By: Dr Matevž Tomšič
The recent statement by President Nataša Pirc Musar in her address to the National Assembly, that “we have messed up together and together we are responsible for finding solutions,” can be understood as yet another of her evasions, aimed at relativising responsibility for Roma violence and thereby at least partially exculpating those in power. It is a clear intent to spread blame across both current and past governments, between the left (now in power) and the right (previously in power), between representatives of state and local authorities, between Slovenes and Roma. According to her, one should avoid the search for culprits, even though it is evident that the situation has reached its peak precisely under Golob’s government.
In fact, this is a much broader problem that goes beyond the incompetence of the current government. That government is, of course, directly responsible and should resign. But the issue lies in the progressive understanding of the world, society, and human character as promoted by the modern left. Not only in Slovenia, though here it is particularly radical and aggressive, holding key levers of social power – but also across the West. The ideological currents shaping its worldview are directed against the very foundations of Western civilisation.
The main problem of modern leftism is its Manichean conception of social reality. Society is divided into two parts – privileged and underprivileged, exploiters and exploited, perpetrators and victims. And who belongs to which category is not determined by actual behaviour but is fixed in advance. This is a distinctly collectivist and simplistic view of social dynamics, where the individual is not a person with free will, making choices about their own life and bearing responsibility for their actions. Their status is determined virtually at birth.
Thus, according to Slovenian neo‑leftists, Roma are always victims of oppression, while ethnic Slovenes are always their oppressors. Similarly, for their American counterparts, Black people are always victims and White Americans always perpetrators. This is regardless of crime statistics, which show that Roma, relative to their numbers, stand out significantly in terms of frequency of offenses. The reasons for this are not (only) the difficult social conditions in which they live, as some naively explain with arguments like, “if they get water and electricity, the children will be clean and go to school, and therefore will not grow up to be criminals.” Leaving aside the question of why some should receive things for free while others must pay, Slovenia’s welfare state is generous, perhaps especially toward Roma. The lack of integration of this community – at least a considerable part of it – is the result of deeply rooted cultural patterns that are simply incompatible with the majority environment.
But among those who see ‘underprivileged’ minorities as victims of ‘systemic’ oppression and advocate leniency toward their transgressions, it is not only naivety at work. Of course, some genuinely believe this, and they play the role of ‘useful idiots.’ Far more important are those driven by hatred of the West, its culture, and its capitalist order. For them, anything that undermines it deserves support. They act according to the old Bolshevik principle: “the worse, the better.” Thus they justify violence, but only when it is carried out by social groups they see as allies in the common cause. Their humanity is entirely false. They care neither for social justice nor for equality among people. In truth, they care nothing for Roma, nor for Black people, nor for Palestinians. They see them only as tools to achieve their goals, as a kind of ‘cannon fodder.’ By dismantling traditional values and identities, they seek to turn the people of the West into an amorphous mass that can be easily manipulated.