A growing number of Ukrainian citizens, including those who have long dreamt about the revival of their independent state, are now seeing, pained, that again, as it was in Shevchenko's times, Thus, in her struggle, our Ukraine/ Reached the last climax of pure pain:/ Worse than the Poles, or any other,/ The children crucify their mother (except that the Poles have nothing to do with it now).
The history of Ukraine looks like a movement in a circle, but this movement should be transformed into forward motion, aimed at creating a strong Ukrainian state. To achieve this, it is necessary to unite the people represented by the multiethnic population into a single Ukrainian political nation. The modern European states were established in exactly this way, while in the USSR they tried to create “a single Soviet people” to this end. Without the political nation it is impossible to implement the Ukrainian national idea, which lies in the establishment of a genuine democratic lawful state – a strong player on the world's “chessboard.”
A range of domestic and foreign factors are hindering this. They should be overcome, and we should not wait until they “vanish as the dew does in the sunshine,” because the fiercest one of them is inside of us in the form of the insurmountable Ukrainian individualism. This mental trait is positive to a certain degree, because it determines love for freedom and self-sufficiency of Ukrainians, who wish to act at their own discretion and not follow the majority. It also promotes creativity and finding non-standard decisions.
However, if hypertrophied, it breeds permissiveness perceived as unlimited freedom and keeps Ukrainians from uniting even to overcome a common danger. At the same time, despite their individualism, other nations are able to temporarily suspend their domestic conflicts.
All previous attempts to create our own state had failed because of the ensuing anarchy, which was subdued only under the pressure of an alien power. Instead of heading the people's protest, the ruling stratum hurriedly joined the aristocracy of the winners or even tried to somehow conform in order to survive. Therefore, the contemporaries have to heed Shevchenko’s appeal: Brother, embrace! Your hopes possess,/ I beg you in all earnestness!
It was heard by those who, at the end of 2004, got together in Independence Square, commanding the respect of the astonished world. Hundreds of thousands people of different age, education, income, ethnic origin, and religion came from all Ukraine and experienced fellowship with those who were standing next to them. This was a prototype of the Ukrainian political nation. Unfortunately, because of sentimentality and lack of experience they did not pay attention to the fact that leaders from the opposite camp also came to the stage. Later they simply broke up and failed to make sure there were mechanisms to control the fulfillment of the given promises.
Waiting for their fulfillment during the next five years, people lost faith, having returned to the usual timeserving. In the meanwhile, the Ukrainian society is being transformed – against the background of the destitute majority, which now includes even intellectuals, the ruling oligarchic stratum has emerged. Having become rich by robbing the state, they attempt to become hereditary elite, like the magnates in ancient Poland, surrounded by their gentry.
For this reason a part of disillusioned people during the elections are ready to vote for simply a "nice" candidate, as during the shows "Ukraine’s Got Talent" or the Ukrainian version of "Everyone Dancing?" Some prefer to see not a wise politician as president of the state, but a relative, saying that "own father is better than a mean stepmother or a stranger." There are also those who are ready to sell their vote for a hundred of hryvnias. This kind of situation, which makes one worry about Ukraine's future, would be impossible if we had a genuine Ukrainian political nation.
Nationalism can be a force that will be able to unite Ukraine, revive dignity in people and their ability to oppose adverse circumstances, but it historically happened so that in many people this word causes resistance and even fear. There is a big confusion regarding the understanding of this term as it is applied to fundamentally opposed movements, some of which propagate uniting all citizens of the state in one political nation, while others, on the contrary, try to separate them based on ethnic origin. A well-written popular book Peoples, Ethnoses, Nations (Kyiv, Tempora, 2008) by Kyrylo Halushko helps gain an understanding of this issue.
In contemporary Europe nationalism is considered to be a part of the right-conservative ideology, and the attitude to it was rather restrained, but it has significantly improved owing to the necessity to protect the European cultural values and traditions from the aggressive attack of immigrants. Regarding the radical form of ethnic nationalism, also called tribalism, it exists among retarded peoples, breeding hatred, up to cases of genocide.
In the USSR where the proclaimed "internationalism" served as a disguise for the imperial politics, a constant fight against "manifestations of nationalism" took place. The "Ukrainian bourgeois nationalism" was claimed to be the most dangerous variety, and under the guise of a struggle against it, a subjugation of a large people with its own will was carried out. It was first deprived of its national intellectuals and then massively annihilated through the Holodomor, which was a real genocide. This infernal plan was feasible to put into practice because of the notorious Ukrainian disunity, since local "activists" also took part in its implementation. They reported against their neighbors and helped search for hidden grain, getting 15 percent of it. In 1939 the fight against nationalism spread to the annexed Western Ukrainian lands, but their population, being more united, mounted heroic resistance until to the mid 1950s.
