporting Soviet policy and “American imperialists” always to blame.
Myth 6: the itty-bitty Ukrainian.
This myth is another government favorite, but it is definitely a highly humiliating one. It is high time we itty-bitty Ukrainians grew up and stopped letting ourselves be called such. Once, Lolita used to sing about her husband in a similar way (“my itty- bitty husband”) but it did not sound as humiliating as this one does, uttered by male officials. So, please, give all these arias about itty-bitty Ukrainians directly to Lolita to perform. For more effectiveness.
Myth 7: today’s premier — tomorrow’s president.
The profile of future president which is now being hyped does not quite tally with Yushchenko’s economic track record attained on the real, not mythological, plane. Any claims to the highest office should be supported by a number of concrete, clear, and tangible achievements. Give us any achievement, please, so that we could show some real feeling for our government. Otherwise, all the existing popularity ratings reflecting the nation’s current fervor for its government cannot but surprise anybody.
LIFE WITHOUT MYTHS
The relationships between the state and society need to be changed radically. The people should cease to be a passive object of management by the state and government and become an active participant in any efforts undertaken in Ukraine. The government cannot take any major step without support from the grassroots, as is amply evidenced by Ukraine’s and other countries’ recent history. History’s critical periods call for an honest dialogue between the state and its subjects. In the United States, for instance, most of the PR government departments emerged during the Great Depression, with the state being able to offer Americans nothing but the words. The trick is that such words should be honest to be trusted. Only in this way can we live through the hard times facing us.
The government has to become aware of the degree of its dependence on the country’s population. I would hate to see the Ukrainians cheated yet again. They have learned how to survive without any support from the state. They have become used to paying more than they earn for rent and food. They are quite good at paying for allegedly free medical care and education. This is why their hardships and burdens deserve to be addressed by the government. Ukrainians could have another government, but Ukraine will never get other citizens.
