Democracy wins!

by R F on July 19th, 2008

Every now and then I feel the urge to be positive about something. Since I’m suffering from a mental disorder causing me to 99% of the time being negative about myself and the world in general, these are rare occasions which I need to grab on to.

The reason for my positive thinking this time is the wonderful documentary made by  Yuri Chashchevatsky, ‘Kalinovski Square’ (Part I linked here - look for it on YouTube). This wonderful piece of film about the situation i Belarus tells me that there is hope - if young people in this horrible dictatorship have this type of positive outlook on the future, and the discipline and courage enough to walk the non-violence way, democracy will win! The information revolution will ensure that in the end. Maybe it’ll take a generation, but freedom will prevail. The strongest moment in this over 1h long wonderfully humorous film is when, showing the protests on the square, a car passes by, the driver waving to the crowd, in the back seat is a very young kid - maybe 4-5 years old staring out the window wide-eyed. That is such a strong moment in my opinion, even though you might miss it in the film. Think about all the questions that forms in that kids mind, questions that he’ll carry with him all life, questions that we never should stop asking. Education and information are the tools of democracy - education to ask the questions, and information to find your own answers.
Another wonderful impressions from the film is the visit to the rural village. It would have been so easy for the filmmaker to make fun of or otherwise ridicule or marginalize the illiterate elderly persons he meets there, but he refrains from it and talks to them for long, discussing and listening with proper respect. The last - but not least - great impression is the young woman (Dasha?) - I’m in love, mostly with what she embodies…

Thank you Yuri, for making this film. Thank you, struggling Belarussians everywhere for fighting the good battle - the non-violence way. Thank you founders of the Internet for creating the greatest democracy tool ever!