The consequences of Soviet brainwashing are still there, especially in southeastern Ukraine where the notion of "nationalism" requires rehabilitation to some extent. Nationalistic parties do not play a noticeable role in the Ukrainian politics, even though their views are a soft form of ethnic nationalism.
To Ukrainians’ credit, they never declared their "superiority," and their nationalism has had a defensive, rather than aggressive and attacking, character. Ukrainians have peacefully coexisted with the neighboring nations, constantly maintaining blood relations with them and enriching their gene pool. That is why there is no point in looking for full-blooded Ukrainians or re-introducing the Soviet-time “fifth section” (nationality) in passports. Pure blood is an important indicator in cattle breeding, but the parliament should hardly be formed based on it. Though some fellows like to look for "alien roots" in our politicians, especially the Jewish ones, it doesn't make any sense. It is well known that a person's views, at least in Ukraine, are not determined by his or her ethnic origin: for example, among real (and not nominated by Yushchenko) heroes of Ukraine there were the ones who, not being ethnic Ukrainians, dedicated their whole life to it. One should mention Dmytro Dontsov, Tadei Rylsky, Viacheslav Lypynsky, Vasyl Vyshyvany (the Austrian prince Wilhelm von Habsburg), and the American Indian James Mace, who revealed the truth about Holodomor to the world.
I happened to be present at the organizational meeting of the party "The Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists"; an old Jew came to join it and he explained to me that he was a painter and during his entire life was engaged in Ukrainian national painting and taught it to Ukrainian children. Then he proudly added: "So who is a bigger Ukrainian nationalist than me?"
Renewed nationalism with a positive program should come to take the place of the traditional ethnic nationalism, which urges Ukrainians to hide from challenges of the present behind the "fence of their houses." Young people are becoming increasingly interested in nationalistic ideas, but they do not know what to do with them, undertaking unauthorized activities such as breaking off the nose of the Lenin monument in Kyiv. During the British rule, Indian students spilled paint on the monument to Queen Victoria in Calcutta all the time, which is now standing there peacefully as a reminder of the past epoch. The young people and all other citizens are sick and tired of insincere official rituals with long speeches, kissing the flag, candles and loaves of bread being brought by girls in wreathes. Unfortunately, the tradition to wear national costumes for holidays, as it was done before the proclamation of independence, disappeared as well. The fashion for them has passed, while the Scots are not embarrassed to wear their national clothes, proudly sporting their kilts in London.
National education of Ukrainian youth is addressed by the clergy of the Greek Catholic Church and, perhaps, "Cossack organizations." Fostering the Ukrainian language is of great importance, but young people prefer Russian, because they are too lazy to learn English, which is even more "cool." Meanwhile the Irish, who actually forgot their language in the 800 years of the English rule, are persistently reviving it, attempting to make it a national language.
Establishing a political nation requires mutual understanding among all national minorities that will constitute it. Most of them have a positive attitude to it. The only exception is a part of the population in the southwestern oblasts, which are ethnic Russians or considered themselves Russian. The task of nationalists among the allegedly Russian population should be not noisy happenings that result in clashes, but cultural activities accompanied by clarification of their views on the necessity to unite for the sake of achieving peaceful and wealthy life in Ukraine. Strange as it may seem, but the Ruthenians (this designation used to refer to all of Ukrainians) stated their desire for autonomy. It is very difficult to persuade people, but those who are nationalists in their spirit, rather than in terms of party membership, must persist in doing it.
Regarding the role of external factors that prevent Ukraine from moving to the EU and NATO, it is not its "unpreparedness," because much poorer Bulgaria and Romania, where a bloody revolution took place, were accepted without any preparations on their part. And now the Balkan states, which have recently been at war, are preparing to join the institutions. More than a "chilly" attitude towards Ukraine’s intention to join the EU on the part of its influential members is explained by their reluctance to oppose ambitious and unpredictable Russia, their gas supplier. Fenced off from Europe, Ukraine serves as a dumping ground for those who illegally come to the Schengen zone in their "pursuit of happiness" and are deported from there. Now we have to maintain them at our own cost.
But the current situation will not make Ukraine abandon its intention to be in Europe. Ukraine is a rich and promising region, which is suffering now just because of misgovernment. Due to this Ukraine will not be allowed to become neutral and locked away from the world.
It is necessary to work persistently to establish the Ukrainian political nation without losing optimism – and we will overcome!
