Post-traumatic Macedonia - Kostenloses Hörbuch

Subjected to self-appointed, contemptuous, rapacious, and power-crazed "elites" and to constant abuse from neighbors and the international community, Macedonians are traumatized. They react as victims with C-PTSD do: a fractured sense of self-identity, avoidant withdrawal, phobic attitude to the new and the unknown, aggression and hostility, compensatory megalomania (narcissism), paranoid ideation, and hypervigilance. The Macedonian collective is in the throes of clinical depression owing to alienation, atomization, the disintegration of age-old institutions and the social fabric, disorientation, dislocation, and a general state of anomie. So, what should Macedonia do? 1. IMPORT the ELITES Macedonian society is incapable of producing functioning, benign elites.The "elites" here are power-crazed, venal, and disloyal to the nation. Macedonia is small and educated people tend to leave the country and emigrate elsewhere. Political parties here have become corrupt and sometimes criminalized employment and travel agencies. Macedonia needs to follow the example of dozens of other countries, including Sweden, the United Kingdom, Israel, and all the Baltic states and IMPORT the elites that are needed to run and lead the country from the ranks of the Diaspora of Macedonians in the West. Foreigners can also be asked to assist and participate with their expertise and connections, but on a temporary basis. 2. TERM LIMITS Like in many other countries (including the USA and Russia), there should be an upper limit on the number of terms a politician can serve and be re-elected. This limitation will prevent power from becoming entrenched and concentrated in the hands of the few. 3. NON-PARTISAN BODIES Macedonia should remove the political parties from the business of running the country. Like in the United Kingdom, a civil service should take care of day to day activities. Policy-making will, of course, be left to politicians, but not implementation, procurement, and employment. Non-partisan expert bodies with multiple checks and balances and oversight should regulate, govern, oversee, and execute policies - not politicians. 4. PROMOTE NATIONAL HEALING Macedonia is a society traumatized by multiple catastrophes in a short period of time. This post-traumatic condition leads to dysfunctional and self-destructive behaviors and traits. National healing of these wounds and traumas should be a top priority. This could be achieved via Truth and Reconciliation Committees (such as in South Africa or Latin America) or even by implementing a "national healing" program that will apply to individuals and institutions which have been affected by these mishaps and disasters. 5. ECONOMIC REJUVENATION Economic revival starts inside, with indigenous entrepreneurship. Foreign Direct Investment is important, but it is not the panacea that it is misleadingly made out to be. Macedonia should apply a rigorous program of Economic Renaissance overseen by domestic and foreign experts and firmly founded on local and family entrepreneurs.