Uladzimir Matskevich: Autumn will come soon, it is august already. We are living in a madhouse

Contemporary literature declares people as being complicated, endows them with contradictory characters. A criminal can be demonstrated as a positive personage. A goodie can lie. A coward can act bravely, etc. In ancient times everything was simpler. If a character is referred to as a coward, then all his deeds are deeds of a coward. If he is a hero, then in all the situations he shows himself as being a hero. We have lost the habit of perceiving people simply, being them only good or only bad. Meanwhile, simple people do exist. Simple - not in the sense of ordinary sociology, as an opposition to elite, beau monde or glamorous stars; simple in the sense of simple and flat characters: liars, hypocrites, thieves by nature, and in the same manner - good, faithful, direct and unsophisticated people by nature. Even though such simple people are interesting nowadays mostly to psychiatry and clinical psychology. Psychiatrists know that there are pathological liars and pretenders, who lie and pretend always and everywhere, regardless of whether this is useful or harmful for them. Persistent paranoiacs, blindly seeking their purpose irrespectively of whether it is reachable or completely unrealistic. Schizophrenics that adhere to their own image of the world, not resembling to the realistic one, not approximate to anything on earth and completely inconsistent with empirical reality. All these people are being either quietly isolated from the world by their caring families, or being isolated in a bit infamous way – placed in loony bins, in madhouses. In a madhouse everything is almost like in a normal society, but simpler and clearer. Everything is clear except one thing: for what reason these simple people are detained, especially if these people do not offend anyone? Many residents of madhouses are satisfied with a simple answer: they are kept there to ensure not they do not hurt anyone, but, on the contrary, that they will not be offended by complex and controversial people living outside the madhouse.

Sometimes I see my native Belarus as such a madhouse. Perhaps we all are isolated from the outside world after we’ve been deprived of nuclear weapon. Now we can’t hurt anybody in the outside, but we are so simple and unsophisticated that we can be offended by everyone. Here's what they’ve done to Ales Bialiatski Well, what he did wrong to Lithuanians? For what evil did they place him in a loony bin?

Well, then it comes to my kind that a madhouse is run by qualified doctors and psychologists. And here we have to reconsider the similarity between Belarus and a madhouse. After all, a madhouse is not run by elected by simple and unsophisticated patients the most simple and unsophisticated one!

Belarus is run by a gang of very simple, plain and primitive people. These people can not but lie. They are daily caught in a lie, and justify themselves by inventing new lies, and so on for many, many years already. It's pathological lies. It's not a lie of sly and clever criminals who lie for profit and cheat simpletons. No, it's a lie of simpletons who simply can not understand that those to whom they lie are more complex, more intelligent, smarter than them, and that of this lie the simpletons themselves can not get any benefits.

Belarus is run by a gang of simple people who can not but pretend. They are like pathological hysterics. Such people, while being simple and even primitive creatures, are always playing roles, constantly pretending to be something that they are not. Hysterical persons rarely possess an acting talent for everybody could believe their play, at least, to believe for a long time. People can be deceived just a little bit, but then they quickly crack the game of an hysteric. Actually, usually people demand that an hysterical person stopped playing roles and pretending to be someone he is not, and to become himself instead. But exactly this is impossible. The hysteric is so simple and empty inside that there is no thing what he is by himself, he is always just what he is showing at the moment. When his game and simulation is revealed, he begins to play a new role, pretending to be someone or something else. And it can’t be in other way.

Belarus is run by a gang of paranoids that with undying persistence are clinging to power, which is their sole purpose and value. They are clinging, despite the clear arguments that they can not and do not know how to use this power. Everything what happens in the country and with the country, is not consequence of their leadership and management, but is the result of initiatives of normal people. Every same act of the power, each guideline of this gang of paranoids is on the brink of absurdity. Normal performers can not execute their orders and instructions, knowing that it is better not to argue with paranoids, but to pretend and then to do everything in a right way. If it lasts not for a long time, than everything can be repaired. But we are already for 17 years under the ruling of paranoids. Everything is let slide, and every single concession to instructions of paranoids makes the situation in the country completely insoluble.

Belarus is run by a gang of schizophrenics. That vision of the modern world, that image of the world that was invented by the self-styled ideologues, has nothing to do with reality in a such way, that one can not even criticize them! And who would criticize the schizophrenic’s world view? And why? Someone is living in a world of brownies, elves, UFOs. Someone - in the world of the evil West and the good East, of the Slavic values and the German aggression, of the Elders of Zion and the party that is never wrong. Schizophrenic images of the world are as many as schizophrenics themselves, well, may be a little less. Less, because there exists the phenomenon of induced delusion, induced worldview. This is a phenomenon when a schizophrenic with a strong will and suggestive abilities can inspire those who are inclined to be interested in him and to believe him, by his views and attitudes to the world.

