Yevhen HOLOVAKHA, head research fellow, Institute of Sociology, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences:
I consider this a direct consequence and indicator of the level of political culture our political officials have preserved from Soviet times up to the present. Their reaction is evidence primarily of the immensely long way our political establishment has to go to reach the minimal level of civilization. From the very beginning it was clear that what happened to the plane was no accident. Conducting such training for which Ukraine had been unprepared in terms of techniques or organization was inadmissible. I believe that it not politicians or officials but the community and, first of all, the mass media must become our society’s last hope in this situation. It is the community itself that should ensure that those involved in such events are not left unpunished. Politicians should not be allowed to escape responsibility; we mustn’t tolerate statements like tragic accident. Obviously, Ukrainian officials are unprepared to judge themselves; however, they should not escape the public eye.
Yury PRYVALOV, director of the Center for Social Expert Examinations and Prognoses:
It seems to me that the explanation lays in tense psychological situation in the country connected with the global events. Many problems arising simultaneously in the US and in Afghanistan to some extent recede into the background like any other events. Politicians and officials are human too, and the fact that they belong to the nomenklatura does not mean that they are better in going from one problem to another. The plane crash happened not so long ago, and that is why we haven’t seen any visible reaction yet. And the financial problems that could arise from the aftermath will most likely be taken as a matter of course.
Mykola SHULHA, Ph.D. in Sociology, deputy director of the Sociology Institute:
In my view, everything is explained by a social psychology phenomenon of adaptation. We had not yet realized all the perils of this phenomenon leading to a certain behavior type. People get used to their humiliated social position and act in accordance with it. In this situation our adaptation to everyday violence has played its role.
Politicians and officials are no exception: they watch mass murders, epidemics, and wars on television everyday as well. As a result, the tragedy that happened was taken as another evening fairy-tale, just another portion of violence. It is not only politicians who were not shocked; nobody was.
Olena DONCHENKO, Ph.D. in sociology:
The fact that there was no alarm reaction from the officials or politicians is nothing but an axiom; it could not be otherwise. It is an issue of high morality. Admitting one’s mistake is the hardest thing of all, and poor-spirited people are unable to do this. Our leaders lack any ethical basis, which is to be instilled through a long life based on democratic principles. Politicians and officials are bearing such negative universals as externalizing, the constant search for an enemy to hold responsible for what happened. ‘Today you are nothing, tomorrow you are everything’ is a dominating principle, according to which a regime of the marginal is being formed. At present there is nothing to be said about the professionalism of certain representatives of the political elite or their ability to follow a policy of democratic cooperation between the countries. All that happened on October 4 and later is nothing but a vivid example of how some Ukrainian officials act.
