"Unfreedom is not only a hideous injury to the will, but to the dignity. Unfreedom is not discipline, it is humiliation." Karel Čapek
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We need to learn to truly live, not just exist and consume idly, to be content in abundance, not excess. Abundance threatens sufficiency and there will inevitably be no sufficiency unless we change the ways of our lives. We cannot live forever in debt and at the expense of future generations. If we cannot do it, nature will do it for us, and the losses will be much greater.
Let us stop being obedient, fearful and become free citizens
Let's speak out and actively oppose any form of injustice, law-breaking, bad behaviour, from pointing out a discarded cigarette to the frauds and crimes of Putin's castle-keepers, politicians, policemen, judges and prosecutors.
We are all equal before the law
The era of "equals" before the law, introduced by the Communists, must stop. Otherwise our descendants will reproach us as we reproach our ancestors, how could you let this happen? We each bear our share of inalienable personal responsibility, which cannot be delegated and absolved to another.
We bear the greatest responsibility for our own lives.
The state is supposed to create the conditions for everyone to be able to take care of themselves and strengthen themselves, their families, their towns and their country, including supporting those who are unable to do so for health and other reasons. Let us forget that the state will take care of us forever, all the more so if it is run by people who think primarily of themselves and who are only interested in the citizens at the ballot box. Let us vote not with our feet, but with our heads.
We need to increase the tax burden on the rich
Reduce taxes on low-income groups and give back to the people what they have paid in taxes. This is to help the poor, not to help the rich to even greater wealth and their power over us. Raising wages would only encourage further inflation. Our government helps the rich first and foremost. It is a government of the rich - both the politicians and those they actually represent most - the power structure behind the scenes. The ODS has not changed much in 30 years; it is once again in control of the judiciary. It is right to increase pensions, not across the board, but to those who cannot afford the basic necessities of life, not to increase the welfare of those who have enough and can make ends meet. It is a matter of solidarity with the poorer, an expression of civic togetherness and belonging. This is also helped by the crisis and the straightening out of a distorted character where we think selfishly only of ourselves. Learning to give is far more enriching than just, without merit, taking from the work done by others. This is what the honest work of everyone leads to. Those who earn their "daily bread" honestly have long known this.
At least it's about energy.
We "make" most of it by conserving it, the waste of it is still enormous. We have lived in affluence and wasted almost everything - even energy. The government is supposed to tell people the truth and challenge them to do so - and set an example itself. Not just act populistically and crib for another defeat and, in opposition again, just wise up about how to do things better than the new government.
Let us hope that a government of real professionals at all levels of government, guided by common sense, not by re-election and the interests of powerful capital behind the scenes, will gradually assert itself over time - not least because of the crisis that always exposes the incompetent.
Fear of impoverishment spreads after fear of covidence
Funny how quickly it disappeared after the start of the war in Ukraine? It was mainly children who were tested, while the contagion spread, logically, mainly among the staff.
Trust in institutions has fallen to zero
They are represented by impersonal officials, with no personal accountability, "thinking" laws and rubber stamps, when common sense comes last. As a result, the initiative of the citizenry is also at zero, fear is spreading. It never leads to anything good. It facilitates manipulation by the powerful, thanks in no small part to the media they control. That is why freedom of speech, the independence of the press and the judiciary are so vital for the preservation of democratic values.
A fascist regime always works with the concept of war, and usually implements it
This is also the beginning of its later end. We do not learn history, we can only learn from it if we are teachable. As if we are still unteachable by history. The only US president, Biden, said: "Putin is a criminal and must stop". Clear words that contain everything. Evil never goes away willingly, on its own. Unless it is actively resisted, it will do far more damage. History reminds us of this all the time.
The phenomenon and effect of fairy tales
The Czech Republic is probably one of the largest "producers" of fairy tales for children in the world, including those for adults, which fill the programmes of television, especially the public broadcaster CT. Certainly they have their importance for the development of the child's soul, but in the quantity in which they are produced by the CT they must necessarily have an effect on the nature of the person, and therefore of the nation and the character of the population. In terms of values, they are far removed from the films based on the works of Karl May, which were so popular among children. Nature always favours the stronger, the prepared, whether it is man himself or the flora and fauna. Only the strongest are more successful and more likely to survive crises. It is no coincidence that for 100 years we have had an army that has never fought on its own territory and defended its country. Notice how Ukrainians heroically fight and endure the hardships of war - no crying. We, in the majority, can only cry, despair, lament and wait for someone to help us, someone to save us. Even fairy tales in such mass quantities for generations necessarily influence our national character and nature. It is no wonder that the public broadcaster CT broadcasts a "cowboy" almost every day to somehow compensate for the suppression of the nation's lack of combativeness by showing how others can fight. That is why we experience, for example, victories or defeats of our ice hockey players so extremely. Those who are unwilling or unable to fight themselves will never be free. His limited freedom will always depend on the more capable or all-powerful. He will only be a dependent, obedient "free slave," only at home lamenting his lot - alone and deservedly so.