In general, we are governed by a collective entity, characterized by explosive mixture of pathologies: hysteria, paranoia, schizophrenia, and heaven knows what else. How do we tolerate all this? Yes, and all people around are marveling at this! But even the whole world, including our nearest neighbors, tolerates it. Why? Yes, because the modern world is tolerant, pluralistic and politically correct.

Nowadays it is not politically correct to indicate to a person or to a large community of people on their stupidity. Even on their illness and pathology. Nowadays people of the world are not used to consider someone mad. Madness is now qualified as a particular feature of mental development. Belarus is a large community of people, certainly not like any other community – that’s why it should be admitted that the Belarusian society and the nation have particular features of the development.

Nowadays the world is tolerant of a variety of manifestations of social behavior as of an individual, so of large groups of people. Belarusians behave somehow abnormally, but who knows - what is normal? Let them continue to behave this way.

Nowadays, the pluralism has turned to be a value instead of a principle. Coexistence of multiple images of the world, of many goals and systems of values is now considered to be good. Belarusian image of the world and system of values that people of the country are guided by is just one of the feasible and possible ones. Who will dare to criticize it? Let them Belarusians take all this and consider it in a way they want. On the other hand, if in a society of paranoids and schizophrenics one begins criticizing taken actions and established goals, values and worldviews, it will be the critic to be announced a madman.

It is a Kafkaesque situation. But we are living in it!

What am I saying it for? Well, I just would like to imagine the near future of our country. The future and the prospects of the country ruled by a gang of hysterics, paranoids and schizophrenics. Is this latest situation possible? Why not! If it is not the first time we are dealing with pathological liars, you can easily imagine how events will unfold when the liar is caught in a lie. Simply, as opposed to psychology which deals only with crazy individuals, we’ll have to deal with a social phenomenon, with actions of a large group of people, with a gang, with the ruling regime, with a part of a society covered by induced delirium. The society which is used to share crazy goals, which is accustomed to a set of hysterical roles.

It's like behaving with a pathological kleptomaniac. Thief is caught red-handed, and he is turned to be not a simple thief, on the occasion or by profession, but simply - to be a kleptomaniac. His first reaction is: I did not steal anything. He is showed video-testimonies, statements of witnesses, but he is sincerely  repeating that the stolen thing is his property. After being showed proofs that it is lie, that the thing is not his property, then the kleptomaniac, again sincerely, goes to the other false version. For example, that this it is not his own thing and he sees it for the first time. He is catch on contradictories of his actual lies with the previous ones, but does it really confuse him? In each particular moment he really believes in what he is lying right now.

On December, the 19^th in the country has been launched a wave of repressions, dozens of political prisoners are now behind bars. Hundreds of people are subjected to unlawful acts, there are tortures allowed. It is a fact. But the regime denies everything just as a pathological liar, and people that make up this regime do also believe in this lies. After some time it becomes impossible to lie that there are no political prisoners in the country. Then the authorities say that all detained people are terrorists, thieves, parricides. But this version falls apart when they start to catch Andrzej Poczobut, then Ales Bialiatski with aim to divert attention from the existing prisoners, to come up with a new version, but not to release the political prisoners. And this demands time. Finally, it becomes clear that they will have to release the political prisoners. But again - the authorities must somehow coexist with the last ones! These will be accepted in the world, they are already popular in their country, they will not forgive the violence and crimes committed against them. So the regime continues, with paranoiac obstinacy, to stupidly adhere to his rightness.

And it will continue to do so, i.e. to lie, to pretend, to persist in his rightness, telling all around its own version of the world order and of international relations.

And all these lies and hypocrisy will be unfolding against the background of certain circumstances we already know. These are:

• Summit of heads of the states-participants of the Eastern Partnership in Warsaw, where the head of our state is not allowed to be present as a well-known liar, deceiver, trickster and a rapist.

• The deepening economic crisis as the result of a schizophrenic version of the world order and the paranoid desire to cheat everybody. To overcome the crisis the country needed loans, credits and investments. But who will lend a well-known liar and schuler? Who will invest in a country with a kleptomaniac in the head who is laying his hands on everything that is worth something?

• Parliamentary elections of 2012 which will be no longer possible to hold by pretending to be a democrat and liberal.

• Presidential elections in Russia, where “the Belarusian card”, although having  advantage of six*, could turn to be a trump, depending on how the game goes or "the card falls".

