LETTER TO KARAMANLIS

LETTER TO KARAMANLIS

Greetings Black Man! We in Macedonia know “kara” to mean “black”, so “karaman” in our Macedonian language translates to “black man”. I know this will never reach your ears but let me ask it anyway: “What gives you the right to claim that you are Macedonian when your ancestors were brought to Macedonia from Izmir, Turkey? Are you an ethnic Macedonian or a geographic Macedonian? Think about it and let me know!”

Do you know who Archimedes was? As the story goes, Archimedes jumped out of the bathtub naked and with joy ran through the streets of Sicily shouting “Eureka!” because he discovered one of the basic laws of physics: Every body placed in water will displace the same amount of water as its own volume. Why do you think you can squeeze more volume of water out of your volume?

Mr. Karamanlis, you said that history has long been written and no one can change it. You just forgot that history is written by the winners and corrected by the victors. Don’t forget that! I recommend that you read the book: “BLACK ATHENA” The Afro-Asiatic Roots of Classical Civilization Volume I, The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985, by Martin Bernal.

Do you not think that the artificial European garment called Greece has become somewhat tattered?

The Greek people have a saying: “He who seeks a lot may lose the little he has.” What do you say to that? Don’t you think you are asking for a lot more than you deserve?

HOW POLITICS ARE LED – HERE

Are our domestic policies different from those of other people’s domestic policies? We should know that by now. But, it appears that we don’t! Why? For starters we did not go to any other country and ask how they are doing things, and what consequences they experience. Even if we did, their policies have a far-reaching arsenal to defend and conceal their real aims and intentions.

Even if you ask, they most likely will tell you that things run smoothly here. This is how it is when you are looking at things as a guest… things run smoothly!

Our privileged young people who get to go to the west for an education, because they feel in their own minds they will get a better education there, soon return as enlighteners. They learned so much over there in this very short time that they feel that they can no longer fully express themselves in the Macedonian language. Not that they forgot the language, but because it would appear our language dictionary does not have the finest English words they learned. It is not true that they are not in the habit of opening up the Macedonian dictionary and finding the appropriate words…!

But I noticed an interesting thing: It did not matter how long they spent in the west and how much they learned about local western political practices, when they return home they generally settle back to their old Balkan habits. This reminds me of the old folk saying that: “blood is not water” (blood is thicker than water).

So, no matter how “civilized” they say they are, when they stand behind the podium facing the public and the media, they still air each other’s dirty laundry in public. The ruling party’s spokesperson, for example, airs the opposition party’s dirty laundry and vice versa. Unfortunately, they always do it on a platform that provides very little space for such purpose.

Even though we know about their dirty laundry, we, the people, unfortunately, still have to vote for them to represent us in parliament for another four years. We have no other choice! Working in politics seems to be very simple. No sweat and no effort

for another four years!! Where else can you find a job like that? Only in Macedonia!? No!

Dear politicians take your dirty laundry home and put it in a washing machine. If you don’t have one, buy one. You have money!

Another thing I can’t understand is how no action is taken by the judicial authorities to investigate criminal acts after they are revealed in public? Are these acts real or merely a show of one politician discrediting another to get more votes? It looks more like the Branko-vs-Ljupcho show of defamation: The left hand washes the right and the money from Macedonia crosses the border on both sides.

So, it appears to be safer for both sides if neither side reports these criminal acts to the judicial authorities. In the end all this is about getting more votes and taking power.

In this way the people remain impaired and nothing is done against anyone. This kind of behaviour has been proven to be sustainable!

POVERTY

The largest opposition party recently made a surprise announcement to the media claiming that there was great poverty in Macedonia. I don’t remember all the details but I do remember seeing a well-groomed opposition spokesperson on television dressed in a luminous suit, looking like he had just stepped out of a hair salon.

This was the first time I heard of such a thing so I decided to go out and investigate it for myself. As I stepped outside of my house I began to count the jeeps in the neighbouring building parking lots. I counted ten in the first bulding lot and then stopped counting after I counted thirteen in the next building lot. Each building had forty apartments and I began to wonder “how many jeeps should there be in the lot of a building before that building can be classified as belonging to poor people?”

The next thing I did was count the cars in the lots and tabulate them by category. I first looked for old and small cars. I specifically looked for the “Ficho” which is considered the poor man’s car. I did not find any. I then started counting the other cars… but I quickly gave up. There were too many to count and sort because they were parked all over the place around and between the buildings. In my frustration I asked my self: “How can these people be called ‘poor’ when there were more cars in the lots than apartments in the buildings? I decide to look further and went to look around in the “Boris Trajkovski” hall parking lot. There was an international match taking place at that time. This too I found impossible. There were too many cars to count. The parking lot and the space around it looked like an ant colony!

I didn’t find any poverty looking at the cars. Perhaps I could find this poverty the politician was talking about in the restaurants and cafés. First I went to the City Mall, one of the newest shopping facilities just built. As I looked around I thought it us unwise to have so many restaurants and cafés existing in the same facility. But as I looked around all these places were packed with people. There was not a single place where one could sit and have a cup of coffee. And the food was so expensive. I was really surprised. Most of the chairs in the cafés were occupied by young people. I began to wonder

where these people found money if they had no jobs. If their parents were so poor as the politician claimed? They were all happy and smiling with a cup of coffee in their hand. What poverty?!

It was a good thing for the government to give their parents a free ride on the city bus so that they too could go to the city dressed in their beautiful old-fashioned folk dress.