Lack of courage, of fighting spirit, of bravery, of will, perfectly influenced the SOKOL
This was one of the main reasons why Dr. Miroslav Tyrš founded this physical education organization. Above all, this is why the whole country wanted to fight in 1938. The members of Sokol were the main moral force of the country. The effectiveness of Sokol education from the youngest age of a child was evident. The surrender broke the moral backbone of the population. The communist regime only completed the work of moral destruction with consequences that are still destroying the country today and are manifested in all spheres of life, including public life.
Children and young people lack the necessary role models
That is why it is so necessary to change upbringing and education, which still has communist elements. Everything has already been invented by J.A. Comenius, the teacher of nations and Tomas Bata. We just need to adopt and implement. A vicious circle - there are not enough strong personalities who could enforce common sense in the interests of contemporary Czech society. Let's hope that in time they will appear, start to assert themselves - and not only in our country.
We think differently and speak differently
History has forced us to think differently and speak differently, to survive in the centre of Europe under all circumstances, to wait and to side with the victor who fought, risked and sacrificed for us. This must change, then the problems of society will begin to disappear. The key is to restore natural human communication, not to look at the lives of others in different "boxes", to let them take precious time to live their own lives, but to live fully their own lives in their own environment. In doing so, we change ourselves, our surroundings and the world.
The loss of traditions and elites
The former Minister of Industry, Vladimír Dlouhý, recently stated that we have still not recovered economically from the displacement of the German population after 1945. Culturally and morally, I might add. The nation has cut off a third of itself that had lived here for many centuries. We also lost traditions, Czech nobility and elites, which we still desperately lack today. We have two Nobel Prize winners. Ten of them were Czech Germans, including the first Nobel Peace Prize winner, Countess Bertha Suttner-Kinská. There will be another Compatriots' Day in Hof, Bavaria, during the Whitsuntide holidays -Sudetendeutscher Tag 2022. Will I again be the only one to provide the Czech public with objective information? This year's motto is "Dialogue transcends borders". The Prime Minister of the Free State of Bavaria, Dr. Markus Söder, could not have written it better in his greeting.
The whole world is in a moral crisis
It is inevitably followed by an economic crisis and sometimes by wars that remind us of these values and lead to their return. Tomáš Bat'a was aware of this, which is why he was able to build a company, educate people, co-workers and create a civic community for the benefit of the city, the region and the whole country, as the largest company in Czechoslovakia. No one in the whole world was able to face it with fair competition. When he wanted to run for president of the country, when he saw the coming threat to the country, he died under tragic and strange facts. There is still time to avoid the worst.
The world desperately needs new Churchills, Reagans
Men not only of words, but above all of deeds that give credibility to their words. Today's politicians play all sorts of 'Napoleonic' games, but their skills begin and end with empty talk, which every crisis mercilessly exposes. Many have plenty of intelligence. It is useless without solid character, or serves more to destroy than to build. Money is not "made" by the printing press, by speculation, but only by honest work. No money can make bread - only money does not feed anyone. It has got to give, it still does. One cannot live on debt forever. The bill will have to be paid.
The crisis is an opportunity
General evaluation leads to nothing but empty talk. The madmen are once again mistaking evil for good. We are drowning in a sea of information and victimized by omnipotent individuals as the unteachable. Will the scoundrels forever do what they want with our lives? Idiots or psychopaths are once again trying to take over our lives, nature and the ever beautiful world. We will become poorer materially, but we can become richer mentally, morally and morally. Ukrainians, unlike the rest of the world, are clear about this! Russia wants to denationalize Ukraine, but is behaving like Nazis itself. Ukrainians remind us what is essential for real life and its values. Without them, it loses its meaning. Let us consume less, live more.
Inspiration Bata
The best guidance on how to live meaningfully can be found in the books Bata's Inspiration and Tomas Bata's 99 Insights. The Bible of Man and Life. He also evaluated a man by his relationship to his possessions - the honest man and his surroundings are his servants, the dishonest man is just his slave. The world will not change by itself. We can only change ourselves, change our surroundings, by changing the world.
We each have a choice - every day, every moment!
Jan Šinágl, 30.5.2022
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