The recession has created groups that behave like religious sects. Alongside the ‘Church of Blessed External Debt’ operates the ‘Church of EU Apparitions’ and the sect of ‘Better Second Half’ and ‘Holy Strong Kuna’.
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Written by: Miodrag Šajatović |
There are also ‘sects’ outside the law. Danger threatens those who are against the strong kuna or see salvation in, imagine heresy, production and export. |
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This week’s column was supposed to be about this – the 250th – issue of Lider. However, the statement by Finance Minister Ivan Šuker regarding the decision on new state borrowing of 13.5 billion kuna could not go uncommented. Thus, the state treasurer stated: ‘I hold that when someone gives you money under such conditions, they believe in you. If they didn’t believe in you, they wouldn’t lend you money or would charge you very dearly for that loan. This has been the rule since God and the world exist… Therefore, the financial market believes in the policy of this government and believes in Croatia…’ We have become accustomed to ministers in the current government being ready to defend even the most indefensible events. But on this occasion, we should focus on the fact that Šuker used the verb ‘TO BELIEVE’ four times in four sentences. I hope that former colleague editor from Večernjak, now a prominent linguist, Ivo Žanić, will analyze in detail in one of his future books how much the use of the word ‘I believe’ has increased during the recession. But the impression is that there has been a significant jump in its use in public speech. I believe, I do not verify! The other day, a study appeared indicating that the number of believers in the local population has decreased by four percent. If the number of believers in a religious sense is decreasing, it seems that their number is increasing when it comes to beliefs in the field of economics. Thus, it could be said that foreign financiers who believe in Croatian government bonds are a special sect. True, these same ones also believed in Greek bonds… And on the domestic political-public-economic scene, there have recently been many ‘believer groups’. The more uncertain the future is, the more individuals and groups resort to believing in this or that phenomenon or proposed solution. They feel that they cannot be even remotely sure, but lost in the recession, they cling to belief. And while it is quite understandable and even useful for religious belief in times of crisis, building a religion out of the economy is very dangerous. With apologies to believers for perhaps inappropriate comparisons, but in Croatia today, at least a dozen economic ‘sects and churches’ could be recognized. It could even be said that economic polytheism is at work because the same person believes in several economic-religious dogmas. Minister Šuker could very easily find himself at the head of the ‘Church of Blessed External Debt’ whose main dogma is not to doubt that there could be something wrong if external debt increases from 24 to 47 billion euros in five years. A large group would also consist of ‘believers in the Strong Kuna’. As is usually the case, among them are those who deeply believe that Croatia is the only country where fluctuations in the national currency would be akin to the devil’s work. But there are also many followers in that group for mundane personal indebtedness reasons. The following group would consist of the ‘Church of EU Apparitions’. These are believers who blindly believe that all our problems will be solved when we enter the European Union. Membership is, truth be told, dwindling lately, but among politicians, it is still influential. A special group consists of ‘believers in the Second Half’. Members of this sect are particularly recruited from the group of so-called independent analysts employed in banks or with interests tied to the stock market whose mantra is: ‘The crisis is just about to end, improvement will come in the second half of the year.’ They have been repeating this for the third year now. A sister sect consists of those who believe in ‘holy tourism’ which will bring a turnaround precisely in the second half of the year. There is also the following of ‘Recession must end sometime’. In the last year, a rather aggressive following has emerged that believes without any questioning that the situation will improve only by cutting state spending. It seems that one of the most talkative followers is Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, but there are doubts about her loyalty to the principles given that she is not actually reducing state spending, especially not where it should be. Of course, in this spectrum of economic beliefs, there are also those movements that are, like early Christians in ancient Rome, outside the law and must practice their beliefs at the risk of being punished and excommunicated. One such sect is obsessed with the belief that the kuna exchange rate should finally start thawing before it is too late, and another consists, imagine this, of eccentrics who are convinced that salvation is only possible through increased production, and that for export. |
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