By: Vančo K. Tegov
Even though we are marking 34 years of the Slovenian state, it seems that in this dear land of ours, there is still not enough wisdom, nor enough patriotic clarity of mind and fully awakened love for the homeland, for us to celebrate in true unity and togetherness. It appears we will have to wait for that day to come, only when the generations who fought their battles in a different era finally dismount from the saddle of daily Slovenian politics and hand over the shaping of modern life to generations who had no direct contact with the past that created this division. Yes, only then will the conditions be right for a heartfelt Slovenia and for celebrating Statehood Day without any labels, and, God forbid, without red symbols that crippled this unity for far too long. The current “boxing match” on the political scene, with or without gloves, is shallow, pitiful, and, dare I say, immature. Even despairing in its immoral and vulgar presence at places that should be sacred to democracy and to human dignity itself.
The homeland is a gift – one we must dedicate ourselves to every day, care for, nurture, invest in, and believe in. Each one of us must work for the truth and believe in it. Truth is singular, it is not a marketing product you “redesign” when convenient. Our annual celebration should unite us or at least move us closer together in love for our country and care for it. Only unconditional love for our homeland is true love for it. Everything else is fake, fabricated, tasteless.
But is that really the case?
Wherever you turn, you cannot escape the sense that there are two parallel Slovenias. One that lives in the hearts, minds, and souls of us – the patriotic, sincere, devoted to our homeland – and the other, the “free,” detached from all ties, responsibilities, and loyalties, a freedom that is just another word for anarchy. And if I add the narcissistic, self-declared energetic saviour acting as the President-in-waiting, an alienated “Napoleon”, then the cup of madness is overflowing. This year, we have seen even more clearly the presence of the “Monaco-style” princess of sidewalks and expensive suits. On countless occasions, she was tasked with badmouthing her own country and chasing well-known global statesmen through corridors or outside gilded restrooms. She even reached the now-late Pope Francis, to whom she brought toys and accessories with an unregistered or unclear purpose. The domestic political stage was left to a once-dismissed socialite and horse lover, now apparently the lover and fan of washed-up rockers, who have become social media admins and suppliers of carnal pleasures to the president of the parliament – all this for a meagre three grand a month.
A vulgarisation of everything that representatives of the people should embody. Or have they taken for granted that the approximately 400,000 votes in the 2022 election truly represent the will of over two million citizens of our Slovenia?
The audience that attends their celebrations, and the ensuing moral and ethical “debauchery”, fits the scene: overprivileged and idle children of former party officials, or “archaeological” relics propped up by modern medicine, with deeply etched wrinkles and vacant, cloudy gazes. It is a poor image, and an even poorer mirror, despite the overdone event “cosmetics” with which they try to prove progress, freedom, and other values visible only through their own rosy glasses. And now even that is not enough. They are seeking out every village barn where some “partisan” once passed through and stole a chicken, to raise a toast to those “successes” from over 80 years ago. Even Hrovač and the Škrabec homestead are suitable sites now, for their celebration, commemoration, and moral-political perversion.
What now?
Life after thirty is called maturity. After 34 years – which we will soon mark as the anniversary of our independent and sovereign Slovenia – it is only right that we mature. Many of us rightly believe that this is the perfect moment to avoid the mistakes of youthful recklessness, of both individuals and nations. At the same time, we can maintain good mental health and faith, and we have the chance to enjoy the accumulated wisdom of life, sometimes bitter, but valuable. That is why we must persist in loving and caring for our beautiful Slovenia, its landscapes, its rivers, its mountains, and most of all, its people, in our hearts and our daily lives. Slovenia is worth it. And even those who have not yet grasped her uniqueness and the need for unity, they are worth it too.
Let us rejoice in our homeland. Let us rejoice in life within it. May God bless you all.