Another way to measure poverty would be to see how many people actually buy things in the stores. So, I made my way into the department stores in City Mall. The first thing I saw were the automatic doors opening and closing for the customers as they entered and exited the mall with bags full of things. There were so many one would need an electronic counter to count them all, especially on Saturdays and Sundays when the mall is really busy! Where did these people find the money to buy all these things if they live in such great poverty, as our politician claimed on television?

Another criterion of poverty could be expressed by the number of unemployed people. Has anyone counted how many people there are who have no jobs? I don’t think so. Because outside of the people employed by the government and the registered industry, no one keeps track of who works, where they work, how many hours they work, and how much money they make, and so on, especially in the unregistered industry.

When I started looking for contractors to renovate various parts of my apartment I found about thirty of them in various trades who worked as independents, that is who did not work for a registered firm. They all said they would do their part of the job for cash. Each one of these tradesmen was legally unemployed while working in my apartment, a job that lasted a month and a half. Do you know how many renovations are taking place on a daily basis in Karposh alone? How about in the entire country? I don’t know for sure but I know they are in the thousands. Now, if someone were to count all the unregistered workers who are actually working and subtract them from the workers who are seeking work then one may find the real number of unemployed people in Macedonia. I only used the construction sector as an example. This kind of work goes on in the

auto sector, on farms, in machine shops, in locksmith shops and so on.

Who can keep track of all the unreported work that is done? If you look at the situation this way, you will realize that unemployment is not a big issue in Macedonia and poverty is a relative thing. We will always be poor if our appetites have no limits. Food is plentiful and very inexpensive in Macedonia but most Macedonians don’t even have to purchase their food. Everyone, it seems, has friends or relatives who either have properties in the villages or gardens in the city that grow food and often supply their friends and relatives for free. And all this food is organic. Food for which westerners pay a hefty price in the markets, Macedonians get for free from their families and friends.

But, it seems politicians in Macedonia care less about the real situation on the ground and more about getting elected. They would do anything to discredit those in power, even by inventing fictional scenarios in order to come to power. What a way to live…

Here is another example of how people make money. Here in Macedonia we have cleaners who clean entrances, exits, stairwells and hallways of buildings. It remains to be seen if any of them are registered workers or if they pay taxes on the money they earn. But that does not matter. What matters is that every month each cleaner collects 150 denars from each apartment. In other words they collect from about 2,250 denars to 9,000 denars on average a month depending on the size of the building. I know one woman who does this job in four buildings and collects 36,000 denars a month. I also know that her neighbour’s daughter, who has a doctorate of science, makes 21,000 denars a month. From this we can see that a person doing a job that requires little or no education in Macedonia, and who is willing to work, can make good money. If you don’t believe me do some investigating of your own?

So, this business of claiming that there is “great poverty” in Macedonia is nothing more than a game politicians play to win more votes? What they fail to understand, however, is that they put down the quality of life in Macedonia, demoralize the Macedonian people by making them believe they are really poor and at the same time

put down their own country in the eyes of the world. No wonder everyone in the west believes Macedonia is the second poorest country in Europe after Albania.

Here is another example that proves Macedonians are not poor. Not too long ago I heard the mayor of Solun (in Greece) say that the Macedonians… pardon me… the Skopjans fill the cash registers of the stores in Solun… pardon me… Thessaloniki… and the seaside with money especially during the summers. If I am not mistaken he was talking about a lot of money. Well, ladies and gentlemen, are we going to believe the politicians who make off the wall remarks just to get more votes or look at the situation on the ground and make up our own minds? Dear politicians who should I believe you or the mayor of Solun?

The Greeks themselves say that they are not satisfied with the German tourists but are satisfied with the people of “Skopje” (Macedonians) because they come with pockets full of money while the Germans sometimes bring their own food with them… Who is richer: the Germans or the Macedonians?

Who has not heard of Dubai, the richest emirate of them all! Isn’t that so? As many skyscrapers as your eyes can see. Sixteen lane roads! Many, many cars traveling along those roads looking like ants from high above. You can see dozens of skyscrapers from the 33rd floor of your hotel room. You can also see the empty sandy areas everywhere without any green space. In Skopje alone one can see more green space in a park than one can see in the entire emirate. The annual cost for irrigating a single palm tree in Dubai is 500 dollars. They have to pay a lot of money for their green space in Dubai; we pay nothing for ours in Skopje. Let’s not talk about polluted air with sandy dust and temperatures like those in an oven! So, the question is who has a better life: the rich in Dubai or the so-called poor in Skopje? Not that the people of Skopje are poor: they may not have as much money as those living in Dubai, but like I said being rich or poor is a relative term!

So, please tell me who has a better life: the rich in Dubai or the poor in Skopje?!

If you are still unconvinced that there is no poverty in Macedonia then let us have a look at Shuto Orizare, the most deprived settlement in Skopje. Do you know that the most beautiful and luxurious houses in Skopje are located exactly in... Shutka? If you don’t believe me then go check it out for yourself. When you do go just ignore the compost heaps around the houses, this is not a sign of poverty but a habit. People like to make their own compost so that they can feed their grass and flowers. People there are proud of their green space and put a lot of effort into it.

Now that you have looked at Shuto Orizare yourself, tell me which other settlement has more beautiful villas and houses? You see my friend, everything is relative and depends on your desire of how you want things to look.