Some time ago I happened to hear a Kyiv street poll conducted by the Ukrainian office of Radio Liberty. The poll was short, but for me it was painful, sad and full of doubts. I even felt again, for a minute, an inferiority complex. Only for a minute, because I then put this question to myself, imagining I am answering on the street in a live radio program.
This is my answer to the question: “What do Ukrainians have today to be proud of besides successes in soccer?”
I am proud today of Ukrainians and Ukraine because:
— the history of my people begins immediately after the recession of glaciers in Eastern Europe; as far as archeology and Grecian history is concerned, we all feel we are an ancient, peaceful, and mostly sedentary and cultured people;
— from the time of grain remnants found in Trypillia to this day, the Ukrainians have been a farming people who have always lived off their labor alone, and never driven out or colonized anybody;
— the Ukrainians lived through an inhuman communist experiment, a warning to all mankind: do not succumb to the temptation to try easily altering of human nature as God’s creation;
— Ukrainian musicians, poets, and the cultural elite are talented and gifted;
— Ukrainians scattered the world over for various reasons is the example of a compatriotic spirit and national patriotism (back in 1982 I heard some Polish and Russian public figures admit with surprise that “the Ukrainians have churches, schools, clubs, colleges, the press, even retail stores and cemeteries of their own...”);
— Ukrainian opera singers work today in many grand opera houses, and Ukrainian athletes — not only soccer players but all kinds of them: from chess players to figure skaters — are known the world over;
— Ukrainian scientists and engineers work in the world’s best research centers, and those born in emigration have achieved top official positions: they became attorneys, entrepreneurs, lawmakers, etc., in Canada, the US, and Australia;
— my people are talented and usually have the command of at least two languages: they meet every guest in his language, which makes his life in Ukraine easier;
— they are friendly, hospitable, and open, ready to give all they have to their guests;
— the people of Ukraine have been doing GOOD from generation to generation; they give their writers, poets, musicians, and athletes as a gift to the weaker and sing at half-voice “There is no end to the Cossack line;”
— coming to Paris in the eighties, I told myself: “Our women and girls are the most beautiful in the world;”
— Ukrainian members of parliament are part and parcel of the people: they are so concerned about peace in Ukraine that they even make their speeches in the language of their monolingual neighbor so that the latter feels comfortable, for they are generous, apt, and bilingual;
— Ukrainian presidents — clever, politically correct, and far-seeing— have managed to overcome in themselves the old and unpatriotic school of communism, demonstrating to the whole world the Ukrainian state’s peaceful intentions as well as the beautiful, melodious, and soft Ukrainian language.
This is the incomplete list of my reflections triggered by the straw poll on Kyiv’s streets. I am prepared to stand up for my every word in front of my opponents, both alien and local, for this is the historical Truth about Ukrainians.
And it is no crime that during the poll my fellow countrymen failed to say much, but I personally, knowing how long various rogues and incompetent politicians have been trying to remake my people and knowing how hard this people lives now, ask Radio Liberty to encourage more its listeners, instilling in them more confidence, awareness and optimism, and acquaint them more correctly with the laws and faith.
As to critics and two-faced well-wishers, they will suffice for more than one generations of Ukrainians.
May God help you love and work for Ukraine.
PS. Still, the question of pride in your own people is not for street polls.
