LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (07/28/02)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Kudos for taking strong public stand

Dear Editor:

Kudos to The Ukrainian Weekly and the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) for taking a strong public stand against the shameful Ukrainian presidential decree "On the Commemoration of the 350th Anniversary of the Pereiaslav Kozak Council of 1654" (June 23).

At the same time, however, I find it surprising - and shameful - that CIUS was the only Ukraine-related academic institution to take such a public stand. It would have been nice, albeit surprising, to have seen similar reaction from such institutions as the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the Ostroh Academy and the National Academy of Sciences in Ukraine. But where were our own Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Shevchenko Scientific Society and the Ukrainian Historical Association? And what about our national and international central organizations - the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council and the Ukrainian World Congress - and our many professionals' groups?

At the first Chervona Ruta song competition in pre-independent Ukraine, a young, in-your-face punk-rock female vocalist called Vika got on stage and screamed "Hanba!" (Shame!) to those in power then.

That message would be on the mark today as well.

Orest S. Slupchynskyj
New York

Editor's note: Since this letter was written, the Ukrainian World Congress and Ukrainian scholarly organizations have reacted to this issue. (See page 6.)

Deychakiwsky is on the mark

Dear Editor:

I think Orest Deychakiwsky's assessment of diaspora Ukrainians' views on the issue of managing negative news about Ukraine, that is not to manage it, is certainly more believable than that of Askold Lozynskyj. Neither writer quoted polls or any statistical information in their initial statement, so I imagine they are both opining on the basis of gut feelings and maybe some informal discussions with members of the diaspora.

My gut feeling is that the majority of Ukrainian Americans would not favor the cover-up of political assassination, murders of journalists or official corruption wherever they occur, and not even for 30 pieces of silver as Mr. Lozynskyj suggests. By his logic, every loyal Muslim should insist that 9/11 was the work of a renegade CIA.

But wait! In a free society it should be OK for Mr. Lozynskyj to express his opinions. But, please, let's avoid cheap and downright embarrassing arguments.

Two items are sadly worthy of mention. First, the crack that "Mr. Deychakiwsky has been in Washington much too long." This tired cliché tends to be used mainly by losers who in fact want to become members of the Washington elite. This ad hominem argument should never be used by an intellectual.

The second is an attempt to excuse someone's actions because there are worse offenders. Mr. Lozynskyj says that the negative news about Ukraine is not so bad when compared with the other ex-republics of the USSR, e.g., in Ukraine because only x number of journalists were murdered, while in another republic twice as many were murdered. To get Ukraine to be the best among the worst Mr. Lozynskyj even excluded the three Baltic states because they had not been under the Russian boot as long as the other 11. (Somehow he left in Moldova even though, like the Baltic states, it had a shorter term of captivity.)

I love Ukraine, its people and culture, but only the truth will set it truly free. Slava Ukraini.

Ostap Szwabinsky
Westerville, Ohio

Ukraine's ocean of political confusion

Dear Editor:

Ukraine has been an independent state for over 12 years now. Since 1991 the Ukrainian people have democratically elected the government and the president. The election campaigns were held in every town. I do not clearly remember the previous ones and their results, even though many people do. It was in March of 2002 that I entered the political sphere of life in Ostroh with its non-political essence.

At the age of 15 I knew next to nothing about politics. It is because 15 is not the voting age in Ukraine, and therefore I was not interested in any kind of political affairs in my country. I was naive. I thought that the politicians were the most honest and decent people in the world. After all, they were the elected representatives. This year as I reached the voting age, I changed my mind. I thought I could influence the future of Ukraine. However, my enthusiasm disappeared after I had heard a speech of a town council candidate on the radio. He tried to persuade the listeners that he was sinless, the only honest one, and that he would do everything possible to help people live as gods. I lost my faith in the innocence of our politicians when I saw them swearing at each other on the local television.

I believe that most of our statesmen are either very naive or they consider the people to be completely stupid. I was overwhelmed by the way some candidates tried to win me to their side. One week before the elections, the candidates came to Ostroh to sponsor a concert at a discotheque, thinking that this would win my vote. They spoke about how concerned they were about the younger generation, especially the students. But if they cared so much about the youth then why didn't they spend the election campaign money on the orphanages or hospitals instead of expensive concerts in many towns? Moreover, I am still not sure whether those huge sums of money were received in a legal way.

There is still a lot left to talk about, but I have already drawn a conclusion for myself. The political situation in Ostroh is horrible due to the corruption, selfishness and naivety of most of our representatives in the Verkhovna Rada. I know that the situation is the same in other parts of Ukraine now. I realize that I am just a drop in the ocean of political confusion. However, I am also sure that the situation will change soon, and the future politicians will become a good example of honest and decent rulers of the country.

Alexei Abrosimov
Ostroh, Ukraine

The letter-writer is a third-year student majoring in foreign languages at the National University of Ostroh Academy.

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