FACES AND PLACES: I believe in Ukraine (09/02/01)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

I believe in Ukraine

Ukraine lives! The nation-state established by the people of Ukraine has survived for 10 years - longer than at any time in history. This is truly a time to rejoice, to celebrate, to dance for joy, to sing and shout.

The dreams of thousands of diaspora Ukrainians were finally realized in August of 1991 when well over 90 percent of the people of Ukraine voted for independence. How delighted we all were to know that Ukraine finally had a government that was beholden to no foreign power - not Moscow, not Warsaw, not anyone.

The first few years of Ukrainian independence were exhilarating. The Communist Party was outlawed and it was as if the gates of hell were thrown open and heaven was around the corner. Ukrainians could travel freely. They could say what they wished, write what they wanted and read what they pleased. They could build churches and worship where and however their convictions dictated. The elixir of freedom was intoxicating, and we all had our fill after a long, long dry spell.

Our joy was not to last. Slowly and almost imperceptibly, things began to change. Thanks to pressure from the West, the Communist Party was legalized. Ukrainians were informed that democracies should tolerate all political parties. Legalization allowed the same Communist thugs who oppressed the Ukrainian people during Soviet times to make a comeback. They allied themselves with criminals and charlatans. Soon the Communists were the major power in the Verkhovna Rada. Some elections were rigged. Some government officials proved to be swindlers, pirates, corrupt to the core. Honest presidential candidates met with unfortunate accidents and died.

Some journalists critical of the government were either murdered or simply disappeared. As crooked government officials and oligarchs built obscene new houses and dachas with stolen money, doctors, teachers, engineers and skilled workers weren't paid for months. Old people were swindled out of their apartments to make room for Ukraine's new criminal class. Confiscatory taxes were leveled against honest businessmen. Monies were siphoned out of the economy and stashed in foreign bank accounts. Unemployment soared. Anyone who could, fled, and the population of Ukraine declined, along with the average life span.

We in the diaspora watched Ukraine's degradation with growing dismay. This couldn't be happening, we told ourselves. The people of Ukraine are like us. They're good people, religious people, hard-working people. Independence wasn't supposed to be like this.

How naive we were. We didn't realize that our vision of an independent Ukraine was different from the vision of Ukraine's bosses. We couldn't understand that their values, their aspirations, were different from ours. We yearned for freedom, justice and civility. They were driven by a lust for power.

Our disillusionment was soon followed by anger. We yearned to know what went wrong while fearing the worst. Things will get better, we rationalized. Ukraine cannot change overnight. Slowly and reluctantly, however, we began to confront reality. Gradually and ever so hesitantly we became openly critical of our beloved Ukraine, the same Ukraine we waited all of our lives to see independent.

"Give us time," replied officials in Ukraine. We held back again, fearful lest our condemnations hurt Ukraine's chances for Western assistance. But when life in Ukraine continued to decline, when the situation went from bad to worse, we became even more vocal. And this really angered certain officials over there. "How dare you? What right do you have to judge us? We don't need your advice," they responded.

The fact of the matter is that we in the diaspora not only have the right but the obligation to call attention to the outrages currently being perpetrated against the people of Ukraine.

Think about it. While many of Ukraine's present leaders were happily singing "The International," we in the diaspora were passionately proclaiming "Sche Ne Vmerla Ukraina." While they enthusiastically exhibited their hammer and sickle medals and banners, we proudly displayed the trident. They spoke Russian. We spoke Ukrainian. They destroyed churches. We built them. They waved the red-and-blue flag of Soviet Ukraine. We marched with blue-and-yellow flags. They celebrated the October Revolution. We commemorated the declarations of 1918 and 1941. They fought for a Marxist-Leninist world. We sent our sons and daughters to fight Communists in Korea and Vietnam. I ask you: Who has more of a moral right to speak out, Ukraine's present nomenklatura or us?

Complaining is not enough, however. We must continue to help Ukraine find its way. And we must maintain our faith, the same faith that sustained us in the past. We need to believe in Ukraine's future greatness.

I believe that someday Ukraine will be a nation of laws, not of oligarchs and petty bureaucrats more interested in their own personal aggrandizement than in the welfare of the people of Ukraine.

I believe that someday Ukraine will have a president who will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, especially those provisions that call for freedom of speech and the press.

I believe that someday Ukraine will have a justice system that will provide equal protection for all, not just the rich and powerful.

I believe that Ukraine will one day establish an economic system predicated on natural and human resource development, free markets and honorable individual initiative.

I believe that the people of Ukraine will finally come to grips with their Soviet past, identify the most egregious crimes of the Soviet horror and punish the perpetrators.

I believe that the Orthodox people of Ukraine will forget their personal differences and ambitions and unite into one powerful Ukrainian Orthodox Church. I also believe that all Ukrainians of faith - Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Jew and Muslim alike - will come to respect each other and realize that there is but one God.

I believe all this because it's true. Ukraine has a long history of survival against the greatest of odds. And things are better in Ukraine today than they were 10 years ago. They really are. I am convinced that the people of Ukraine will weather the present crisis and live to experience a glorious and fulfilling future. Slava Ukraini!

Myron Kuropas' e-mail address is: [email protected].

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