It is not so difficult to imagine, according to Stanislavski’s system, how will the personage behave in this play! The personage has certain characteristic features: he is hysteric, paranoiac, schizophrenic. Professional schuler and kleptomaniac, pathological liar. It means, he is a certain character in certain circumstances, or the typical hero in a typical situation.

It will take a long time to describe all the details of the scenario play and placement of decorations on the stage, to list all the secondary characters who will be hanging out on the stage.

When autumn comes, our personage will do everything in a way he knows how: he’ll lie, pretend to be heaven knows what, trying to fool everybody.

The scenario of his role is approximately as follows:

• To release all political prisoners by stating that "it was like this before”. Well, he’ll torture somebody before that, someone he’ll kick out abroad, and someone he’ll leave here by showing that he is not a political prisoner, but a scammer convicted for the fact what "them, in America" consider the most terrible crime - a tax evasion . ("A stupid game!", - will say some critic, and he will be right. But this game is morbid and pathologic one).

• By this, Ales Biliatski is an obligatory component of the game, it is a worth - in terms of the paranoid and the sharper - displacement of political prisoners of the Cause of December, the 19^th. However, by this his role is not exhausted. Bialiatski is the most popular and prominent human rights activist in Belarus, while for the West the matter of human rights is a favorite toy! The regime should portray himself in the best light to the West, so he’ll need to organize such a human rights protection in the country for the West squealed with delight. To do this, he can even enter the position of an ombudsman. And a candidate for this position is already there: Aleh Hulak. He is already preparing to perform his responsibilities in human rights sector of the national economy. True is that he falls short to Bialiatski of popularity and fame, but this is easily remedied: the regime needs only to portray Hulak and all the Belarusian Helsinki Committee as a bit oppressed. Our people are compassionate, they’ll regret him and any oppressed person will name a hero.

• But here, in recent years, some civil society has been given to birth! "Third sector" of some sort, or "thirty-third", gets underfoot, and occasionally corrupts the game. We need a tamed and controlled "third sector" and civil society. All the National Platform of Civil Society Forum of the Eastern Partnership one should discredit as hirelings of the West, as in the eyes of the West itself, so in the eyes of the Belarusian society. Here again Bialiatski is very useful! "That's who you're taking on the Civil Society Forum of the Eastern Partnership! - are screaming hysterics and manipulators. - You're taking there those who you keep employed and who you are paying to - hirelings and grant-suckers! While in Belarus there is unbribable, true civil society, led by Zhanna Grinuk ". This way Grinuk will be assigned a head on "civil society front" instead of Zagoumennov who failed last year.

• Oh yes, there is still some opposition! Well, again everything there is under control! There is Jaroslav Romanchuk! He's so romantic that he’ll believe and do everything he’ll be told to. We’ll offer once again to appoint him deputy Prime minister and promise him to implement his reforms’ program - and he’ll be for all the Belarusian opposition! Like this, the West will believe him, the people already know him and his party will support him.

• And the bustle of the rest of the opposition can be ignored. One part of them has already started preparing for parliamentary elections, and there is nothing around they can notice. Another part is gathering some People's assemblies. Ha, it’s too creative! For every their gathering we’ll gather our Patriotic congress. And let them prove to each other, who is more patriotic and more popular one.

• Wow! We will look brilliant in the eyes of the world and progressive society, if we perform all this! Yes, we’ll do it! This is not a game at all, this all true! Our ombudsman will be a simpatic person, our civil society will be nice and impersonated with a remarkable woman, and a new deputy minister is talker of talkers, he’ll give even the prime minister run for his own money! Awesome! But where we’ll get the money from? Well, we’ll have to gate through the millions pledged for the country by the European union. Hulak and Grinuk will not be able to take them all, some money will be left to the state. But this is not enough! We can’t quarrel with Europe anymore! We’ll have to present them the Parliament just the way they want! With dozens of opposition members. There are ready people for this, the rest is to captivate them with prospects of brighter future. - And yet: "Where we’ll take the money from?!!” But this question will be read in the sad eyes of our personages crowding on the edge of the stage at the end of this play’s act. It will be read in the eyes of the head of the state, in the eyes of a young ombudsman, in the eyes of a leader of the civil society, symbolizing the unity of gender, philanthropy and business, in the eyes of the deputy Prime minister and reformer, in the eyes of the scaredly-opposition party of the future House of Representatives!

All the other eyes will be fixed somewhere in the opposite direction. In these eyes there will be an entirely different question: "Where to go out from this madhouse?!"