Comment / A quarter of a century ago on a sunny day in June, on a train to Brno, I found a group of workers engrossed in conversation. At the center of the box is a man who takes obvious pleasure in describing the brutal torture practices he will subject the Governor of the Central Bank to in order to allow him to devalue the crown and make his holiday more expensive.
I still remember that event because similar situations at the time were rare and startling – among others due to the sheer contrast of (alleged) cause and effect. Today, when a flood of hateful expressions and threats are routinely hurled at one, I would soon forget such an experience.
In the thirty-five years since the revolution, Czech society has passed through many stages – from November's “we are not like them” to the down-to-earth guy with the uncritical admiration of the Ghulam and the “broad masses of people”. A mysterious infamy that inspires the murder of journalists to folk heroes in the form of hitman Kazinek.
Czech society was traditionally “pigeon-headed” only by Renaissance legend. He had to resort to indigestible lies when confronted with the assassination of Slavnikovsi or the killing of Vaclav. None of its promoters tried to explain the more recent incidents of political violence in the Czech Republic.
The brutal expulsions of the 1950s by the Czechoslovak authorities on the orders of Aleksandr Dubek and the suppression of protests in 1969 belong to historical events, and no one wants to let the pigeon myth near them. And it is necessary to include them with unforgettable facts.
This may be the reason why many lie to themselves by inaction that Czech society is more peaceful than others, that political violence practically does not occur and that disputes are resolved in the sense of Svejkin's motto, “It loves peace.”
In many ways this was not always and still is not true. Hundreds of Švejk pubs across the country divert attention from the potential for violent mobilization of “liquid anger”.
However, the escape of complacent members of the Czech elite still cannot escape the prying eyes of foreign observers. And they didn't miss it.
Do tractors roll into Prague? Really?
A third of the EU's budget is spent on the Common Agricultural Policy. At the same time, in European countries, lower units of the percentage of the economically active population are usually engaged in agriculture.
So if you're looking for a group with little reason to complain about the EU, it's farmers. 2% receiving 33% of distributed money.
From Monday's “agrarian” siege of Prague, They distanced themselves Three main organizations of Czech farmers – the Chamber of Agriculture, the Agricultural Association and the Private Agricultural Association.
A dive below the official front of the event shows that the organizers are already dominated by people with connections. A pro-Russian anti-establishment scene, mostly for extremist side PRO Jindřich Rajchl and Raptor TV. The main “Protestant” Jantejsek then “tired of democracy” and he demandsThat he is ready for her demise.
Analyst Alexandra Alvarova at X, formerly of Twitter, drew attention to the international context of pro-Russian protest marches around the world and knowledge of similar events from the 1980s.
There are many signs that Monday's Prague siege was nothing more than a genuine protest by dangerous Czech peasants. However, it is not only that the pro-foreigner activity is not prevented by the authorities – the public media uniformly report it as a “peasant protest”, which is not clear, thereby legitimizing it. Visitors.
Why does the pro-Russian scene actually engage in such superficial camouflage? Adopting the ludicrous belief that victims of the Kremlin's disinformation war are “wrong,” the government long ago abandoned the fight against disinformation, and loyal citizens at heart “need to be well explained.” The government has a justice minister who has been avoiding pro-Russian Fifth Column proceedings for months and is personally committed to following the total Russian invasion of Ukraine and the inclusion of the Czech Republic on the Russian list. Enemy countries, it is absolutely not in danger.
Last but not the least, behind our eastern border, pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Figo, along with his mafia friends, is demonstrating the efficacy of sheer political will, which has instilled new hope in the nerves of our pro-Russian actors. .
Can we defend ourselves? Should we do that?
Every time an occupier crosses the line of moral behavior — not to mention the line of the law — without any sanction from civil society or the authorities, the Czech Republic sinks a little deeper into uncivilized post-communist wretchedness.
At the end of the trajectory of escalating conflict is a level of overt political violence. That is, if you do not support a return to the Russian imperial yoke, you will often encounter colorful descriptions of what they say by anonymous writers – from popular tribunals to castrations of the indigent to “arbitrarily” hanging from lampposts – plan to move from words to actions.
Playing with political violence should be systematically countered with a moderate but decisive response. We don't want journalists to be killed like in Slovakia. We don't want political assassinations like in Russia. But we did nothing against it.
Violence is first normalized by being talked about until the audience slowly gets used to it. By tolerating “mere talk” about someone's intention to “put someone before the People's Tribunal” and “abolish democracy”, we ensure that one day we will see action. This applies to private citizens as well as to police officers or judges adjudicating similar cases.
Those who do not know how to defend themselves against verbal abuse gradually do everything to experience a physical attack. Potential criminals test their victims' reactions and willingness to resist. The more vulnerable the victim appears, the more courage the attacker feels.
Countless human experiences of the last century document that civilization is only a thin skin over the immense mass of human brutality.
Experienced in our own skin, I don't think we need to add more to the existing evidence.
