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Ukraine society: a disaster like Chernobyl
I had in mind to portray many problems that
besiege my country, and thought that they can be summed up in one phrase:
"rich get rich and the poor stay poor" ("Everybody
knows" by Leonard Cohen).
All that Vandana Shiva has been saying about insecurities - ecological,
economical, cultural - holds true not only in "third-world" India,
but also in the "second-hand," post-Soviet states.
I give you an example: Kiev is bustling with new "cultural"
centers, fancy shops, casino, etc. But there's no quality
water. Those who are rich can buy the bottles. Others have
to fetch filters that are quite expensive, too. Only foreign offices
(run by Americans) can afford to install the quality filters. The
majority have to drink the water from the Dnieper (polluted by industry and Chernobyl).
As to energy: Ukraine is the most energy intensive
country in the world. The steel and chemical plants continue to devour
enormous quantities of energy (spitting tons of pollutants into the
air), while many rural schools and hospitals don't have enough heat.
(The thing is that steel remains one of the few items of export). Coal
mines are working for that steel industry, where miners perish by the
dozen. The coal extraction has long became unprofitable for
the Ukrainian economy. And the government is furthering not conservation
but the construction of two nuclear reactors, and even
thinking about re-starting Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station.
(Electricity also serves as the "pure" export energy for
Europe from hopelessly polluted Ukraine).
Unfortunately, Ukraine has a weak democracy and cannot oppose blatant government
policy. The society has lived under autocracy for 80 years, we had
no civil dissidents whatsoever (in Russia, for example, were
Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov - I exclude West Ukraine's
dissidents that opposed central authorities on a nationalist ground).
What about a Green Party, then? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. A
showcase. It doesn't even oppose the existing corruptive regime.
Also, the new generation that is coming on the scene has little
understanding of the past. The elite is preoccupied rather with the new
gadgets from the West. Media outlets are a puppet in the hands of the
ruling class (ex-Soviet nomenclature plus criminal elements hybrid).
Independent journalists get killed. No wonder that people are scared to
overtly oppose the regime, or even state their mind openly. In
these circumstances, we need help and to be stirred up by humans rights
organizations in the West.
My conversing with you over the Net has always been a source of joy, as
well as a great moral help. I see that I'm not alone in this darkening
age. But I wish we could unite more tightly. I don't know how many
Chernobyls it should take before an environmental agenda re-enters
people's minds.
In solidarity and hope,
Victor Postnikov
The above was originally written for the LeftBio
discussion group online, headed by David Orton of Canada. | |
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