A 2020 Update on the State of Havel
Or my attempt to express myself properly outside of the comment section
By MARTIN REZNY
I have recently gotten myself into a bit of a heated discussion with my fellow compatriots on YouTube, in the comment section under the trailer for the new film about Havel’s life. It turns out there’s a staggering amount of hate for Václav Havel, the first president of the current edition of the Czech Republic. Perhaps not entirely surprisingly, given that his most famous quote goes:
“Truth and love must prevail over lie and hatred.”
What I suggested in that discussion was that one of the signs that somebody is a good person is how many people feel the need to show public displays of hate toward that person. Given that good people won’t waste time hating anyone at all, let alone in public, and that a good person doesn’t even have to do anything to provoke bad people. Just the mere act of existing is enough.
What happened next was that the movie trailer channel pinned my comment to the top and declared it to be the best one. Let’s just say that it attracted a bit of attention. I guess that’s what I get for breaking my rule to avoid leaving provocative comments. I don’t really consider myself to be an activist, shadows are my natural habitat, but if something has to be said, oh I’ll do it.
In a surprise twist, I was at first engaged with an exceedingly civil intellectual with a distinct opinion that Havel was not a good person and that people don’t have to be hateful idiots to detest him. And fair enough. The only problem I see with this position is the implication that a person with demonstrable flaws and failures therefore isn’t a good one. I don’t think it works like that.
The only reason I left a comment under the video was because virtually none of the many comments there were civil, intellectual, or fair. Instead, they tended to be exclamations of disgust and anger caused by the mere existence of the film, mixed with hypocritical accusations thrown at Havel of anything bad a person could have been toward the end of the 20th century.
Assuming they were all correct, Havel was a communist capitalist Nazi Jew hippie alcoholic. I mean, guys, give the man a break, pick one or two, tops. Also, it would help if these accusations were not typically accompanied by complaints how things were great during communism, mainly in how much more money we had, and how gypsies are the worst. You know, the kind of stuff that abstinents can’t stop talking about. Seriously though, I get it.
I see how the way I talk about Havel can trigger people who are now worse off than they were before the regime change. If you look at various compilations of Havel’s lies on the internet, the common thread running through them is that he kept promising that things will get better, or at least won’t get worse. That there will be no inflation, no unemployment, no extreme inequality.
I see how the whole truth and love talk triggers people who feel betrayed by Havel, I really do. But you have to compare Havel with other politicians, you have to consider the historical context. There’s a good chance Havel was mostly just naive, but maybe not. Then again, all politicians make promises they at least suspect they might not be able to keep. All politicians lie.
The difference is, when truth is your political platform and you mean it, like I believe Havel did, then you try to be as honest as you can possibly be and still succeed. You don’t get participation trophies in politics, you have to win first to get to shape history. Being a good person and a politician at the same time is therefore very difficult. So much so that most don’t even try. Havel tried.
The consequences of that were some distasteful compromises, resulting in rich criminals not being properly punished and a wave of financial crime tied to privatization. That was the cost for a non-violent transformation away from a regime that was okay with political prisoners and executions, a regime where you could end up in a labor camp for telling a joke. An insane regime.
Today, every Czech can talk shit about anyone in the government. Even really offensive, hateful shit. The worst that can happen to you is that I will comment on your comment. Havel couldn’t keep his economic promises, but no one should have expected that a free country would be more safe than a prison state. That you can have enough jobs for everyone when you stop making them up, to the point of economic absurdity. Nothing is perfect.
In our society today, politicians still lie to us. A lot. Even so, less than under communism. Or at least whenever somebody dares to say the truth, they won’t be beaten up and thrown into a hole in the ground to mine uranium. Sure, a prison state is comfy for jailors and snitches. A labor camp economy has work for everyone. Unfortunately, liking comfort is not a civic virtue.
The greater truth that Havel promoted, and accomplished, is that now, you’re free to live your personal truth, as your true self. That the state doesn’t have the legal right to deprive you of that. The truth is, this is a harder life, a more challenging existence. Back then, simply being obedient could have gotten you through life. Today, being obedient gets you a much worse deal.
So, yeah, hate away. Hate on Havel, hate on me. Maybe you don’t have to suggest that I, the screenwriter, and the director should be executed, but aside from that, like Americans used to say, it’s a free country. You’re still free to vote for the Communist Party. Heck, I even like the main things that survived communism — the extremely egalitarian education and healthcare systems.
Havel’s platform doesn’t really exist anymore as a votable party, anyway. Do you know what it is? Humanism. Anti-partisanship. Anti-division. The Civic Forum represented over 50% of the country. The rich, the poor, the intellectuals, the labourers, men and women, young and old. All the people who prefer discussion over violence, not being told what they have to think, say, or do, and yes, truth and love over lie and hatred. Ideally over a beer.
